From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Arachnophobia (1990)

Posted on September 3, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to another “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update that is part of our countdown to Halloween 2025. For this one I think we will be taking a look at a classic PG-13 fright flick that is all about killer spiders and is produced by Steven Spielberg. That film of course is Arachnophobia! This film sparks fear in many who truly do fear spiders as this film has hundreds of them running around homes and yards and even crawling up sink pipes and under doors…I am sure for many this is one of the scariest films of the 1990’s, those who truly have arachnophobia that is. So if you are ready, get your bug suits on as it’s time to check out these deadly spiders and the film that spawned them.

Let’s first take a look at the Spiders who are the human killers of this film and their ways of deal death to them. The Spiders are a mix of a new species from Venezuela and an American female House Spider that mate and create a very sinister short-lived species. These new spiders are fast as well as sneaky and can quickly descend on a person that is their prey. Their appearance as well can shock and scare people and can even cause major panic among those with a fear of spiders. The Spiders’ main way of dealing death is the poison they inject into a person after biting them with their fangs, and death comes quickly and painfully and triggers seizures and heart failure. They are deadly by themselves as well as in packs and can sneak into places via cracks as well as drains. They also have a Queen that can lay lots of eggs and cause them to spread fast, and if they are not stopped, they will kill and take over towns and cities causing death with every bite. They are also able to survive basic insecticide as they are immune to its effects and will also kill other insects and animals around in order to protect the eggs of their unborn. While they are very deadly, they can be killed and destroyed as they can be stepped on and crushed, they can be killed by highly toxic powerful insecticide, they can be burned with fire, or shot with a nail gun, electrocuted via a power box…but mostly father time is not on their side as they quickly die of age. This new species Of Spiders are super dangerous as one bite will kill you instantly and while they can be stopped they remain a major threat to humans and are very deadly.

So now that we have looked at these deadly spiders and their ways of killing humans, I think we should take a look at the 1990 film they are from, Arachnophobia! Like before I will be taking the film’s write up from our friends at IMDB and then I will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts on the film. So if you are ready, let’s stay out of the webs and away from the spiders and take a look at this cult classic family horror film.

Arachnophobia (1990)

“A large spider from the jungles of South America is accidentally transported in a crate with a dead body to America where it mates with a local spider. Soon after, the residents of a small California town disappear as the result of spider bites from the deadly spider offspring. It’s up to a couple of doctors aided by an insect exterminator to annihilate these eight-legged freaks before they take over the entire town.”

Horror movies were very popular at the cinemas and drive-in theaters even into the early 90’s and lots of kids enjoyed heading to the theater to watch them. That’s why there was a rash of PG and PG-13 horror films being released and wanting in on this horror action was Disney as well as Steven Spielberg who got on board with the idea of a horror comedy film that circled around killer spiders loose in a small town and with first time director Frank Marshall leading the film and Don Jakoby and Wesley Strick writing the screenplay. They new that this film would be a hit with the youngsters as well as adults as it was intended to both scare and make you laugh. The film was given a budget of $22 million and hired on for cast were names like Jeff Daniels, John Goodman, Julian Sands, Harley Jane Kozak, Brian McNamara and Kathy Kinney to name a few, and most of the filming took place in California with the jungle shots being filmed in Venezuela. The film had over 300 Avondale Spiders on set, and their safety was taken very seriously as actors and crew had to make sure to not hurt any of them. In certain scenes they used dummy spiders as well as made the actors wear special shoes to pull off scenes that involved crushing them. In order to make the crunch and squash sounds of spiders under boots they would step on potato chips and mustard packs. The film was heavily marketed with trailers, print ads and TV spots as Disney, who was distributing the film thought that they had a hit on their hands, and they were right as the film would be released in theaters on July 18, 1990 as a big summer release and would bring in a total of $53.2million dollars and was a hit also with viewers and critics with the film winning the Best Horror Film award at the Saturn Awards. The film would also be a huge success when released on home media both in rental and home sales, and this only helped build the film’s cult following. The film also proved to studios that PG-13 horror films could work if done right and many compare the films mood and tone to such films as The Birds and Jaws. The film was released in 1990 alongside such other Horror Films as Basket Case 2, Bride Of Re-Animator, Child’s Play 2, The Exorcist III, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Maniac Cop 2, Nightbreed, Predator 2 and Tremors to name a few. And still to this day the film has a major cult following and is even rumored to be getting remade by James Wan’s production company.

