Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Ellory Elkayem

Writers (WGA):

Ellory Elkayem (story) &
Randy Kornfield (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

17 July 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Do you hate spiders? Do you really hate spiders? Well they don't like you either.

Plot:

A variety of horrible poisonous spiders get exposed to a noxious chemical that causes them to grow to monumental proportions.

Plot Keywords:

Spider | Cell Phone | Father Son Relationship | Radio Station | Handcuffs

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

David Arquette	...	Chris McCormick
Kari Wuhrer	...	Sheriff Samantha Parker
Scott Terra	...	Mike Parker
Scarlett Johansson	...	Ashley Parker
Doug E. Doug	...	Harlan Griffith
Rick Overton	...	Deputy Pete Willis
Leon Rippy	...	Wade
Matt Czuchry	...	Bret
Jay Arlen Jones	...	Leon
Eileen Ryan	...	Gladys
Riley Smith	...	Randy
Matt Holwick	...	Larry
Jane Edith Wilson	...	Emma
Jack Moore	...	Amos
Roy Gaintner	...	Floyd
Don Champlin	...	Leroy
John Storey	...	Mark (as John Christopher Storey)
David Earl Waterman	...	Norman
Randi J. Klein	...	Waitress #1 (as Randi Klein)
Terey Summers	...	Waitress #2
John Ennis	...	Cop #1
Ryan C. Benson	...	Cop #2
Bruiser	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tom Noonan	...	Joshua Taft (uncredited)

Directed by
Ellory Elkayem

Writing credits (WGA)
Ellory Elkayem		(story) &
Randy Kornfield		(story)
Jesse Alexander		(screenplay) &
Ellory Elkayem		(screenplay)

Produced by
Bruce Berman	....	producer
Dean Devlin	....	producer
Roland Emmerich	....	executive producer
William Fay	....	executive producer
Kelly Van Horn	....	co-producer
Peter Winther	....	executive producer

Original Music by
John Ottman

Cinematography by
John S. Bartley

Film Editing by
David Siegel

Casting by
Paula Rosenberg
April Webster

Production Design by
Charles Breen

Art Direction by
Chas. Butcher

Set Decoration by
Marcia Calosio

Costume Design by
Alix Friedberg

Makeup Department
Leo Corey Castellano	....	key creature/makeup effects
Kim Collea	....	makeup artist
Scott W. Farley	....	key hair stylist
Bill Johnson	....	creature/makeup effects department head
Rick Sharp	....	makeup department head
Tina Sims	....	hair stylist
Scott Spencer	....	makeup effects crew
Claudia Breckenridge	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Brent Conley	....	special makeup effects crew (uncredited)

Production Management
James K. Jensen	....	post-production supervisor
Kelly Van Horn	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paul F. Bernard	....	second assistant director
Dominick Scarola	....	dga trainee
Lars P. Winther	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Matthew Bekoff	....	set designer
Vicki Dittemore	....	set dresser
Beverli Eagan	....	set designer
Neil Gahm	....	propmaker
Ralph Hall	....	set carpenter
Ralph Hall	....	set carpenter
Mark Hurtado	....	storyboard artist
Terry Kempf	....	construction coordinator
Richard Lambert	....	leadman
Catherine A. McCabe	....	art department coordinator
Keith Mosca	....	property master
Paul S. Power	....	storyboard artist
Chris Rogers	....	art department staff assistant
Steve Roll	....	carpenter
Gregg Singer	....	picture car coordinator
Kristen Spinning	....	stand-by painter
John A. Stewart Jr.	....	assistant property master

