Arachnophobia

"Eight legs, two fangs and an attitude."

1990 1h 49m EN

😐

6.5

MID

🔥

94%

CERTIFIED FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.5

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 1,588🍅94%Rotten Tomatoes●67Metacritic★6.5IMDB · 78,573

ComedyHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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 with the help of an insect exterminator to annihilate these eight legged freaks.

“Eight legs, two fangs and an attitude.”

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Cast

Jeff Daniels
Ross Jennings
Harley Jane Kozak
Molly Jennings
John Goodman
Delbert McClintock
Julian Sands
Dr. James Atherton
Brian McNamara
Chris Collins
Stuart Pankin
Sheriff Parsons
Henry Jones
Dr. Sam Metcalf
Peter Jason
Henry Beechwood

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Frank Marshall
Writers: Don Jakoby, Wesley Strick, Don Jakoby
Languages: English, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

36 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Frank Marshall, shot by Mikael Salomon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Trevor Jones. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michael Kahn shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jeff Daniels and Harley Jane Kozak and John Goodman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Eight legs, two fangs and an attitude.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0099052 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Frank Marshall directs. Mikael Salomon behind the camera. Trevor Jones scores. Michael Kahn cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

136 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
3Directed by Frank Marshall, shot by Mikael Salomon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Trevor Jones. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Michael Kahn shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Jeff Daniels and Harley Jane Kozak and John Goodman carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Eight legs, two fangs and an attitude.".
8IMDB entry: tt0099052 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 13 themes, including "small town", "spider", "animal attack", "outbreak".

The technical file

Cinematography: Mikael Salomon
Original score: Trevor Jones
Editing: Michael Kahn
Production design: James D. Bissell
Costume design: Jennifer L. Parsons
Makeup / hair: James Lee McCoy
VFX supervisor: David Sosalla
Sound: Terry Porter
Stunt coordinator: Chuck Waters
Runtime: 109 min · 1h 49m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $31,000,000
Box office: $53,200,000
Return: 172% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Arachnophobia (1990)
Rotten Tomatoes: 94% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 67/100
IMDB rating: 6.5/10 · 78,573 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

2 wins & 5 nominations total

Also by

Frank Marshall

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Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-10-04
★ 7/10
The itsy-bitsy spider crawled up the water spout; down came the rain and washed the spider out. When a photographer is bitten and killed by a spider in the Venezuelan jungle, his body is shipped back to his home town of Canaima in California. Unfortunately something has hitched a ride in his coffin... Mixing "B" movie conventions with a modern day fun sensibility, Arachnophobia sees Frank Marshall direct and Jeff Daniels, Julian Sands, John Goodman and Harley Jane Kozak line up in the cast. Though horror and comedy on the surface doesn't seem to be a that hard to blend together, it's actually surprising over the years just how few horror comedy movies can claim to be successful, and crucially, have been able to to win over a like minded audience. In fact, if we move away from the likes of "Sean Of The Dead", the "B" movie creature feature, especially in modern times, has few offerings of worth. We can certainly mention the awesome (and best of the modern bunch) "Tremors", which turned a small Worldwide profit, and then we turn to "Lake Placid" and "Arachnophobia". Both of the latter made considerable amounts of cash (for the genre) and are propelled by a degree of star wattage. What was in Arachnophobia's favour was that spiders strike the fear of god into many people, thus, as director Marshall said himself on the publicity junket, "People like to be scared but still laughing at the same time". Arachnophobia achieves this in spades, mixing real spiders (the Avondale breed) with model and magnet work, where the effect achieved is full on nervy giggles coupled with some creepy goose flesh also putting in an appearance. The cast work hard to make it work. OK, Sands remains as wooden as he always is, but in this case his pompous bug professor actually calls for it. Daniels as the modern doctor hoping to start a new life in the country, is an excellent lead, a fine actor who's no show on the "A" list of Hollywood remains an utter mystery. However, it's with the big jolly blunderbuss that is John Goodman where the pic gets its frothy "B" movie fun. His inept, half witted but knowing pest controller, Delbert, engages in that small town Americana way. He is an innocent to the terrors of the world and that makes for a nice play off with the Arachnophobic Dr. Ross Jennings (Daniels). Nicely shot around Cambria, California, to fully realise the small town under arachnid siege, Arachnaphobia is the perfect comedy creeper for all the family to enjoy. So squirm and giggle together and watch out for any creepy crawlies in the corners of your home... 7/10
kevin20192026-06-21
★ 8/10
"Arachnophobia" is structured along reasonably simplistic lines and it is obviously geared more towards squeezing every last second of excitement and tension from the climatic sequences when the arachnids are out in the open for the first time. The unheralded spider unit responsible for achieving all these terrific sequences must be wholeheartedly congratulated for some sterling work with the spiders scuttling around all over the place and you are never quite sure exactly where or when they will make a startling and unwelcome appearance and usually with deadly results, but don't despair too much. This is a well paced piece of entertainment throughout and it will leave you scratching your head - in the best and certainly in the most satisfying way possible.