MOVIE - EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS - Review Rating $$$ (OUT OF 10)

STARRING: DAVID ARQUETTE, KARI WUHRER & DOUG E. DOUG.

This is a sci-fi spoof that involves chemically enhanced spiders.

I had some mild hopes that this movie, billed as a "comedic thriller", would be a blast and not a bomb but alas my hopes have been dashed again. The essential problem is that it is not bad enough to laugh AT (Attack of the Killer Tomatoes) nor good enough to laugh WITH (Scream).

The sci-fi / horror genre has lots of ground ripe for self-parody but this effort fails to reap the fruits ready for picking. Unlike Scream, another parody starring David Arquette, there is an almost total lack of insightful and humourous jokes based on the typical reactions of sci-fi characters to the situations they find themselves in. The story line, involving a dying mining town's Mayor plan to profit from turning the abandoned mine shafts into toxic waste dumpsites, is uninspiring as well. There was gold in dem there hills but it wasn't mined.

Most of the characters are cardboard cutouts. I was impressed with the fully clothed performance of super model Kari Wuhrer. While far from Oscar material she was at least credible and convincing.

It appears that this low budget effort spent most of the budget on special effects (See Greg's Previews - http://movies.yahoo.com/upcoming// ). They would have been better served by coughing up the dough for a better script.

Eight Legged Freaks, quite simply, is Freakin' terrible.

Alternative Reviews:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/cst-ftr-freaks17f.html

Official Site:

http://eightleggedfreaks.warnerbros.com/

MY TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2002 LIST

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