Sound Department
Christopher Assells	....	sound effects editor
Brian Basham	....	adr recordist
Ron Bedrosian	....	adr mixer
Michael J. Broomberg	....	foley artist
Kerry Ann Carmean	....	sound effects editor
Dino Dimuro	....	sound effects editor
Jim Fitzpatrick	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gregg Frazier	....	boom operator: re-shoots
Gary Gegan	....	sound re-recording mixer
Peter Geoco	....	production sound mixer
Dan Hegeman	....	sound effects editor
Chris Hogan	....	dialogue supervisor
Matthew Iadarola	....	supervising re-recording mixer
Daniel S. Irwin	....	sound editor
Kate Jesse	....	boom operator
Carey Milbradt	....	sound editor
Gary Mundheim	....	sound effects editor
Greg Steele	....	adr mixer
Dirk Stout	....	sound utility
Wade Wilson	....	sound editor
Scott Wolf	....	supervising sound editor
Jeff Glueck	....	sound engineer (uncredited)
Douglas J. Schulman	....	production sound mixer: re-shoot (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ron Colucci	....	special effects
Yves De Bono	....	special effects coordinator
Jens Döldissen	....	special effects supervisor: additional miniatures
Phil H. Fravel	....	special effects
Ken Gorrell	....	special effects technician
Jeremy Hays	....	special effects supervisor: pick-up shots
Thomas Kittle	....	special effects
Matthew Lillis	....	special effects technician
Robert 'Lucky' Rieker	....	special effects
Russell Tyrrell	....	special effects foreman
Mark Williams	....	special effects
Wayne Kennedy	....	modeller (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Carol Ashley	....	3D artist, lighter & compositor: CFX
Carol Ashley	....	technical director: CFX
Andy Barrios	....	digital compositor
Thad Beier	....	shader writer: fur
Francois Bordez	....	technical director
Jennifer Bourne	....	digital artist
John Bozzalla	....	Visual Effects Production Assistant (as John Bozzalla Jr.)
Michelle Butler	....	digital compositor
Darrin Butters	....	character animator
Robert Castaneda	....	character animator
Dominick Cecere	....	CG character animator
Fabrice Ceugniet	....	research and development technical director: CFX
Andy Chen	....	digital lighter
Kay Cloud	....	senior technical director
Robert Cribbett	....	digital compositor
Tim T. Cunningham	....	visual effects coordinator: pre-production
Thomas Dadras	....	visual effects supervisor
Matthew Davies	....	effects animator
Jon Doyle	....	digital compositor
Nickson Fong	....	senior technical director
Scott Gastellu	....	roto/paint artist
Lynn M. Gephart	....	visual effects associate producer
Ido Gondelman	....	lead character animator: Centropolis FX
Juan Gonzalez	....	matchmover
Karen E. Goulekas	....	visual effects supervisor
Greg Groenekamp	....	visual effects compositor: CFX
Joachim Grüninger	....	visual effects supervisor
Abra Grupp	....	compositing supervisor
Jerry Hall	....	digital compositor
Greg Hanigan	....	digital imaging supervisor
Todd Harvey	....	research and development technical director: CFX
David Hofmann	....	senior matchmover
Jaimie Lee Jota	....	visual effects production assistant: CFX-DasWerk
Danny Keller	....	character animator
Keith Kellogg	....	character animator
Sevendalino Khay	....	character animator
Scott Kilburn	....	senior technical director: CFX
Andy King	....	visual effects R&D supervisor: CFX
Kenneth Kurras	....	effects animator
Kelvin Lee	....	animation supervisor
Timothy Loughran	....	Visual Effects Production Assistant
Anthony Mabin	....	senior digital effects compositor: CFX
James Marbas	....	digital effects supervisor
Richard Matsushita	....	color and lighting technical director
Richard Matsushita	....	digital artist
Drew McKeen	....	visual effects producer
Steve Miller	....	assistant visual effects editor: CFX
Robert Minsk	....	head of software
Paolo Moscatelli	....	computer graphics supervisor: CFX
Alex Neymark	....	systems director
Alexander Nowotny	....	matchmover
Rob Ostir	....	digital effects artist
James Park	....	3D matchmover
Mylène Pepe	....	research and development technical director: CFX
Cristin Pescosolido	....	compositor
David Rand	....	effects animator
Rick Sander	....	digital effects artist
Kosta Saric	....	visual effects editor: CFX
Steven Seed	....	senior systems engineer: CFX
Britta Sell	....	miniature effects: DOP (as Britta Mangold)
Ira Shain	....	character animator
Bret St. Clair	....	digital model/texture supervisor
Joe Strasser	....	texture painter technical director
Andy Tamandl	....	digital artist: CFX
Ka Yaw Tan	....	digital artist
Hector Tantoco	....	digital artist (as Dante Tantoco)
Nowell Valeri	....	digital artist: CFX
Paul Van Camp	....	senior effects animator
Mortimer Warlimont	....	senior model maker
Brian Wolf	....	digital compositor
Manny Wong	....	creature animator
Xye	....	visual effects
Jason Yanofsky	....	digital artist
Jason Yanofsky	....	visual effects artist
Amanda Burton	....	digital rotoscope/paint artist (uncredited)
Joe Mandia	....	character animator (uncredited)

