It's been a while since I've seen this movie I'll admit it. But I have fond memories of watching this when I was a child. I actually wish they would make funny films like this. I suppose they do on Syfy and channels like that, though this had much better quality in comparison to something from T.V. I can remember certain scenes pretty well, one of the best was when the female spider stabbed someone with a poker and began feasting on their blood while the webbed up person was still squirming. It was so appallingly creepy and yet extremely effective in the quality of the effects. It did well in generating emotional response. I loved how they ended up in a mall and started killing all the spiders too. I definitely need to check this film out again soon. Overall if your looking for Citizen Kane, this isn't it, but if your looking for a lot of fun with creepy special effects and fun characters who act over the top against giant arachnids. This is definitely a must watch. I would also say this film has that early 2000's quality as it was made in 2002. I don't know but films are fun to watch to get an idea of the time they were done in, which to me at least, is enjoyable as you think about what that time was like.8 out of 10 and only because the two missing stars add to the quality of this being a fun film that should wear any imperfections with pride.One more thing, forgot that ScarJo was in this, this should absolutely be considered one of her best films ever!!! ;)

I love creature movies. But this is just too brain dead. The spiders are extremely bad cgi. Even for a 14 year old movie. They clearly didn't have the money to make it believable. And yeah I know what you're gonna say: it's a movie about giant spiders. But even giant spiders can be believable if they get the CGI right. Like for instance the piranhas in Pirahna 3D. Or get the suits right. In Aliens, it was men in suits and puppets. And it's way more believable than this crap. A movie made 16 years before this when there was no cgi. It's also a matter of having a fun or scary story with decent acting. This movie has neither. David Arquette is a terrible actor. He plays the exact same character as he did in Scream. If he had to act in order to save his own life, he would die. This movie should have killed his career, like it pretty much killed the directors career. Watch it for they eye candy. Kahri Wuhrer and a very young and still unknown Scarlett Johansson as a mother and daughter I would love to have a threesome with. But hey, it's not even worth watching it for them. Just watch porn instead. The acting isn't much better here and at least they screw in porn. This movie didn't even break even as far as budget versus box office goes. Had this been a movie from a small studio and not Fox, it would have bankrupted them. But hey on the plus-side it didn't kill Johanssons career. And was it not for this movie Pirahna 3D wouldn't have been made as it clearly is inspired from this but made much more convincing with a cast of famous actors, but with a budget 6 million dollars smaller than this movie. Avoid this!! Even boys from age 10 to 15, will hate this, because of the horrible cgi.

Eight-Legged Freaks (2002): Dir: Ellory Elkayem / Cast: David Arquette, Kari Wuhrer, Scarlett Johansson, Doug E. Doug, Rick Overton: Presenting a mutating normality that isn't a great idea. The simple plot regards a barrel of toxic substance spilling into a river with a growth affect on spiders. What follows is numerous attacks on people for no other purpose than to entertain stupidity. Horrible special effects with spiders jumping out at people but it doesn't even look as if any contact is being made. Repetitious story with director Ellory Elkayem quoting from other pathetic spider trauma movies. David Arquette hardly sympathetic as he arrives back in town after ten years away. After this film he may desire to take ten years off from acting so to forget this sh*t stain film altogether. Kari Wuhrer plays a Sheriff who warns daughter Scarlett Johansson about sexually corrupt males. Perhaps she should warn her about accepting scripts as lame as this one and then apply the same medicine to herself. Doug E. Doug plays a radio personality who believes in aliens. Well, if he believes that this film is a career booster then perhaps he can believe in anything. Rick Overton plays Wuhrer's moron Deputy who has cob webs for brains. Basically a send off to superior monster movies of the 1950's but this film should be squashed with an oversized sledgehammer. Score: 3 / 10

As the name would indicate, "Eight Legged Freaks" shouldn't be taken too seriously. It's a horror comedy about a variety of arachnids growing huge due to -- what else? -- accidentally spilled toxic waste. They terrorize the citizens of Prosperity, Arizona, where Kari Wuhrer plays the Sheriff, Scarlett Johansson her teen daughter, and David Arquette the Sheriff's love interest.The plot of terrorizing arachnids in an Arizona town automatically brings to mind 1977's "Kingdom of the Spiders" with William Shatner, but that movie took the topic serious and the tarantulas were normal size.The Arizona locations are great and the movie is consistently amusing as "Eight Legged Freaks" is just a fun flick, but the main highlight is the mother/daughter combo of Kari Wuhrer and Scar-Jo. Kari has a strikingly attractive face and personality and Scar-Jo was 17 years-old during filming and looks great in tight pants.On the downside the film seems too long at 99 minutes because there isn't enough depth to the characters and their story to warrant going over like 85 minutes. As such, the final act in the mall, mines, etc. seems to go on forever. Another criticism is that the spider F/X appear too cartoony (I'm sure they looked better in 2002), but this is hardly a flaw in that the movie itself is cartoony. My main beef is that Scar-Jo isn't prominent enough, but that's likely because she was only 17 and wouldn't become a "star" until her next film, 2003' excellent "Lost in Translation." On the other hand, Wuhrer is very prominent.GRADE: B-