The first time I saw Arachnophobia was when my Dad rented it for a family movie night at home while we lived in Waynesville, as while my brother and I wanted to see it in the theater we just never got to as our theater trip around that time was seeing Gremlins 2: The New Batch for us, and seeing how Gremlins was a favorite watch in our house it made only sense for us to see Part 2 over other films at the time. I think my Dad rented it not only because my brother and I were always into horror movies, but because he was a fan of John Goodman who at the time was very popular due to his role as Dan Connor on the hit sitcom “Roseanne”. I really enjoyed Arachnophobia and can remember the kids at school talking about it as the small town we lived in had tons of spiders around with lots of them being Wolf Spiders and we would all do the “What If” that one had a poisonous bite. And like all good films I bought much of the merchandise released like the soundtrack on cassette tape and even the book based on it that was at my school’s book fair. What makes this film work is that it plays on the fear of spiders and the threat of being bitten by one that will kill you instantly, and when you are a kid creepy crawlies were a big part of Halloween time and it was put into your mind that spiders are to be feared! The film was very well cast with it being really cool to see actor Julian Sands in a good guy role as I always knew him as The Warlock, and I think he is a very underrated actor in general. At times the film is very over acted and that is very fitting as it gives it that true B-Movie feel and makes it feel like it would have been at home during the 1950’s playing alongside such films as The Deadly Mantis and Tarantula at the drive-in as apart of a double feature. While the film is not overly violent or bloody, the scares truly come from the spiders themselves as well as some of the effects that show spiders crawling out of the mouth of one of their victims…just gross. And I should also point out that actress Kathy Kinney who plays Blaire Kendall, the wife of the town’s mortician, is known for her role as Mimi Bobeck on the sitcom The Drew Carey Show and she also had a small role in the Christmas film Scrooged. Over all if you are looking for a good, spooky, family friendly horror film to give Arachnophobia a shot as it’s an entertaining watch. Also John Goodman is awesome and is lots of fun in this film as the weirdo exterminator.

So now that we have chatted about the killer spiders and the film they are from, I think it’s the time on this update that we take a look at the comic book adaptation that was released by Disney Comics to help promote the film when it was in the cinemas. And I really do like that this PG-13 family friendly horror film got the comic book treatment as I think the film lent itself to be a comic with all the creepy crawlies and weird characters. And I would like to thank Bell Book And Comic for having this comic in stock and making the update possible. And I would also like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, their entertainment value and their art and story. So if you are ready, let’s head to Canaima, California and avoid these spiders!

