The Giant Spider Invasion (1975)

Director:

Bill Rebane

Writers:

Richard L. Huff (screenplay) &
Robert Easton (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

October 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Creeping!...Crawling!...Crushing!

Plot:

Giant spiders from another dimension invade Wisconsin.

Plot Keywords:

Spider | Black Hole | Giant Spider | Observatory | Reverse Footage

Cast

Steve Brodie	...	Dr. Vance
Barbara Hale	...	Dr. Jenny Langer
Robert Easton	...	Kester
Leslie Parrish	...	Ev
Alan Hale Jr.	...	Sheriff (as Alan Hale)
Bill Williams	...	Dutch
Kevin Brodie	...	Perkins
Diane Lee Hart	...	Terry
Tain Bodkin	...	Preacher
Paul Bentzen	...	Billy
J. Stewart Taylor	...	Deputy
Christiane Schmidtmer	...	Helga (as Christiana Schmidtmer)
William W. Gillett Jr.	...	Rider
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David B. Hoff	...	Helicopter Pilot (voice)

Directed by
Bill Rebane

Writing credits
Richard L. Huff		(screenplay) &
Robert Easton		(screenplay)
Richard L. Huff		(from an original story by)

Produced by
William W. Gillett Jr.	....	executive producer
Richard L. Huff	....	producer
Dick Plautz	....	associate producer
Bill Rebane	....	producer
Mark L. Rosen	....	executive producer
Jack Willoughby	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Bill Rebane		(as Ito Rebane)

Cinematography by
Jack Willoughby		(director of cinematography)

Film Editing by
Barbara Pokras

Set Decoration by
Jutta Rebane

Makeup Department
Sue Brodie	....	hairdresser
Tom Schwartz	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Barbara J. Rebane	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kevin Brodie	....	first assistant director
Barbara J. Rebane	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Bill Rebane	....	set designer (as Ito)

Sound Department
Jim Bryan	....	sound effects editor (as Jim Ryan)
Ron Everett	....	boom man
Steve Hunter	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Richard Albain	....	special effects
Robert Millay	....	special effects

Stunts
Robert F. Nelson	....	stunt man
Dennis Wilder	....	stunt man

Camera and Electrical Department
Buck Gillett	....	grip
Karl Kitt	....	assistant cameraman
Carl Pfantz	....	grip
Dick Plautz	....	key grip (as Richard Plautz)
Dick Plautz	....	grip
Alan M. Rebane	....	gaffer (as Alan Rebane)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Robin Brodie	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Tikki Goldberg	....	assistant editor (as Ticci Goldberg)
Barbara Kress	....	assistant editor
Andrea Scharf	....	assistant editor

Music Department
John H. Arrufat	....	music editor (as John Arrufat)
Bill Rebane	....	music editor (as Ito Rebane)

Other crew
Barbara Kress	....	continuity
Barbara Kress	....	script
Joann McCracken	....	production secretary
Pat Phillips	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Cinema Group 75
• Transcentury Productions (as Transcentury Pictures)

Distributors

• Group 1 International Distribution Organization Ltd. (1975) (worldwide) (theatrical) (as The Group I Int'l. Dist. Org. Ltd. Los Angeles U.S.A.)
• Astral Films (1976) (Canada) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1978) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• BijouFlix Releasing
• Cut Entertainment Group (2004) (worldwide) (all media)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Retromedia Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Rhino Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Turner Classic Movies (TCM) (2009) (USA) (TV)
• VCL (video)
• World Beyond Video (video)

Special Effects

• Consolidated Film Industries (CFI) (optical effects) (as CFI)

