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Arachnid is a 2001 Spanish horror film directed by Jack Sholder. The film centers on a group of plane crash survivors who has to survive the attacks of a giant alien spider. The film stars Alex Reid, Chris Potter, Rocqueford Allen, Robert Vicencio and José Sancho. It was the second film under the Fantastic Factory Label.

Arachnid
Spanish theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jack Sholder
Written by	Mark Sevi
Produced by	Brian Yuzna
Starring	Alex Reid Chris Potter Rocqueford Allen Robert Vicencio José Sancho Neus Asensi Ravil Isyanov
Cinematography	Carlos González
Edited by	Jaume Vilalta
Music by	Francesc Gener
Distributed by	Lions Gate Films Filmax Fantastic Factory
Release date	June 29, 2001
Running time	95 minutes
Country	Spain
Language	English
Budget	$570,000 (estimated)
Box office	$1,123,000[citation needed]

Plot

Somewhere in the South Pacific, a translucent alien spaceship hovers over the sea. Meanwhile, a test stealth plane piloted by Joli Mercer comes across the spacecraft and starts chasing it. After the plane begins to malfunction, Joli lands on a nearby island and comes across an alien life form which a giant spider kills. Then the spider kills Joli.

Months later, Loren Mercer is required to be the pilot of a medical expedition organized by Dr. Samuel Leon and assistant Susana Gabriel, after having received a native from an island who recently died from an unknown virus transmitted by a bite. The expedition is led by Lev Valentine accompanied by soldiers Bear and Reyes, arachnologist Henry Capri, native guide Toe Boy and two natives. Once they reach the island, the plane begins to malfunction and they are forced to land on the beach.

Next morning, the expedition goes into the jungle to get to the native village but some strange ticks burrow into Reyes. Upon reaching the village, they find that everything is deserted. Henry Capri finds out that several insects have mutated. Suddenly, the ticks start to come out of Reyes's body and Bear decides to shoot him to end his pain.

That night, Loren decides to investigate on her own when the group is suddenly attacked by a giant centipede, killing one of the natives after a bite. Loren then finds some of her brother's clothes and confesses to Valentine that she is still looking for her brother. After studying a piece of the centipede, Capri concludes there has been an inter-species mutation. Valentine decides they all will leave the island the next morning, although Loren and Capri do not agree to leave.

Next day, Valentine tells Loren he will help her find Joli once they get everyone off the island but Capri is not in the village. Bear is sent to the mountains with a native to find a radio signal for help. As they walk down a river, a small spider throws acid in the native's face, killing him. Capri finds the giant centipede dying. Then the giant spider shows up and attacks him. The rest of the group keep looking for Capri until they find the remains of a body stuck with a spider web in a tree, which is Joli's. Loren buries his remains and vows revenge. Later they find Capri covered in spider web and bitten by the spider so that his insides can feed its eggs. He explains there is a giant spider in the island and deduce it is an alien. Capri asks to be killed and Susana does it so he stops suffering. The giant spider reaches them and a scared Samuel flees while the others shoot the spider but they end up running. While doing so, Susana is trapped in spider webs, but Loren and Valentine help her by breaking the webs with Capri's liquid nitrogen. At the same time, a tired Samuel is caught by the spider who kills him by melting his face with its acid.

The three enter a military bunker when they realize that Toe Boy has disappeared. With little ammunition, the spider attacks them through one of the bunker windows. Valentine throws himself on the spider and attacks it with a machete, but the spider cuts him off with a fang. Loren makes the spider leave after shooting one eye. At night the spider manages to sneak through the bunker's roof and the three lock themselves in a small room. Susana suffering claustrophobia opens the door thinking the spider left and is trapped by it and kills her with its stinger. The spider tries to enter the room, but Loren and Valentine are able to tear off one of the legs by closing the door. Then they escape through a trapdoor that gives access to underground tunnels. Outside they both fall asleep and Loren has a nightmare. Next morning, Bear and Toe Boy find Loren and Valentine.