Arachnophobia # 1 ***
Released in 1990 Cover Price $2.95 Disney # 1 of 1

In the jungles of Venezuela goofy photographer Jerry Manley has joined a expedition to document spiders that are found deep in the wild, they group finds a new species of Spiders and Jerry gets bitten by one and ends up dying and is flown back to America with one of the spiders in the casket! His body arrives in Canaima, California and once the coffin is open the spider escapes and is now loose in the town. Meanwhile Dr. Ross Jennings and his wife Molly have just bought a new home with a old barn that is filled with spiders, and Ross is terrified of them all cause of a childhood trauma. The spider finds a mate and creates a very deadly new species, and worse for Ross the doctor he was replacing has decided to not retire yet causing him to have to wait around before he takes over the practice in the small town he didn’t want to move to, and worse the old doctor is out of touch on how to treat peoples illness. The new breed of spiders are spreading out in the town and are biting people and causing them to pass away from their poison and the two doctors have different theories on what is happing, but while this is going on Molly meets the town exterminator named Delbert McClintock who hates bugs and loves to kill them. More and more people are dying and including the old doctor from the spider bites, and Ross is doing his best to try and figure out what is happening as the new spiders has yet to be figured out to be the killers. Ross ends up calling Dr. James Atherton, a spider specialist, for help who is the man that lead the expedition in Venezuela when Jerry was killed and he and one of his helpers head to Canaima to investigate these deaths. The town is starting to be over ran with these killers spiders and Dr. Jennings, Dr. Atherton and Delbert McClintock go on a quest to try and find the new species queen to stop the species growth and along the way find more and more people dead as well as more and more aggressive spiders. The queen ends up killing Dr. Atherton as the nest is in the barn of Dr. Ross and when they all show up at the Ross home they find it is over ran and Ross must get his wife and kids out of the home and Delbert McClintock tries to hold the spider back. In the end Dr. Jennings has a showdown with the spider queen in his cellar and ends up killing her using fire and a nail gun, and with that the new species of spider dies off and Dr. Ross Jennings is a hero and finds that he loves living in Canaima.

This comic adaptation is lots of fun and is able to play up the horrors of the spiders as well as the silliness of the characters very well, and while some moments seem to come out of left field like them suddenly showing that Ross Jennings had kids it somehow just kind of works for this comic as it plays up on the more b-movie feel of the story. The plot is this a new very poisonous spider species is invading a small town and the local Doctor along with the towns Exterminator must find a way to bring the horror to a stop by finding the queen of the species before she hatches more eggs. The main hero of the story is Dr. Ross Jennings, a city doctor who finds himself in a small town who must battle the old ways of the out dated town doctor, get over his fear of spiders and has to be the hero that brings down the queen in a blaze of fire. A very unlikely hero but one who does what he must to protect his family and town from being killed. Delbert McClintock is a heavyset goof ball who is the towns exterminator, and his main goal in life is to kill bugs as he just hates them and he is a good guy to have on your side during a infestation like this. Dr. James Atherton is kind of a mystery as while I think he wants to help skill the spiders, I also think he wants to study them as his main interest in in new spider species. The Spiders are killing machines as they bite and kill all types of people from town and seem to do so even when not provoked and that makes them so dangerous and shows why the people of Canaima should be scared to death of them. The comic is not bloody at all but does have lots of death as people are being killed by spiders all over the comic, and it plays the creepy horror and not for bloody horror for the scares. The cover is cool but is kind of lazy as it is just the movie poser with comic logos added, the interior art is done by Dan Spiegle and is good stuff even if the character look nothing like the actors who played them. If you are a fan of the film or like more of a kid friendly type of Horror give this one a read as it will surely entertain you. Check out the artwork below to see the style used by Spiegle for this adaptation comic.

As you can see, Arachnophobia is a super fun family friendly Horror film that made for a very fun comic book read thanks to Disney Comics. And I for one would like to see what James Wan and his production company does when they get around to filming the remake, though I would like to see it done as a reboot or sequel personally myself. I have to also point out you can never go wrong with a movie that has a spider on fire being killed by a nail gun, just classic B-Movie stuff. And with that this update has came to an end, but do not worry we have more horror-themed updates coming your way as for this month I am going to stick with PG-13 horror movies that got the comic book treatment and our next one will be House II: The Second Story and the Marvel Comics adaptation of it! So until next time, read a horror comic or three, watch a horror film or two an as always support your local horror host. See you next update for a travel through dimensions and time in order to protect a Crystal Skull.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

Posted on May 12, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to another “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update. As you can see, this year has been packed with lots of Horror Comics that are based on films as I have been in that kind of mood, as these type of comics are something I have been a big fan of since I was a kid. This update we will be taking a look at a film that once more made giant spiders both scary and silly for movie goers in 2002 and that film is a Warner Brothers release called Eight Legged Freaks! The film would end up getting the comic book treatment thanks to Wilstorm Comics, the sub company of DC Comics! So if you are ready, let’s avoid these rampaging giant spiders and let’s talk about a Horror Film and Comic!

