Eight Legged Freaks
Encyclopedia
Eight Legged Freaks is a 2002 comedy horror
directed by Ellory Elkayem
and stars David Arquette
, Kari Wührer
and Scott Terra
. The plot concerns a collection of spiders that are exposed to toxic waste, causing them to grow to gigantic proportions and begin killing and harvesting. The film was dedicated to the memory of Pilar Seurat
, the mother of producer Dean Devlin
, who died of cancer the previous year.
, an accident involving a rabbit causes a barrel of toxic waste to land in a reservoir. An exotic spider farmer named Joshua (Tom Noonan
) has been making regular visits to the site, where he collects crickets for his spiders. Although the spiders have ingested the toxins, he is oblivious since the arachnids seem unaffected. Joshua shows Mike (Scott Terra
), a local boy, his collection, which include Jumping spiders, Trapdoor spider
s, Tarantulas, and Orb-weaver spider
s (four males and a female named Consuela). After Mike leaves, Joshua is bitten by an escaped tarantula
and accidentally knocks down the spider cages. He is killed by the spiders and, after devouring him, the spiders grow to even huger proportions. His pet parrot is also presumed killed, when a tarantula grabs on to its head.
On his way home, Mike is accosted by his mother, Sheriff Sam Parker (Kari Wührer
) and Deputy Pete pulling the toxic barrel out of the pond. Wade, the Mayor of Prosperity, is holding a town meeting in the mall about whether they should sell the mines and relocate. Chris McCormick (David Arquette
), whose father owned the mines before he died ten years ago, shows up and stands against Wade's proposition. Chris also sparks a romance with Sam.
Meanwhile, Harlan Griffiths (Doug E. Doug
), an eccentric extraterrestrial
enthusiast, is broadcasting his theory that various missing pets around town have been abducted by extraterrestrials. Inevitably his theory is dismissed as the product of a deranged imagination. Mike sneaks out on foot and finds Joshua and the spiders missing, the farm covered in webbing, and the dead body of Joshua. Although he sees an enormous spider shadow in the mines and tells Chris that the spiders have grown to enormous sizes, based on a giant spider leg he found at the mine entrance, Chris disbelieves his story. Meanwhile, the mines have reopened with the miners searching for a famous gold lode.
One miner is eaten by a gigantic spider, whose clan have made the mines their home. Seeing as the entire town is connected in some way to the mines, spiders show up in many different places. Ashley breaks up with her boyfriend Bret, and he and his motorcyclist friends are chased by jumping spiders, with him being the only survivor, accidentally cutting off the telephone line and being stuck in the mine. Chris finds out that his Aunt Gladys and her dog are abducted by a male orb weaver in their basement. Sam is convinced Chris and Mike are delusional. However, her skepticism fades when she witnesses a giant male orb-weaver attempting to abduct Ashley, her daughter and Chris; Sam saves them both.
Sam contacts Pete and tells him to bring all guns in the police station's possession and they escape to Harlan's trailer, knowing he has a radio station that he operates from within his trailer. As Sam broadcasts the threat over the radio, a giant tarantula, the "tank" of the horde, assaults the trailer but they manage to escape. As the town is besieged by vicious spider horde Chris tries to convince Harlan that the spiders are "from Earth" but ends up convincing him that they're "Spiders from Mars" to make him happy, Sam tells everybody to evacuate to the mall. Chris, Sam, Mike, Ashley, Harlan, Wade and many other townspeople all escape and barricade themselves in the mall (but Wade flees into the mines and locks the gate before the attack) and defend themselves from the spiders. Meanwhile, Harlan and Chris climb onto the roof and ascend the radio mast and try to get a signal to call the army as they are being attacked by the spiders, but are believed to be pranksters. Harlan jumps from the roof, after the tarantula breaks open the gates and lets the spiders enter the mall, and lands in some bushes, where he meets up with Pete. The two run from spiders as Chris meets up with the remaining townsfolk and goes down to the basement. Meanwhile Bret, still wandering the mines, gets a good peek at Consuela during her feeding and encounters the cowardly Wade before his abduction.
