Released to TV in 2007 and directed by Terry Winsor, "In the Spider's Web" stars Lance Henriksen as a dubious American doctor in the jungles of Northern India who seems to like arachnids a little too much. A group of American backpackers and their guide are forced to seek him out when one of their members is bit by a poisonous spider. Arachnid horror ensues.This cartoony TV-horror flick has several things in its favor: Authentic jungle locations, plentiful spiders of various kinds (both real and CGI), Lance Henriksen and a winsome enough female lead (Emma Catherwood). The sets are good too, including the cave sets, although the ubiquitous webbing looks decidedly fake. As far as the authentic jungle locations go, the hikers are all obviously sweating in the sweltering forest heat. Yet it's obvious by the appearance of the Natives that this isn't Northern India, but rather 1200 miles around the corner in Thailand. There's only like one person who looks of Indian origin, which I suppose isn't a biggie for a TV flick.Unfortunately, the story lacks drive despite the jungle action and ominous score (which is good, by the way). Moreover, I never cared about the characters; and Catherwood's cuteness only goes so far (she's actually a little thin for my tastes, but she's decent and definitely cute). There's a big reveal in the final act, but I predicted it at the half hour mark.So there's a lot of good in this comic booky spider-horror movie, but it's brought down by its half-baked storytelling. The script needed serious work to flesh out its potential, but the producers didn't care enough to blow the money. They basically said, "That's good enough; let's shoot!" No, it wasn't.The film runs 88 minutes and was shot in Krabi, Thailand. The screenplay was written by Gary Dauberman.GRADE: C-

Without a doubt one of the dumbest horror films to have been released in recent years, IN THE SPIDER'S WEB is a bad movie through-and-through. Blighted by a low budget and talentless cast, an appalling director and a story that apparently runs out around 30 minutes in, this is a good example of the kind of Z-movie that gets made for television in the modern era. Although it was supposedly shot in Thailand, you couldn't tell because this is an unconvincing, set-bound jungle extravaganza all the way. What little story exists concerns some backpacking tourists falling foul of a local madman. There's some mixed-up stuff in here about tribal rituals and organ donation but to be honest by the time this stuff comes about you couldn't care less. It's all so unbelievable and every character so unappealing that the only thing you'll be doing is watching for the film to end.As with most Z-grade flicks like this, they manage to pull in one popular and recognisable actor, typically a Hollywood star back in the day, who's now down on his luck doing anything for a dollar. Lance Henriksen is the actor here, looking old and tired, saddled with a Halloween horror hand for no discernible reason and playing the brother of a web-masked weirdo who enjoys slicing up visiting tourists (well, who wouldn't?). The eventual unmasking of this wacko is one of a couple of decent horrible moments, the other being the bit where a girl is besieged by eight-legged insects. Suffice to say, the effects are appalling bad, ranging from cardboard and rubber spiders to awful CGI animations, whereas the spider webs look like bits of cast-off rag.Stupidity is the order of the day, along with minor titillation as the leading character spends a lot of time dressed in Lara Croft-style shorts and top. Low lights include the characters using a spider's web as a rope bridge (?) and bad acting by almost the entire cast. Aside from Henriksen, the only halfway decent performance comes from Sohrab Ardeshir, who does quite well in a comic relief turn as an intrepid police sergeant. Otherwise, IN THE SPIDER'S WEB is bargain bin stuff, a godawful attempt at a horror flick that stalls from the very beginning. This one stinks!

In the Spider's Web (2007) * 1/2 (out of 4) A group of American friends are backpacking through a jungle in India when one of them are bitten by a spider. They rush her to a village where an American doctor (Lance Henriksen) tries to save her but it turns out that the doc might have more devilish plans. Soon the Americans are dying one by one due to what appears to be a spider cult as well as the strange brother of the doctor who just happens to be wearing a bag over his face. Wonder what's wrong with him? This made-for-TV flick isn't the worst creature feature out there but at the same time it's pretty poor on so many levels. I will at least give the filmmakers credit for at least trying to mix up various genres but in the end all of the story lines are a mess and one can't help but become bored and frustrated with the film before we even hit the half-way mark. I think the biggest problem are the characters. I found each and everyone of them to be extremely annoying as each of them just seemed to be trying to be the dumbest of the bunch. There's one who demands going into a creepy lair where the spiders are and yet she seems shocked when she discovers that there are spiders in this cave. Hearing her scream every few seconds just got on my nerves and I'd be willing to bet that many will be hitting their mute buttons. Another problem is an incredibly bad, flirtatious thing going on between a couple of the characters. Things aren't any better with mad scientist Henrikson who I had a hard time understanding in several of the scenes. I'm not sure if it was just poor recording or the actors voice but at times I couldn't understand a word he was saying. Perhaps the actor was doing this on purpose so we wouldn't have to hear poor dialogue? Either way, the actor is easily just cashing a paycheck and delivering very little energy. None of the other actors really stand out either but you somewhat expect that from a film like this. The special effects aren't too bad and the majority of the CGI spiders look OK, if nothing overly great. Fans of the genre might want to check this out if they desire to see every film of its type but others should just save time and stay clear.

It's not bad. There is a real plot, poisoning people to harvest their organs for the black market. Strangely, they never catch the *real* bad guys; the ones with the chopper and automatic weapons who are buying and hauling off the body parts. But there are other bad guys and bad things (spiders), who, the guys and a few of the spiders, get their comeuppance. We even have the "cavelry" riding to the rescue near the end.There are a couple of foxy young women, albeit a bit soiled. They get in some amount of trouble, but without much screaming and other nonsensical silliness. Some, but not a lot. The initially irascible blond turns out to be more than a bit of a heroine.There is a reasonable amount of tension. And there is a limited amount of gross stupidity on the part of the characters used to further the tension. The writers are clever enough to produce tension by having the bad guys do evil things, rather than having the good guys do stupid ones.I might have rated this flick a five or six, but I just have this thing about spiders -- yecch!