Arachnophobia

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Screening Suggestions

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We're all afraid of something. I mean, you can sit there and tell me how much you're afraid of nothing, but I feel if one digs deep enough, some kind of fear will be brought up, from the big one of death, to the little ones like spiders. And that brings me to my first suggestion for what I am dubbing "Fear Month", with what is arguably the best spider-related movie ever (and no, none of the 'Spider-Man' movies count). This is generally followed by 'Eight-Legged Freaks', and whatever other movies feature spiders as something to be afraid of.

Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, is a very common one among people, and this film does a great job of exploiting that fear by keeping things relatively realistic. It's even mentioned throughout the film that, despite these fears, spiders are pretty much completely non-fatal when it comes to human beings, with the exception of maybe the black widow on a small child, or elderly and ill.

This movie, smartly, makes it so all our worst fears about spiders become a reality. It all starts when a deadly spider finds its way to the small town of Canaima, California  after an expedition to South America. It breeds with a common domestic spider, creating something tiny, but monstrous, in a whole new breed of arachnid that starts taking out not just insects and small animals, but people, in a gruesome fashion.

I've always considered this one to be a great film for horror beginners. Not quite as traumatizing as something that's full tilt horror, but creepy enough to sort of leave you on edge after you're done watching it. That is, of course, unless you're already very arachnophobic and just know it's a movie you can't sit through anyway (I actually know a few people who refuse to watch this movie because of their fears).

This would also be a bit of an example of horror comedy, but leaning more towards the horror. It does a great job at exploiting these fears, but at the same time adds some light humor with some of the dialogue, and the presence of John Goodman playing a sort of dopey but lovable exterminator.

Speaking for myself, I can tolerate the presence of spiders quite well, so this movie doesn't particularly get to me in a big way. But if you are afraid of spiders and want a good adrenaline rush based on your fears (some choose roller coasters, I choose horror movies), it's definitely worth checking out. Whether you suffer from arachnophobia or not though, after a viewing of this one, You might just be hard-pressed going to bed after watching it without thinking of something 8-legged and fuzzy crawling up your leg. 

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