While the townsfolk are in the basement, Bret arrives on a forklift that brings down the locked gate, and they all head to through the mines straight to the front entrance, discovering the methane-filled tunnels. After losing Norman and freeing Wade, Chris goes to look for his Aunt Gladys in the mines and finds her and the gold his father was searching for, but is confronted by the gigantic Consuela. He uses perfume to distract the spider and the escapes using Bret's motorcycle. Chris then blows up the spiders and the mines utilizing Gladys's smoking addiction and the high concentrations of methane gas. The police finally arrive. They had not believed the reports of the spiders but believed Harlarn's theory that the assailants were extraterrestrial in nature, until Pete tells them that the assailants were "just spiders, that had ingested extremely high levels of toxic waste." He tries to show this is true by showing his head, thinking (since it was exposed to the toxic waste) that his hair grew back, but unfortunately it didn't.
As the story ends, Harlan is heard making a radio report about the spiders. He concludes that the town has decided to cover up the whole incident, but have let Harlan continue broadcasting the incident, knowing nobody will believe him. He also mentions Chris reopening the gold mines and putting everyone back to work, but tells us "that is another story altogether." As the camera zooms in close on his mouth, it is clear that he now has three gold teeth.
got the idea from his 1997 short film, Larger than Life, which also handled a spider-fighting storyline.
The film was originally titled Arach Attack or Arac Attack (under which it was released in some parts of Europe and other countries around the world) but the similarity to 'Iraq
Attack' made the title seem inappropriate near the start of the Iraq War
.
The title Eight Legged Freaks is a line that Arquette ad-libbed in the movie: "Get back, you eight-legged freaks!" The title however contains a punctuation error in that it drops the hyphen, changing both the meaning ("eight freaks with legs" instead of "freaks with eight legs") and the pronunciation ("legged" as one syllable instead of two).
Filming locations
Spiders used in the film
Alternate credits
.
Comedy horror
Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary and film genre, combining elements of comedy and horror fiction. The comedy horror genre almost always inevitably crosses over with the black comedy genre; and in some respects could be considered a subset of it.The short story "The Legend...
directed by Ellory Elkayem
Ellory Elkayem
Ellory Elkayem is a New Zealand film director.Born in Christchurch, Ellory Elkayem began making films at a young age. He later attended a film school designed to give students practical experience and preparation for a career in the film business...
and stars David Arquette
David Arquette
David Arquette is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, fashion designer, and occasional professional wrestler. A member of the Arquette acting family, he first became known during the mid 1990s after starring in several Hollywood films, such as the Scream series, Wild Bill and...
, Kari Wührer
Kari Wührer
Kari Samantha Wührer is an American actress and singer, mostly credited as Kari Wuhrer, sometimes as Kari Salin.-Early life:...
and Scott Terra
Scott Terra
Scott Weston Terra is an American actor perhaps most recognized for his role as young Matthew Murdock in the 2003 film Daredevil. Terra was officially announced as a part of the cast in March 2002...
. The plot concerns a collection of spiders that are exposed to toxic waste, causing them to grow to gigantic proportions and begin killing and harvesting. The film was dedicated to the memory of Pilar Seurat
Pilar Seurat
Pilar Seurat was a Filipina-American film and television actress in the 1960s.-Life and career:Born as Rita Hernandez in Manila, Seurat began her Hollywood career as a dancer in Ken Murray's "Blackouts", the popular postwar variety show at the El Capitan Theatre...
, the mother of producer Dean Devlin
Dean Devlin
Dean Devlin is an American screenwriter, producer, television director and former actor. He is the founder of the production company Electric Entertainment.-Personal life:...
, who died of cancer the previous year.
Plot
In the quiet mining town of Prosperity, ArizonaArizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, an accident involving a rabbit causes a barrel of toxic waste to land in a reservoir. An exotic spider farmer named Joshua (Tom Noonan
Tom Noonan
Tom Noonan is an American actor and film writer-director.-Early life:Noonan was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Rosaleen and Tom Noonan, who worked as a dentist and jazz musician respectively...
