At one point in this spoof reminiscent of the b-movies of the fifties, the lascivious professor calls his two bimbo students The Doublemint Twins. These two (played with horrible abandon by Bevin McGraw and some unnamed starlet) are a hoot to watch, they are definitely el stupido. (Their lesbian scene is unnecessary, but not surprising!). The spider monsters are fine, when viewed from a distance; only when there are close-ups are they obviously fake! But Rob Monokiewicz as the studly hero is fun to watch; he looks like a law student, but his quiet understated performance should have gotten him more roles. Irene Joseph as the professor's assistant is pretty fun, too. Dan Merriman as Deke is awful, but not to the point of absurdity. Brett Piper directs with his tongue in his cheek, and ARACHNIA, though not a classic, is a fun time passer.
Giant Spider-Monsters
During a meteor storm, a large meteor explodes on a mountainside and opens a system of caves. The explosion also causes the crash of a small airplane carrying an archeologist and some of his students.
It is cold and dark and they are far from any sign of civilization but get lucky when they find an abandoned shack. Huddling in the shack leads to a gratuitous bath scene and then introduces a new character; an old man who owns the shack. He takes the survivors back to his house and they make the discovery of the giant arachnids (but not until after a gratuitous lesbian scene).
The spider-like monsters need to be stopped. The are social creatures and not loners like true spiders.
In the end things work out in a fashion as these movies usually do. The acting is not as bad as others have said, but it would have been nice if the casts "beauty" was actually pretty. The old man is a hoot and the archeologist is fun to hate.
The creature are done in a marvelous stop-motion style (with some full scale models) reminiscent of The Black Scorpion. The critters are good, ut the sets are obviously small models.
Fun in the B-Movie style and sure to please fans of cheesy movies. A body ripped apart and plentiful nudity make this one unsuitable for some.
Good B-movie Fun
This is not a great movie, but it accomplishes what it sets out to do, which is capture some of the fun of a B-movie from the '50s and '60s. Thare are two passable performances, but mostly horrible acting. What makes the movie are Brett Piper's stop-motion spiders. If you get the DVD, I recommend only waching it with the commentary track on. It drowns out the bad, boring dialogue and the terrible acting and you learn a little about low-budget filmmaking.
You have to admit---a monster that is part worm/mosquito and has tentacles to boot, is an original idea. ICE CRAWLERS sets no new standards for monster movies, but it's done in such a creepy, let's go back to the fifties style, that it worked for me. There is some confusion in the beginning as to what the two "scientists" are really up to, but we know it's no good. John Carl Buechler (who got his start on one of the Friday the 13th movies) does an admirable job in creating atmospheric tension, and draws acceptable performances from a cast of unknowns. (Unless you saw RODENTZ, which featured Allen Lee Haff, who plays the cowboy Ernest in this one). There are some comic relief moments, especially when hunky Tom tells someone they have more conspiracy theories than an Oliver Stone movie.... More Info about this DVD Director(s): John Carl Buechler DVD Release Date: Released the 22 July 2003 Usually ships within 24 hours
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First of, I completely agree with the other reviews for this movie. My five year old insisted on renting this movie, because he was hoping to see those "scary sea creatures". He was totally disappointed, as was I with the movie quality. Most computer-generated special effects were too much like a video game clips, Movie plot was silly. The worst thing was the sound quality. Music was way too loud comparing to the dialogs' sound. Actors mumbled a lot, when I tried turning the "subtitles" on to understand what they were saying, I found out that there was no option for it. Basically I missed half of the conversations. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): David Keith DVD Release Date: Released the 18 November 2003 Usually ships within 4 to 5 days
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There is an island where scientists are running studies and tests in the hope of increasing the world's food supply. What makes the scientists dumb? 1) They are doing the experiments for the Department of Defense. 2) To reach their goals they are creating giant Komodo dragons (one of nature's greatest consumers). 3) A military test is run on the island and they are defeated by the dragons and the scientists say the experiment is not ready for that stage (how does this increase food supplies?).
The general in charge has to make some tough decisions regarding the project. The scientists in charge return to the island (why weren't they there to begin with?). To complicate things, some civilians in the form of casino robbers arrive on the island. They robbed an unusual casino, one that was... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Tim Abell DVD Release Date: Released the 13 April 2004 Usually ships within 24 hours
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The lack of money shows especially on the 'street scenes'. They're always in the same spot in the middle of the 2 or 3 buildings where all the characters live, in 'the rear window' style. This is OK given the plot's nature, the problem is there are almost no extras and no sound effects of city life either, it's like a post-apocalyptic movie where half the population are dead. The main character's room is under-produced too. Otherwise it's quite entertaining. Strangely, the movie succeeds to hold your interest during the more subdued first and second act, but falls apart in the last act, when all the action and special effects start kicking in. I think this part was ackwardly edited and isn't very effective. The dvd has a good widescreen anamorphic transfer, and the cast's audition... More Info about this DVD Director(s): J.T. Petty DVD Release Date: Released the 14 October 2003 Usually ships within 2 to 3 weeks
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This movie, which according to the director on the DvD's commentary was shot in a scant 6 days...and I believe it.
Dedicated to Doris Wishman, the purveyor of such dubious masterpieces as "Deadly Weapons", "Satan Was a Lady", "Double Agent 73", "A Night to Dismember" among others, this film certainly live up these standards, however low.
Basically some leeches (intentionally) mutated by steroids are stalking a college located conveniently next to the swamp where the leeches lived. Its choice victims are the hot looking cast, male and female.
And this is where this movie deviates from the usual cheapo screamathons. Instead of screaming half naked nubile female victims, this movie boasted tons of half naked guys in speedos and underwear. The director almost lovingly inserted lingering... More Info about this DVD Director(s): David DeCoteau DVD Release Date: Released the 02 September 2003 Usually ships within 3 to 5 days
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