So let’s start by taking a look at the massive spiders that are the killing machines of the film and comic, who have many ways of dealing death to humans. The Spiders started out normal size and were from the collection of Joshua Taft, who had a massive arachnid farm and are all types of breeds like Orb-Weavers, Tiger Wolf Spiders, Spitting Spiders, Trapdoor Spiders, Jumping Spiders and a Tarantula, all who have their own ways of trapping and attacking their prey, but things get worse when these spiders are feed grasshoppers from a local pond that have been near a toxic chemical that causes the spiders to grow in size and become more and more aggressive. When they escape the spider farm, they attack the small town of Prosperity, Arizona and kill any living thing in their way from human to animal. The spiders are lead by Consuela, the female Orb Weaver, as she calls the shots and almost all the spiders are attacking to impress her as she is truly their Queen. The Spiders are pack killers who attack in large groups but are just as deadly on their own, and their size as well as appearance truly strikes fear into the hearts of the humans who have the displeasure of running into them. The Spiders have many ways to attacking and tracking humans with some using the ground to pull victims in while others will leap onto their human prey and they all do so with super fast speed. They also have long fangs to bite into flesh as well as spread poison into blood streams. They can also use their legs to grab and pull their victims to death. They also feed on the humans they attack with some of them being webbed up in order to eat later and even give as a gift to their Queen for her to snack on. The Tarantula himself is like a tank as his massive size and power allows him to break through doors, walls and obstacles in his way as he really is a powerhouse of death and destruction. Plus again the sheer number of them and the way they work together with deadly speed and precision make them the ultimate killing machines. But while The Spiders are very deadly and way larger than your normal arachnids, they can be killed by fire, explosions, gunshots and even stabbing can punch their final ticket to Spider Heaven. So in other words these chemically enhanced spiders are super deadly and super effective at killing humans.

So as you can see, these mutated large spiders are very dangerous and can kill a human very quickly with so many different painful ways, but now that we have chatted about them I think that it’s time that we take a look at the film they are from and that’s of course Eight Legged Freaks! And like always, we will be taking the film’s write up for our good old friends at IMDB, and then I will write about the film’s production and then my thoughts on the film. So if you are ready, grab some massive bug spray and lets talk about these eight legged freaks!

Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

“After a long absence, Chris McCormick returns to his quiet hometown of Prosperity, Arizona, to reopen his late father’s mines. However, a chemical spill and lethal toxic waste have created an unstoppable army of giant spiders who prey on the unsuspecting locals, turning Prosperity into an endless buffet. Now, it’s up to Chris, Sheriff Sam Parker, her son Mike, Sam’s plucky daughter, Ashley, the conspiracy theorist Harlan, and a handful of survivors to stop the hairy menace, and save the town. But, who can stand in the way of the disgusting eight-legged freaks?”

Director Ellory Elkayem was no stranger to Horror Films about insects as he already did a short film called “Larger Than Life” in 1998, and in 2000 he directed the film “Creepy Crawlers” that was also known as They Nest. When he was thinking of his next film, spiders came to mind and so Eight Legged Freaks was to be. The film was originally called “Arach Attack” and the screenplay was written by Ellory as well as Jesse Alexander and would be produced by Dean Devlin and find its distribution via Warner Brothers. The film would hire David Arquette and Kari Wuhrer as the lead roles with such names as Scarlett Johansson, Doug E. Doug, Scott Terra, Rick Overton and Leon Rippy making up most of the supporting cast. The film would go through a name change as the Iraq War was about to start and they thought the name Arach Attack was in bad taste so Eight Legged Freaks was selected, even though in some foreign markets they stuck with the original title. The film had a budget of $30 million and lots of time went into the film’s special effects as most of the film’s spiders were CGI based around real spiders movements. I should also note that the spiders kind of have voices with iconic voice actor Frank Welker lending his talents to some of them as did Rob Paulsen and Kevin Michael Richardson. The film was slated for release on March 15, 2002 but was moved to July 17, 2002 when the original release date had it going up against the animated kids film Ice Age. The film was released with mixed reviews with both critics and fans finding themselves enjoying it silly nature, but many think that it runs out of steam by the film’s final. The film would end up bringing in around $45,867,333.00 and was a modest hit for Warner Brothers that ended up spawning a PC Game based around it called “Eight Legged Freaks: Let The Squashing Begin” and even was in talks for a sequel that never happened as it looks like WB pulled the plug. In 2002, the film was released along such other Horror Films as Cabin Fever, Signs, Bubba Ho-Tep, Queen Of The Damned, May, Halloween Resurrection, The Ring, Resident Evil and Fear Dot Com to name a few.