) has been making regular visits to the site, where he collects crickets for his spiders. Although the spiders have ingested the toxins, he is oblivious since the arachnids seem unaffected. Joshua shows Mike (Scott Terra
Scott Terra
Scott Weston Terra is an American actor perhaps most recognized for his role as young Matthew Murdock in the 2003 film Daredevil. Terra was officially announced as a part of the cast in March 2002...
), a local boy, his collection, which include Jumping spiders, Trapdoor spider
Trapdoor spider
Trapdoor spiders are medium-sized mygalomorph spiders that construct burrows with a cork-like trapdoor made of soil, vegetation and silk. Some similar species are also called trapdoor spiders, such as the Liphistiidae, Barychelidae, Cyrtaucheniidae and some Idiopidae and Nemesiidae...
s, Tarantulas, and Orb-weaver spider
Orb-weaver spider
The "typical" orb-weaver spiders are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields and forests...
s (four males and a female named Consuela). After Mike leaves, Joshua is bitten by an escaped tarantula
Tarantula
Tarantulas comprise a group of often hairy and often very large arachnids belonging to the family Theraphosidae, of which approximately 900 species have been identified. Some members of the same Suborder may also be called "tarantulas" in the common parlance. This article will restrict itself to...
and accidentally knocks down the spider cages. He is killed by the spiders and, after devouring him, the spiders grow to even huger proportions. His pet parrot is also presumed killed, when a tarantula grabs on to its head.
On his way home, Mike is accosted by his mother, Sheriff Sam Parker (Kari Wührer
Kari Wührer
Kari Samantha Wührer is an American actress and singer, mostly credited as Kari Wuhrer, sometimes as Kari Salin.-Early life:...
) and Deputy Pete pulling the toxic barrel out of the pond. Wade, the Mayor of Prosperity, is holding a town meeting in the mall about whether they should sell the mines and relocate. Chris McCormick (David Arquette
David Arquette
David Arquette is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, fashion designer, and occasional professional wrestler. A member of the Arquette acting family, he first became known during the mid 1990s after starring in several Hollywood films, such as the Scream series, Wild Bill and...
), whose father owned the mines before he died ten years ago, shows up and stands against Wade's proposition. Chris also sparks a romance with Sam.
Meanwhile, Harlan Griffiths (Doug E. Doug
Doug E. Doug
Douglas Bourne, better known as Doug E. Doug is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and film director. He started his career at age 17 as a stand-up comedian...
), an eccentric extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
enthusiast, is broadcasting his theory that various missing pets around town have been abducted by extraterrestrials. Inevitably his theory is dismissed as the product of a deranged imagination. Mike sneaks out on foot and finds Joshua and the spiders missing, the farm covered in webbing, and the dead body of Joshua. Although he sees an enormous spider shadow in the mines and tells Chris that the spiders have grown to enormous sizes, based on a giant spider leg he found at the mine entrance, Chris disbelieves his story. Meanwhile, the mines have reopened with the miners searching for a famous gold lode.
One miner is eaten by a gigantic spider, whose clan have made the mines their home. Seeing as the entire town is connected in some way to the mines, spiders show up in many different places. Ashley breaks up with her boyfriend Bret, and he and his motorcyclist friends are chased by jumping spiders, with him being the only survivor, accidentally cutting off the telephone line and being stuck in the mine. Chris finds out that his Aunt Gladys and her dog are abducted by a male orb weaver in their basement. Sam is convinced Chris and Mike are delusional. However, her skepticism fades when she witnesses a giant male orb-weaver attempting to abduct Ashley, her daughter and Chris; Sam saves them both.
