Hollywood Pictures and Amblin Entertainment deliver the year’s most electrifying big-screen roller coaster ride of a movie! Everyone is afraid of something … for Dr. Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels), his phobia is downright embarrassing. But when he moves his family to a small town, the one thing that bugs him most is now harming the townspeople at an alarming rate. For this unlikely hero, overcoming a childhood fear of spiders might just save the community, but it may already be too late! Directed by Frank Marshall (Executive Producer, BACK TO THE FUTURE, Producer, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK) and also starring John Goodman, this critically acclaimed breathtaking hit entertains with its terrific mix of thrills, chills, and laughter!Most horror movies depend on giant monsters; Arachnophobia gets just as many thrills out of creatures only a few inches long. A scientist (Julian Sands, Warlock, A Room with a View) who’s hunting a vicious new species of spider in Venezuela unknowingly ships one back to the U.S. It ends up in a small town where a new doctor (Jeff Daniels, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Something Wild) is trying to establish a practice. When his patients start suddenly dying, Daniels suspects spiders–but no one takes him seriously because he’s had a phobia about spiders since childhood. Arachnophobia builds a slow but relentless sense of menace and creepiness, mixed with a sneaky satire of small town life. If you’re squeamish about spiders, this will get under your skin. Also featuring the ever-dependable John Goodman (The Big Lebowski, Barton Fink) as a comically zealous exterminator. –Bret Fetzer
Rating: 
(out of 56 reviews)
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September 1, 2010
#1
Review by Kona
Rating:
“Arachnophobia” is a clever comedy/thriller sure to scare the spider-phobes out there. Jeff Daniels and Harley Jane Kozak star as Dr. Ross and Molly Jennings, a young couple who have moved to the country to start his medical practice. Little do they know that a huge, deadly spider has arrived from South America and is reproducing – a lot! One by one, town residents start dropping like flies, until Ross figures out they were all bitten by spiders. This brings back memories of a childhood trauma that left him with a paralyzing fear of spiders – and the spider’s nest is right in Ross’ barn.
There are many creepy scenes of menacing spiders that will have you looking around to make sure none are near you. They must have used some robotic spiders, but they all looked very real to me. The idyllic rural setting contrasts nicely with the intensely scary stalking spiders. Daniels is perfect as the dedicated doctor, and John Goodman has a small but funny part as an exterminator. The movie may be too scary for very young children, but others will giggle a little and gasp a lot.
Kona
September 1, 2010
#2
Review by Brian Doherty
Rating:
I thought that archnophobia was a great movie. It was Thrilling and funny, and I recomend it to anyone who likes a good thriller. I think that the guy who gave it one star needs to get a life and stop taking things to seriously. He’s a little too attached to spiders if you know what I mean.
September 1, 2010
#3
Review by ! MR. KNOW IT ALL ;-b
Rating:
This is a perfect starter for Halloween, just enough scares and fun to get you in the mood. ‘Arachnophobia’ would have been an even better film if it was scarier and funnier. It all seems pretty “middle of the road” to me. It’s an enjoyable film unless you can’t handle watching spiders, but it seems a bit uneven in tone. The DVD transfer is OK, but could be improved also. All in all, it’s a good family horror movie, nothing too intense, but a lot of fun.
September 1, 2010
#4
Review by Alejandra Vernon
Rating:
This often amusing, sometimes suspenseful film about killer spiders starts out in the dense jungles of Venezuela, with bug-O-maniac Julian Sands, as he tracks down a new species of lethal as well as big and hairy arachnid. One of these hairy creatures finds its way to sweet suburbia in California, using a wooden coffin as transport, and starts mating with the local spider population, causing havoc and rigor mortis.
City transplant Jeff Daniels, a doctor with severe arachnophobia, who wants the quiet country life as long as he doesn’t have to see a spider, finds himself the center of controversy because of the deaths, and his newly bought house infested with the critters. Daniels, one of Hollywood’s more underrated actors, gives a terrific performance as Dr. Jennings, as he tries some hands-on therapy for his phobia.
John Goodman is hilarious as the town exterminator, who if he can’t kill ‘em with insecticide, uses his big boots, and others in the fine cast are Harley Jane Kozak as Molly Jennings, Henry Jones as old Dr. Metcalf, and Stuart Pankin as stubborn Sheriff Parsons. This was the feature film directorial debut for Frank Marshall, who has been known mostly as a producer, mainly for Stephen Spielberg’s films. A good score by Trevor Jones (with songs like Jimmy Buffett’s “Don’t Bug Me”) adds to the overall enjoyment of this fun creature feature, which takes us back to the days when the bugs were filmed in black and white.
Total running time is 103 minutes.
September 1, 2010
#5
Review by
Rating:
Maybe I’m being pedantic, but I feel compelled to point out that the review mentioning the spiders “killing almost everyone” in the town is potentially quite misleading as to the true nature of this film.Without giving too much away, only a handful of people actually get bitten (from memory), and this is indicative of what I remember most about this movie: namely, the subtle building of suspense throughout the film, occasionally leavened with some very funny moments (John Goodman), until the admittedly more in-your-face finale.As for the somewhat ‘confused’ reviewer who ranted against the spider-killing in this movie, well, if you’re still out there, do a search in AltaVista on “Entomologist Supplies Creepy Crawlies for Film” (URL not allowed here). Anyone else might be interested to read this too. I’m actually a pretty bad arachnophobe myself. I saw Arachnophobia in the cinema, hoping for some therapeutic effect. Well, the therapy didn’t work, but DAMN it was fun!