Stunts
John Alden	....	stunts
Heather Banta	....	stunt performer
Pat Banta	....	stunts
Charlie Brewer	....	stunt coordinator
Kelly Brown	....	stunts
David Castillo	....	motorcycle stunts
James M. Churchman	....	stunts
Louie Franco	....	motorcycle stunts
Andy Gill	....	stunts
John Hateley	....	stunts
Jim Holley	....	motorcycle stunts
Jim Holley	....	stunts (uncreditied)
'Mad' Mike Jones	....	motorcycle stunts
Pat Larkin	....	stunts
Alex Madison	....	stunts (as Gail Monian)
Rick Miller	....	motorcycle stunts
Vicki Sims	....	stunts
Russell Tyrrell	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Matt Balzarini	....	second assistant camera
David E. Baron	....	first assistant camera
Robert Bullard	....	second assistant camera
Gary L. Camp	....	Steadicam operator
Gary L. Camp	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Kenny S. Christiansen	....	electrical best boy
Keith Collea	....	video supervisor
Jay Coolidge	....	first assistant: " b" camera
John Coolidge	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Jon Baronn Farmer	....	still photographer
Anna Foerster	....	additional photographer
Michael Green	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Curt Pair	....	camera operator: digital betacam
Tim Ryan	....	key grip
Scott C. Williman	....	best boy
Sully Jacome-Wilkes	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Karen Sundt	....	grip (uncredited)

Animation Department
Sari Gennis	....	character animator
Scott Holmes	....	animator
Alice V. Kaiserian	....	animator
Cliff Mueller	....	animator

Casting Department
Scott Baldyga	....	casting associate
Cindi Reiss	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Blanca Garcia	....	costumer
Maggie McFarland	....	key set costumer

Editorial Department
Michel Aller	....	first assistant editor
Ryan Chan	....	assistant editor
Mo Henry	....	negative cutter
David Orr	....	color timer
Nicholas 'Nikko' Tsiotsias	....	first assistant film editor
Timothy Colletti	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Bill Daly	....	post-production executive (uncredited)