Eight Legged Freaks is a film that clearly was inspired by the classic B-Movies of the 1950’s and that is what made it such a fun watch as I saw it for the first time at the Drive-In as a double feature with Halloween: Resurrection and it was such a great time spent with friends and family. I can remember everyone having a great time with Eight Legged Freaks and even hearing cheers at times when the spiders would get blasted, plus I am pretty sure every male in the 1990’s loved and had a crush on Kari Wuhrer, who played the Sheriff and was known for her roles in such films as Adventures Of Ford Fairlane, Beastmaster 2, Thinner and Anaconda before being in this film. It’s shocking that she was not cast in way more Horror Films over the years as she had the prefect look for them. The film’s main star was David Arquette who of course is the brother of Patricia, Rosanna and Alexis and was a popular actor with the youth in the 90’s thanks to his roles in such films as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Airheads, Scream 1-5, Muppets In Space and Ready To Rumble, to name a select few. And what makes David great for this role is that he brings a level of heroism as well as goofball that is prefect for this type of film. The effects for the Giant Mutant Spiders are really good for the time, and while they are CGI, they do seem like they are there live with the actors. The films score by John Ottman is also really well done and captures that classic movie sound of the past and yet also has the sounds of the present day Sci-Fi Horror. One thing that also makes this film cool is that the spiders have a hierarchy with The Female Orb Weaver being the true Queen and the one calling all the shots with the massive Tarantula being the general of her army and the true battle tank when it comes to going after the humans. When the film was released, I originally owned it on VHS and would upgrade to DVD over time and it’s a film that I still watch every few years. I think the best way to sum this one up is if you like Horror Movies like “Giant Spider Invasion (1975)”, “Tarantula! (1955)”, “Arachnophobia (1990)”, “Earth vs. The Spider (1958)”, “Kingdom Of The Spiders (1977)”, “Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (1977)” or any of the other Spider themed Horror Films make sure to give this one a watch as I think you will truly enjoy it.

Now that we have chatted about the Giant Spiders and the film they are from, Eight Legged Freaks, I think that it is time that we take a look at the comic adaptation done by DC Comics (WildStorm). I want to first thank Bell Book And Comic for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. I would also like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s see what these Giant Spiders have in store for us in these spooky comic pages.

Eight Legged Freaks # 1 ***
Released in 2002 Cover Price $6.95 Wildstorm # 1 of 1

