Horror in the 90s: 'Arachnophobia'

Arachnophobia (1990)

Directed by Frank Marshall

Written by Don Jakoby, Wesley Strick

Starring Jeff Daniels, Harley Jane Kozak, Julian Sands, John Goodman

Release Date July 18th, 1990

Box Office Gross $53.2 million

Arachnophobia exists in two popular horror sub-genre: Man vs Nature and the Monster Movie. A new breed of spider is located by an arrogant scientist who believes he can control this uncontrollable element of nature that he hubristically believes that he has mastered. The monster movie then comes into play when the scientists creation gets away from him and begins to wreak havoc in a small time while working to perpetuate its species to take over the planet, essentially, the Americas at the very least.

If you are skeptical that spiders could be considered monsters in a monster movie, you underestimate the talent of director Frank Marshall and his cast. Indeed, Arachnophobia functions as a movie that could induce a lifelong phobia of spiders, the arachnophobia of the title. It's so effective at making spiders a horror movie monster that I honestly would not recommend showing this movie to children. I would especially not recommend this movie for anyone who already harbors a fear of spiders as this movie will only exacerbate that condition.

Arachnophobia stars Jeff Daniels as a doctor who has moved his family, including his wife, played by Harley Jane Kozak, and their two kids, to a small town in California. Dr. Ross Jennings (Daniels) has been promised the role of the only doctor in this small town but things do not go as planned from the start. The elderly doctor he was supposed to replace has now refused to retire and Dr. Jennings' new home in the country is a money pit with termites and a crumbling infrastructure.

Unbeknownst to everyone in this otherwise idyllic small town, a dangerously poisonous Brazilian spider has hitched a ride with a corpse to the local funeral home. Having killed a photographer working with Dr. James Atherton (Julian Sands) in Brazil, the spider, that Dr. Atherton had assured us was dead, arrives in this small town and finds its way to the barn owned by Dr. Jennings where it cross-breeds with a local spider and begins to create a mutated version of itself that is so deadly its population could wipe out North America in a period of months.

Thus it falls to Dr. Jennings to first discover that we are indeed dealing with a killer Spider and then, in the final act, to have a face to face fight with the Spider Queen over the massive egg sack the Queen has laid in Dr. Jennings' new wine cellar. Did you know that wine is not flammable? Neither did this movie which seems to think Wine is an accelerant. Anyway, that aside, Arachnophobia has some silly elements but one thing the film gets right is the staging of spider attacks that kill character actors.

Character actors James Handy, Kathy Kinney, Henry Jones and Mary Carver each appear in remarkably well-staged scenes where they are menaced by little spiders. These scenes are filled with genuine tension via simple, classic, filmic technique. Good choices in the editing bay and in the staging of each scene create a genuine tension while the familiar and kind faces of these character actors, people you've seen even if you don't recognize their name, add tension because we don't want to see them be killed by spiders.

The second act of Arachnophobia functions like a medical mystery that would be at home in a really good episode of Quincy or Murder She Wrote as Dr. Jennings and a ragtag band try to prove to everyone else that Spiders are responsible for a series of unexpected and unfortunate deaths. Many seem to think that Dr. Jennings is at fault for the deaths as he was the doctor for the first two victims. Eventually, however, it becomes clear that he's not to blame, especially as spiders begin to fan out across the neighborhood and are met with an exterminator played by John Goodman.

Goodman is a wildcard in Arachnophobia. He functions as comic relief, an arrogant doofus and know-it-all who is constantly wrong about the spiders. Goodman is funny but I had higher expectations of his character. He's like a more subdued version of Bill Murray's gopher-killing handyman in Caddyshack but not nearly as inspired. He is set up for a big hero moment near the end of the movie that never seems to arrive, possibly because the film doesn't want to cut into his appeal as comic relief. In the end, Goodman's character is the weakest element of an otherwise solid comic horror thriller.

I was incredibly skeptical as to whether or not the movie could make a villain out of spiders. I get that people are deathly afraid of spiders, that's part of the inspiration of the movie. But a villain you can simply step on in order to defeat it, doesn't seem like a grave threat. Thankfully, a clever script and well staged scenes of spider related suspense create genuine scares. Arachnophobia was far more effectively scary than I was expecting and it made the movie more enjoyable than I was expecting.

Arachnophobia surprised me as it built successfully to a satisfyingly pitched third act fight between Jeff Daniels and a giant spider. The final act is darkly funny as it takes the spider's perspective and Daniels lurches about like Bruce Campbell in Evil Dead 2 as he fights the camera standing in for the deadly spider. It's a funny, exciting and back and forth fight that keeps up a terrific pace. The final act is filled with creepy crawly spiders that trap Daniels and his family who make a narrow escape as Daniels seems to sacrifice himself to save his family.

I bought in on this ending. Daniels is a terrific physical performer. The final act is centered entirely on him being terrorized by spiders and via him, we're equally excited and terrified. The giant Queen Spider and her oozing, pulsing egg-sack are terrifically gross elements that add a little more flavor to the ending. And it is directed with precision and panache by director Frank Marshall who flexes a lot of directorial muscles to turn these spiders into a real threat. The swarm of spiders at the end is a terrifically realized piece of horror and the use of the first person camera for the Spider evokes classic monster movies in the best possible ways.

I don't recall having thought much of Arachnophobia when I saw it as a teenager. I remembered John Goodman being in it and thinking he was funny. Beyond that, I wasn't someone with a deep-seated fear of Spiders. Thus, the action didn't leave much impression on me as a teenager. Now however, with some experience as a film critic and a student of filmmaking technique, I found myself appreciating Arachnophobia in new and different ways. The film is remarkably skillful and wildly clever. The casting is superb with familiar, sympathetic, faces adding to the tension, suspense, and excitement of the horror scenes.

I never expected it, but Arachnophobia is one of my favorite horror movies of the early 90s. It's a wonder what strong film technique can do to make a monster movie out of something seemingly not monstrous. It's not reinventing the wheel, Marshall doesn't do anything particularly different or special in his direction. He's simply using classic film techniques, editing and staging, and doing them with a good deal of skill and care. His direction shows that simply paying attention to detail can get the most out of even a thin, seemingly unconvincing premise.

This article on Arachnophobia is a serialized piece from my book project, tentatively but not officially called 'Horror in the 90s. I'm posting pieces of the book in order to entice people into donating to help make the book a reality. I can't make the book happen without donations from generous readers. You can make a donation here on Vocal via a monthly pledge or by leaving a one time tip. Even a dollar helps toward making the book happen. And, anyone who donates will get a shoutout in the completed book.

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