On the way to the spider's nest, Valentine decides to stay behind as he is affected by the spider venom. Loren, Bear, and Toe Boy arrive and find the spider changing its skin and breeding in a silk cocoon over a spider egg sac. Loren plans to knock the spider down and have Bear shoot it to death, but it awakes early and kills Bear. Loren throws a vial of black widow poison owned by Toe Boy to the spider, hurting it. The spider chases Loren but upon stumbling, the spider traps her in spider web. When the spider is about to kill her, Valentine appears shooting at it while Toe Boy throws numerous darts. While the spider tries to flee, Loren manages to pull the spider web thread causing it to fall off the ceiling on a stalagmite, killing it. While Mercer, Valentine and Toe Boy walk the jungle, another giant spider watches them from an overhead cliff.

Cast

• Alex Reid as Loren Mercer
• Chris Potter as Lev Valentine
• Rocqueford Allen as Bear
• Robert Vicencio as Toe Boy
• José Sancho as Dr. Samuel Leon
• Neus Asensi as Susana Gabriel
• Ravil Isyanov as Henry Capri
• Luis Lorenzo Crespo as Reyes
• Jesús Cabrero as Joli Mercer/Lightfoot
• Héctor Chiquín as Native 1
• Conejo Wilson as Native 2
• Fausto Gualsaqui as Native 3

Arachnid was the first role of Alex Reid's acting career. José Sancho agreed to participate in the movie since he had never worked a film with so many special effects. Neus Asensi was excited about working on the film as it was her first role in a film shot entirely in English, also because this type of movies are not normally made in Spain.

Production

It is the second film under the Fantastic Factory label and the second film to be released by the label in 2001 after Faust: Love of the Damned got released in Spain in January. The film was shot in between Barcelona and Mexico during May and July 2000.

Brian Yuzna contacted Robert Kurtzman and Tobe Hooper to direct the film but Julio Fernández, one of the producers and creators of Fantastic Factory, suggested Jack Sholder after watching The Hidden. The main spider design and other creatures practical effects were created by Steve Johnson and his team, XFX.

In an interview for the film's documentary, "Behind the Curtain Part II" (2012), director Jack Sholder, confessed that he disliked the movie:

I basically did it for the money and it was a stupid script . . . I got to live in Barcelona for six months and, you know, they paid me well. Everything was good except I had to go to work everyday and shoot a dumb script. I haven't seen that one since, you know, I made it. And some people say 'Oh well, it's actually better than you think', but I basically tell people to avoid that one".[1]

Release

Theatrical release

This section does not cite any sources. (February 2016)

Arachnid received a limited release in United States on October 12, 2001. It grossed $1.123 million. It opened #9 opening weekend. On its second weekend, it fell to #26, and went downhill from there. It made 81% of its gross on its opening weekend.

In Spain got released on June 29, 2001. It grossed around €301.832 ($351.364) and had 73.542 viewers.

Home media

The film was released on DVD by Mosaic Movies on February 18, 2002. It was re-released by both Lionsgate and Maple Pictures in the United States and Canada respectively on March 26, 2002. It was released by Mosaic Movies again on February 17, 2003.[2]

In Spain had a VHS and DVD release in late 2001. The DVD version includes a trailer, interviews (with José Sancho, Neus Asensi and Luis Lorenzo Crespo), making of, Spanish TV spots and some storyboards. This DVD version was also included in a Fantastic Factory DVD collection along Faust: Love of the Damned, Dagon and Romasanta.

In April 2011, Arrow Video released in United Kingdom a DVD collection named "Fantastic Factory presents..." which included Arachnid, Faust: Love of the Damned, Romasanta and Beyond Re-Animator. This DVD has the original trailer and interviews with producer Brian Yuzna and creature designer Steve Johnson.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2015)

Arachnid received mostly negative reviews. Actor Richard Dreyfuss claimed to have seen it at a local theater, saying in one of his blogs "It was better than expected, by far."^{[citation needed]} Popcorn Pictures.com gave the film a negative score of three out of ten, writing,"Arachnid is a cheap and lacklustre giant spider flick, ultimately indistinguishable from the next spider flick and where the only bite is the amount it’ll gorge from your wallet."[3] eFilmCritic.com awarded the film two out of five stars, calling it "A step up in quality", but also criticized the film's unappealing characters, and poor creature effects.[4] Buzz McClain from Allmovie gave the film a more positive review. In his review of the film, McClain noted that in spite of the film's numerous flaws, "There's a certain brainless charm to it all that will amuse those looking for nothing more than a few cool maulings and no amount of intellectual challenge."[5]

References

External links

• Arachnid (2001) at AllMovie
• Arachnid (2001) at IMDb
• Arachnid (2001) at Rotten Tomatoes

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