Eight-Legged Freaks opens with a classic scene (and a feature of all good monster films): a barrel of radioactive goo leaking into a river; in this case, the water supply for an isolated mining town. This time, instead of ants, turtles or piranhas, the goo works its nuclear magic on grubs and insects. These, in turn, are fed by a reclusive lunatic to his collection of exotic spiders, which do the accepted thing: grow to an enormous size and become extremely aggressive. Young hero Mike Parker is the only one to realise what’s going on until it is too late; the spiders overrun the town, and it is up to Mike’s mother, the sheriff, along with her bumbling deputy and the scion of the local mining family (and love interest), to rescue as many of the hapless citizenry as possible. The latter includes, naturally, the evil Mayor, whose nefarious commercial activities led to the tragedy in the first place.

A terrifying look at the destructive power of science this ain’t, nor is it a plea for environmentally sound policy or an end to nuclear testing. 'Eight-Legged Freaks' is nothing more than a film about some really big spiders; a little more knowing and self-aware than most monster films, but essentially it doesn’t attempt to lift itself above the genre. The attempts at humour - puns and slapstick visual comedy - are generally too laboured and fall flat. The real delight is in the sheer spectacle of the film (giant leaping spiders pouncing upon hapless bikers as they try to flee) and in the sight of the actors trying to keep gosh-gee serious faces confronted by all this silliness.

David Arquette, as heir to the town’s failing mining concern, maintains his trademark squinty, earnest charm; he faces all burdens - whether they be plighting his troth to the beauteous sheriff or fighting a giant orb-weaving spider - with a remarkable equanimity. Leon Rippy is the epitome of conniving villainy as the ponytailed Mayor; Kari Wuhrer as the feisty heroine and Rick Overton as her bumbling sidekick are solid too. The film’s younger actors - Scot Terra as young spider expert Mike and Scarlet Johansson (from 'Ghost World') as his sister are also creditable. The cast is rounded out by an assortment of local ‘characters’; most notably Doug E Doug, as a conspiracy-theorist radio DJ. John Ennis, of TV’s 'Mr Show', makes a welcome cameo.

The special effects are smooth enough to make the film watchable (if not believable); every attempt is made to terrify the arachnophobes among us, with lingering close-ups on the spiders in both their mutated and unmutated states. The film is tight and pacy; certainly not an intelligent piece of cinema, but a likeable action film with a certain lunatic genius to it.

Lara Derham

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