| 23rd | Top comedy films of the 2000s: 2002 |
| 48th | Top comedy films of the 2000s |
| 61st | Top disaster films |
| Eight Legged Freaks | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Ellory Elkayem |
| Produced by | Bruce Berman Dean Devlin |
| Written by | Jesse Alexander Ellory Elkayem |
| Starring | David Arquette Kari Wührer Scarlett Johansson Doug E. Doug |
| Music by | John Ottman |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 17, 2002 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million |
Eight Legged Freaks is a 2002 horror-comedy film directed by Ellory Elkayem and stars David Arquette, Kari Wührer, Scarlett Johansson and Doug E. Doug. 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.
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In the quiet mining town of Prosperity, Arizona, an accident causes a barrel of toxic waste to land in a swamp. An exotic spider collector named Joshua has been making regular visits to the site, where he collects crickets for his spiders. Although the bugs have ingested the toxins, he is oblivious since the insects seem unaffected. Joshua shows Mike, a local boy, his collection. After Mike leaves, Joshua is bitten by an escaped tarantula and accidentally knocks down the spider cages. He is killed by the spiders that grow larger and larger each second.
Mike attempts to return but is stopped 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, 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.
Mike sneaks out on foot and finds Joshua and the spiders missing, 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. Meanwhile the mines have reopened with the miners searching for a famous gold lode. They are soon consumed by the large spiders, who 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. Chris finds out that his Aunt Gladys and her dog are abducted by a male orb weaver in her basement. Sheriff Sam Parker 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, in her room and saves her.
Sam contacts Pete and tells him to bring all guns in the police station's possession and they travel to the trailer of an eccentric UFO enthusiast named Harlan (Doug E. Doug), knowing he has a radio station that he operates from within his trailer. As Sam broadcasts the threat over the radio, a giant tarantula assaults the trailer but they manage to escape. As the town is assaulted by vicious spiders, Sam tells everybody to evacuate to the mall. The main characters make it in safely along with surviving townspeople. 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. 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 a massive Consuela (female Orb Weaver spider). He uses a motorcycle to escape, and blows up the spiders and the mines utilizing Gladys' smoking addiction and the high concentrations of methane gas. The police finally arrive (brought by Pete and Harlan) after the danger has subsided.
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.
The film was originally titled Arach Attack or Arac Attack (under which it was released in 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.[citation needed]
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).[citation needed]
Director Ellory Elkayem got the idea from his 1997 short film Larger than Life, which also handled a spider-fighting storyline.
Eight Legged Freaks is a black comedy film about mutant spiders that grow to enormous proportions over a few weeks and begin looking for new food. Their contemporary menu now consists of the residents of a small town known as Prosperity, in Arizona, America.
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Chris: I'm a man, you're a woman. Oh my God, what am I doing here?
Sam: Who are the flowers for?
Chris: Oh, they're for you, actually.
Sam: (smelling flowers) Nice.
Chris: Yeah. Picked them myself.
(In the barber's)
Chris: So how much is a dentist's job these days?
Barber: 100 bucks.
Chris: 100 bucks? It's a good deal.
Barber: Indeed it's a good deal. But it's not a good deal in other places. Where they got money.
Bob: And jobs.
Chris: (Having doubts) Uh, maybe I don't need a shave. (Sits up abruptly)
Barber: Hey, slow down in there. (Leans forward) I wouldn't want to cut you. (Starts shaving.)
(In Ashley's truck. Ashley and her boyfriend Brett are kissing.)
Ash: Hey, Brett, slow down.
Brett: But I thought you loved me.
Ash: I do. I do. It's just - it's just -
Brett: What?
Ash: I just - don't want to lose my virginity in the front seat of a truck. Uh.
Brett: (laughing) Then why didn't you say so, I've got a blanket out in the back!
Ash: No, Brett, no, that's not it, I just don't think I'm ready!
Brett: Tom and Larry do it every night.
Ash: So fine, call them, I'm not like everyone else you know.
(Brett continues kissing her.)
Ash: Hey, Brett, I'm warning you -
(Brett continues kissing her)
Ash: Brett, I'm warning you, OK, stop!
Brett: I just can't help it... you bring out the beast in me! (Continues kissing)
Ash: Hey, Brett, get off! (Eletrocutes him in the balls with her stun gun. Brett screams and falls out of the jeep. Ash
half-laughs and Brett pisses his pants.)
Brett: God dammit, I pissed my pants! Hey, don't you think you're over reacting a bit, I was just complimenting a ?
Ash: (Furiously) Over reacting? You know, I can't believe my mum was worried about you, do you have any idea how embarrasing that is? (Slams door shut and drives off.)
Brett: (Shouts from ground) Hey, Ash! Hey Ash, wait! I'm sorry!
(On the sand dunes, mutated Habronattus orbus appear.)
Chris McCormack - David Arquette
Sam Parker - Kari Wurher
Harlan - Doug E. Doug
Mike Parker - Scott Terra
Ashley Parker - Scarlett Johansson
   | Internet Movie Database entry for ''Eight Legged Freaks'' - Eight Legged Freaks (2002) |
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