Music Department
Peter Afterman	....	music supervisor
Brent Brooks	....	music editor
Jessica Clements	....	music coordinator
Joey Deluxe	....	composer: song "Itsy Bitsy Spider"
Amanda Goodpaster	....	music editor
Larry Groupé	....	orchestrator
Damon Intrabartolo	....	conductor
Damon Intrabartolo	....	orchestrator
Steve Juliani	....	music preparation
Frank Macchia	....	orchestrator
John Ottman	....	orchestrator
John Rodd	....	orchestral scoring recordist
Bart Samolis	....	musician
Casey Stone	....	music scoring mixer
Frank Welker	....	special vocal effects
Margaret Yen	....	associate music supervisor
Larry Groupé	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Transportation Department
George Bolton	....	driver
Jason LaFontain	....	driver
Michael B. Russell	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Robin Anderson	....	script supervisor
Alan Benoit	....	location manager
Aaron Boyd	....	assistant: Roland Emmerich
Joe Childress	....	production assistant
Brent Conley	....	puppeteer
Aaron Cullen	....	staff assistant
Gina M. Di Santo	....	assistant: Peter Winther (as Gina Di Santo)
Terry J. Erdmann	....	unit publicist
John W. Ervin	....	set production assistant
Christian Feldhaus	....	first assistant accountant
Nicholas Fitzgerald	....	production assistant (as Nicholas S. Fitzgerald)
Cindy Franke	....	assistant production coordinator
Kim Hyde	....	set medic
Bill Johnson	....	creature effects department head
Bill Johnson	....	puppeteer
Shari Lee	....	production secretary
Daryl C. Lefever	....	production accountant
Michael McNally	....	key paramedic
Mike McNally	....	key set medic
Rob Million	....	spiders provider
Freddy Mojica	....	caterer
David Nico	....	production assistant: Los Angeles
Rachel Olschan	....	assistant: Dean Devlin
Karen O'Toole	....	production coordinator
Matt Power	....	set production assistant
Marie Randall	....	key craft service
Cris Rankin	....	animal wrangler
Tamara Taillie	....	assistant: Ellory Elkayem
Karen Turner	....	payroll
Amanda Uber	....	staff coordinator
Jeff Smith	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Lynnanne Zager	....	monster voice (uncredited)

Thanks
Lewis Arquette	....	in memory of
Don Devlin	....	in memory of
Pilar Seurat	....	in memory of (as Pilar Cerveris)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)
• Village Roadshow Pictures (in association with)
• NPV Entertainment
• Electric Entertainment
• Centropolis Entertainment

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (2002) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Warner Sogefilms S.A. (2002) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (UK) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Filmverleih (2002) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Village Roadshow Entertainment (2002) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD) (VHS)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Warner Bros. (2003) (Argentina) (all media)
• Argentina Video Home (2003) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2003) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Veronica (2005) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)
• Fox-Warner (2002) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (200?) (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• CFX
• MagicMove GmbH (miniatures)

Other Companies

• Central Casting  extras casting
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes
• D'Caterers  catering
• Varèse Sarabande  soundtrack

Also Known As:

Arac Attack (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence, brief sexuality and language.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #38699) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:14 (theatrical rating) | Malaysia:U | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Austria:10 | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-11 | France:-12 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:I | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

When the town's people have fled into the mall, the mayor, Wade, asks the goofy sheriff's assistant Pete what the hell just attacked him. Pete answers: "A spider, man", swallowing the syllable 'a', making it an obvious reference to Spider-Man, Marvel's comic book superhero.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Sam is driving the forklift to the door, she says "This should hold them". Her mouth never moves.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Harlan: Do you know fear?

Movie Connections:

References Neighbors (1981)

Soundtrack:

Strangers in the Night

Mindless and Totally Entertaining

A good kid actor that's not annoying and you actually kind of like. Check.

A hot mom/daughter combo, neither of which do or say anything annoying during the entire film. Check. (this may be a first) David Arquette remaining likable, which he always kind of is. Check.

Somewhat funny black character who's obsessed with aliens. Check.

Nobody is exempt from being killed or taken by spiders. Check.

The spiders are fast and come in great variety of types. Check.

The soundtrack is totally insane, would have made Frank Zappa proud. Check.

The CG effects are cheesy in areas and there are a few tiny holes in the plot, but overall this movie is ENTERTAINING. That's what I look for - was I entertained or was I checking my watch every 15-20 minutes. It's actually somewhat unpredictable in spots - the town villain who causes the disaster doesn't meet the demise you would expect...

This movie is a classic example of a "town overrun" style film, similar to Gremlins - you watch the slow progression at the outset unfold into complete chaos as the characters (in most cases) are too slow to realize what is happening, refuse to believe, think it's a big joke, etc. Well, anyone who does that for too long in this movie is immediately killed. Good riddance. You'll like this movie. It's fun, gross and all of the characters are kind of funny or at least are not annoying. It's rare that I would ever say that about any movie. I tend to only review movies that I think get an unfair reputation and this is one of them. It deserves at least a 7.0, not a 5.6.