19 March 2024
Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
94 min.
Directed by John Cardos.
With William Shatner, Woody Strode, Lieux Dressler, David MacLean, Altovise Davis, Natasha Ryan, Tiffany Bolling, Marcy Lafferty.
Nature goes awry (again) in this one.

A small town in Arizona begins to experience some bizarre tragedies. Livestock is dying off inexplicably. Insect specialist Diane Ashley (Bolling) is certain it has something to do with hostile tarantulas.

But local veterinarian Robert Hansen (Shatner) is skeptical. Why would tarantulas turn so aggressive and violent?

Turns out the use of pesticides is to blame. Seems the tarantulas are congregating in large groups, so that they can then attack larger animals - such as calves - and feed en masse.

But if that's the case, how long will it be before the eight-legged monsters turn their fangs towards humans?

Much better than you'd think, this cult favorite has some good effects, and benefits from its quite liberal use of the offending arachnids. Last but not least, Shatner is surprisingly good here, delivering a performance that's lowkey, subdued, and entirely believable.

Plus, it's got a killer, homespun ending!

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