Other Companies

• American Motors Co.  courtesy: vehicles (as American Motors Corporation)
• Consolidated Film Industries (CFI)  title (as CFI)
• Eastman Color  filmed in
• Enstrom Helicopter  courtesy of: Enstrom Helicopter (as Enstrom Helicopter Corporation, Menomonee, Michigan)
• Lincoln County, Wisconsin  the producers wish to acknowledge the cooperation of
• Marathon County Sheriff's Department  the producers wish to acknowledge the cooperation of (as Marathon County Sheriff's Department, Wausau, Wisconsin)
• Nicolett College and Technical Institute  the producers wish to acknowledge the cooperation of (as Nicolett College and Technical Institute, Rhinelander, Wisconsin)
• Owens of Illinois  the producers wish to acknowledge the cooperation of
• Ryder Sound  post production sound services (as Ryder Sound, Hollywood, Calif.)
• Town of Gleason, Wisconsin  the producers wish to acknowledge the cooperation of
• Town of Merrill, Wisconsin  the producers wish to acknowledge the cooperation of
• University of Wisconsin  the producers wish to acknowledge the cooperation of (as The University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, Wisconsin)

Also Known As:

Invasion of the Giant Spiders

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | USA:TV-14 | UK:A | Australia:PG | USA:PG | UK:15 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Gleason, Wisconsin, USA

Company:

Cinema Group 75

Trivia:

Alan Hale Jr. greets Davey (Kevin Brodie) in the opening scene with the line, "Hi, little buddy!" This is an obvious reference to his role as The Skipper on "Gilligan's Island" (1964).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Terry uses a steam iron to kill a tarantula, she is shown wearing a sleeveless yellow tank top. However, in the close up of the spider being killed, someone else is obviously wielding the iron. The arm shown is much longer than Terry's, the shirt is a different color than the one she was shown wearing, and it has a sleeve which has been rolled up. After the spider is killed, Terry is once again shown wearing a sleeveless yellow tank top.

Quotes:

Dr. J.R. Vance: Hi!
Dr. Jenny Langer: Hello.
Dr. J.R. Vance: Hi, I'm Dr. J.R. Vance from N.A.S.A.
Dr. Jenny Langer: Oh, I'm so glad you're here, Doctor. I'm Jenny Langer.
Dr. J.R. Vance: Nice to meet you. I have an appointment with your father.
Dr. Jenny Langer: Oh, no no. He passed away in 1962
Dr. J.R. Vance: Oh, I'm so sorry, then the appointment must be with your husband.
Dr. Jenny Langer: I'm not married.
Dr. J.R. Vance: I'm NOT sorry. Then it's probably with your brother.
Dr. Jenny Langer: No, my brother's an interior decorator in Oshkosh. You see, Doctor... Vance. I'm afraid your appointment is with me. I'm DOCTOR Jenny Langer.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "TCM Underground: Monster a Go-Go/The Giant Spider Invasion (#1.50)" (2008)

"This movie hates us, doesn't it?"

I saw The Giant Spider Invasion on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, like most of the users on this IMDb page. You know the funny thing about this movie is that as weird and stupid as it was, it actually told the story. So at least it had that going for it, but the problem is that the story really doesn't get itself across to where everyone could understand it, but mostly I would say that it was the lousy shooting of the movie, not to mention that the acting was just horrible. But I don't know about think it was totally bad for what it was, I mean it was just a typical low budget horror, despite how ridicules that giant spider looked.

Basically in Wisconsin, WOO, GO PACKERS, WOO!, there is a crash from an asteroid. The asteroid contains little rocks that have little spiders in them. The two residents that live right next to where it landed, Ev and Dan, take advantage and try to take the diamonds that are also in the rocks, but it may not be to their liking when the spiders take over the house and the whole town! But don't worry, Dr. Jenny and Dr. J.R. are on the case and are going to save Wisconsin from the giant spider that is attacking young girls in their underwear.

The Giant Spider Invasion is your typical low budget horror that reminds you more of those old 50's movies with the sci-fi action. While this is a bad movie, it's a fun like drive in type of film and has a few silly laughs here and there. Not to mention that it did make for a funny episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I loved how Jenny's line of screaming the doctor's name at the end turned out and the whole scene of the giant spider attacking the young girl in her undies in her house, that was just classic how fake the puppet was. But please watch the MSTK3 episode, I guarantee you'll have a lot of fun.

2/10