Review of Kingdom of the Spiders (1977) by Jason D — 24 Jan 2010

Kingdom of the Spiders is the 70's campy, nature run-amok cult classic about a VERY large heap of tarantulas who have adapted beyond all the pesticides they've been given and have decided to take on much bigger prey to consume, starting with Farmer Colby's (the late, great Woody Strode) prized livestock and pets, and then onto humans.

It's up to town veterinarian William Shatner (in a classically awesome role during his T.J. Hooker phase) and beautiful entomologist Tiffany Bolling to get to the bottom of the problem before it gets out of hand.

And gets out of hand does it ever! Director John "Bud" Cardos (Night Shadows, The Dark) creepy crawler film slowly builds until it boils over and shows off an over-the-top killer bug fest (using real, authentic, genuine, actual spiders, folks!!! No shitty CGI in site) that packs a nice, thrilling punch of a surprisingly violent climax and an ending that's STILL capable of sending shudders down someone's spine.

You want to scare young kids; that ending will have them reeling. It certainly did for me when I was very young. Yes, the film is dated and campy, but it's certainly more enjoyable than some of the other killer spider films out there (specifically, Eight Legged Freaks, which just tried too hard and failed miserably).

Also, given the silly material, the entire cast (especially the three aforementioned names) manage to pull it and play their parts well. For what it's worth, Kingdom of the Spiders is a nice slice of good, campy, exploitation pie.

Loved it!