Sam contacts Pete and tells him to bring all guns in the police station's possession and they escape to Harlan's trailer, knowing he has a radio station that he operates from within his trailer. As Sam broadcasts the threat over the radio, a giant tarantula, the "tank" of the horde, assaults the trailer but they manage to escape. As the town is besieged by vicious spider horde Chris tries to convince Harlan that the spiders are "from Earth" but ends up convincing him that they're "Spiders from Mars" to make him happy, Sam tells everybody to evacuate to the mall. Chris, Sam, Mike, Ashley, Harlan, Wade and many other townspeople all escape and barricade themselves in the mall (but Wade flees into the mines and locks the gate before the attack) and defend themselves from the spiders. Meanwhile, Harlan and Chris climb onto the roof and ascend the radio mast and try to get a signal to call the army as they are being attacked by the spiders, but are believed to be pranksters. Harlan jumps from the roof, after the tarantula breaks open the gates and lets the spiders enter the mall, and lands in some bushes, where he meets up with Pete. The two run from spiders as Chris meets up with the remaining townsfolk and goes down to the basement. Meanwhile Bret, still wandering the mines, gets a good peek at Consuela during her feeding and encounters the cowardly Wade before his abduction.
While the townsfolk are in the basement, Bret arrives on a forklift that brings down the locked gate, and they all head to through the mines straight to the front entrance, discovering the methane-filled tunnels. After losing Norman and freeing Wade, Chris goes to look for his Aunt Gladys in the mines and finds her and the gold his father was searching for, but is confronted by the gigantic Consuela. He uses perfume to distract the spider and the escapes using Bret's motorcycle. Chris then blows up the spiders and the mines utilizing Gladys's smoking addiction and the high concentrations of methane gas. The police finally arrive. They had not believed the reports of the spiders but believed Harlarn's theory that the assailants were extraterrestrial in nature, until Pete tells them that the assailants were "just spiders, that had ingested extremely high levels of toxic waste." He tries to show this is true by showing his head, thinking (since it was exposed to the toxic waste) that his hair grew back, but unfortunately it didn't.
As the story ends, Harlan is heard making a radio report about the spiders. He concludes that the town has decided to cover up the whole incident, but have let Harlan continue broadcasting the incident, knowing nobody will believe him. He also mentions Chris reopening the gold mines and putting everyone back to work, but tells us "that is another story altogether." As the camera zooms in close on his mouth, it is clear that he now has three gold teeth.
Cast
- David ArquetteDavid ArquetteDavid Arquette is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, fashion designer, and occasional professional wrestler. A member of the Arquette acting family, he first became known during the mid 1990s after starring in several Hollywood films, such as the Scream series, Wild Bill and...
as Chris McCormick - Kari WührerKari WührerKari Samantha Wührer is an American actress and singer, mostly credited as Kari Wuhrer, sometimes as Kari Salin.-Early life:...
as Sheriff Sam Parker - Scott TerraScott TerraScott Weston Terra is an American actor perhaps most recognized for his role as young Matthew Murdock in the 2003 film Daredevil. Terra was officially announced as a part of the cast in March 2002...
as Mike Parker - Scarlett JohanssonScarlett JohanssonScarlett Johansson is an American actress, model and singer.Johansson made her film debut in North and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo . She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer and Ghost World...
as Ashley Parker - Doug E. DougDoug E. DougDouglas Bourne, better known as Doug E. Doug is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and film director. He started his career at age 17 as a stand-up comedian...
as Harlan Griffiths - Rick OvertonRick OvertonRichard "Rick" Overton is an American screenwriter, actor and comedian. His writing credits include Dennis Miller Live, and his acting credits include Willow and The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne.-Life and career:...
as Deputy Pete Williams - Leon RippyLeon RippyLeon Rippy is an American actor.-Life and career:He has worked with Roland Emmerich on seven movies including: Moon 44 , Eye of the Storm , Universal Soldier , Stargate , The Thirteenth Floor , The Patriot , Eight Legged Freaks and also had a role in the 2004...
as Wade - Matt Czuchry as Bret
- Eileen RyanEileen RyanEileen Ryan is an American actress who has appeared in a number of movies and TV series. She is the widow of actor and director, Leo Penn, and mother of singer, Michael Penn, and actors, Sean and, Chris Penn, who died in January 2006....
as Gladys - Frank WelkerFrank WelkerFranklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
as Voice of Consuela the queen spider and other spider vocal effects - David Earl Waterman as Norman the Janitor
- Tom NoonanTom NoonanTom Noonan is an American actor and film writer-director.-Early life:Noonan was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Rosaleen and Tom Noonan, who worked as a dentist and jazz musician respectively...