Sheriff Sam Parker is in front of the town’s mall with her shotgun in hand shooting at the massive spiders that are attacking her town, and as she fights for not only her life but the people she swore to protect, she thinks back to how this all started. A trucking caring toxic waste swerves to avoid hitting an animal and this causes a barrel to fall into the town’s stream and turn the grasshoppers big, in turn Josh the owner of exotic spiders has been capturing them and feeding them to his spiders and this causes them to grow in size as well. And after Mike Parker visits and leaves Josh’s spider shop they escape and attack and kill Josh and his pet bird! The town’s mines are in trouble and are slated to be closed as the owner has passed away and his son Chris McCromick has returned to town to over see the sale, and is feeling guilty for doing so. Meanwhile the barrel of toxic waste as been found in the stream by Sam and her Deputy, and on her way home Sam finds her daughter on the back of a motorbike with Bret, the son of the Mayor, and gives the teen a ticket for endangering her daughter! Later that night the town is having a meeting in the mall held by Wade, the mayor, as he is saying that a big company wants to buy the land and houses for a project, but Chris shows up and refuses to sell the mine as he claims his father seen the mother load of gold in them and he intends to find it…he also punches Wade for saying things about his father! That night several towns people including one cat are attacked and killed by the Giant Spiders, as these arachnids are making their way into town. The next morning Sam gives her daughter a stun gun for protection and Chris shows up to ask her out on a date as Sam and Chris have a past. But things get crazy for the town as the Giant Spiders keep attacking and the only people to stand in their way of taking over is Sheriff Sam Parker, Chris McCormick, Conspiracy Theory Radio DJ Harlan Griffith, Sam’s two kids Ashley and Mike Parker, the Mayor Wade and his son Bret as well as what is left of the town! The standoff takes place in the towns mall and then spills into the mines…and thanks to teamwork and the methane gas that fills the mines they are able to spark a big fire that kills off the massive fires and saves the town from being destroyed.

This comic adaptation is a fun read with lots of spider attacking action, but it also speeds up lots of the film’s plot as well as downplays major characters from the film as Harlan Griffith is barely around and only has one major angle in the story besides being the comics narrator, and poor Deputy Pete Willis is nothing more than a background player. So if those two are some of your favorite characters from the film, be prepared to be a little disappointed in their lack of appearance in this comic. The plot is simple and has toxic waste making spiders grow to monstrous size that attack a small town that’s people must fight back to survive. The main hero for me in this comic is Sheriff Sam Parker as she is the town’s law as well armed with her shotgun she takes out lots of spiders, also comes up with meeting at the mall for all the survivors and is also the one who watches after her kids and uses the stun gun to start the spark that sets the mines ablaze the burns up the spiders. And Chris McCormick is the secondary hero as he does his part of keeping people safe, and knows his families mines well and comes up with the idea to start the fire to ignite the gas, but he does fail in his attempt to save Ashley from the spiders, and it’s Sam that has to rescue them both…so yeah Sam is the hero. And to a lesser degree you also have to say that Mike Parker’s knowledge of spiders makes him a hero, as his warnings of the abilities of the spiders make the people more aware. The Spiders are very violent and are looking to make humans meals as well as trap them to impress their Queen. The comic is lots of spooky fun, but I also feel that while they retain some of the scares of the film they humor is a little lacking and the laughs are pulled from the story to clearly speed it up to fit on the pages of the comic. The comic does have lots of deaths but is lacking in human blood splattering, but you do get the green blood of the spiders all over the place. The cover is very cool and showcases Sam, Chris and Harlan with a massive Spider behind them, very cool and eye catching for fans of the film as well as those who like Horror Comics in general. The interior art is really cool and is done by Joe Phillips, and the way he draws the spiders is fantastic, and his art for the humans is good but the likeness to the actors who play the characters is very slight. This is a comic that I truly think fans of the film should get and read as well as those Horror Comic readers who enjoy spiders and more family friendly horror. Checkout the artwork below to see the style of artist Phillips used in this comic.

Eight Legged Freaks is a fun cult film and also an entertaining comic book and is one that I think is often overlooked when people talk about PG-13 Horror Films. And I am still very annoyed with Warner Brothers and their subsidiary New Line Cinema as their parent company Discovery owns as well DC Comics and they have yet to truly merge their film properties into Horror Comics as I think readers would enjoy comics based on A Nightmare On Elm Street, Lost Boys, Critters and Final Destination to name a few. And before you say it, yes, I know that many of the above mentioned films have had comic books over the years. But as you can see, this From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update is winding down, but do not worry our next update will be another of those themed updates as this time I will be talking about the 2003 shot on video Horror Film “The Bonesetter”! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. Make sure to lock you doors at 7pm as The Bonesetter is on the loose.