(uncredited) as Joshua Taft
Production
Director Ellory ElkayemEllory Elkayem
Ellory Elkayem is a New Zealand film director.Born in Christchurch, Ellory Elkayem began making films at a young age. He later attended a film school designed to give students practical experience and preparation for a career in the film business...
got the idea from his 1997 short film, Larger than Life, which also handled a spider-fighting storyline.
The film was originally titled Arach Attack or Arac Attack (under which it was released in some parts of Europe and other countries around the world) but the similarity to 'Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
Attack' made the title seem inappropriate near the start of the Iraq War
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
.
The title Eight Legged Freaks is a line that Arquette ad-libbed in the movie: "Get back, you eight-legged freaks!" The title however contains a punctuation error in that it drops the hyphen, changing both the meaning ("eight freaks with legs" instead of "freaks with eight legs") and the pronunciation ("legged" as one syllable instead of two).
Filming locations
- The town of Prosperity does not exist in Arizona. The scenes inside Prosperity Mall were actually shot in an abandoned mall in Glendale, ArizonaGlendale, ArizonaGlendale is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, located about nine miles northwest from Downtown Phoenix. According to 2010 Census Bureau, the population of the city is 226,721....
. The location was formerly Valley West Mall and also known as Manistee Mall. This movie would be the last operation that took place in the mall, as it was demolished soon after shooting was completed. - The scenes in Aunt Gladys's house in the kitchen and in Gladys' basement were filmed at the Manistee Ranch in Glendale, Arizona.
Spiders used in the film
- Orb-weaver spiderOrb-weaver spiderThe "typical" orb-weaver spiders are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields and forests...
- Jumping spiderJumping spiderThe jumping spider family contains more than 500 described genera and about 5,000 described species, making it the largest family of spiders with about 13% of all species. Jumping spiders have some of the best vision among invertebrates and use it in courtship, hunting and navigation...
- TarantulaTarantulaTarantulas comprise a group of often hairy and often very large arachnids belonging to the family Theraphosidae, of which approximately 900 species have been identified. Some members of the same Suborder may also be called "tarantulas" in the common parlance. This article will restrict itself to...
(several species are featured, including the Mexican redknee tarantulaMexican redknee tarantulaThe Brachypelma smithi , is a terrestrial tarantula native to the western faces of the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre del Sur mountain ranges in Mexico. They are a large species, of which are a popular choice for enthusiasts...
, the Pink Foot Goliath, and the Goliath birdeaterGoliath birdeaterThe Goliath bird-eater Spider is an arachnid belonging to the tarantula group, Theraphosidae, and is considered to be the second largest spider in the world , and they may be the biggest by mass...
) - Trapdoor spiderTrapdoor spiderTrapdoor spiders are medium-sized mygalomorph spiders that construct burrows with a cork-like trapdoor made of soil, vegetation and silk. Some similar species are also called trapdoor spiders, such as the Liphistiidae, Barychelidae, Cyrtaucheniidae and some Idiopidae and Nemesiidae...
- Australian funnel-web spider
Alternate credits
- The alternate beginning is an extended version in which Harlan does a broadcast promoting the mall, after which a worker at the mall sees Wade having the toxic waste put in the basement.
- In the alternate ending, after the mines are blown up, the townsfolk walk down a road to get help. They meet up with Pete and Harlan who were walking through the desert, Pete trying to convince Harlan the spiders were not aliens. Afterward, Sam and Chris kiss as the scene ends.
Reception
Eight Legged Freaks currently holds an approval rating of 48% on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.