There should be no confusion. There is nothing about Eight Legged Freaks that you wouldn’t be expecting from the trailers and marketing campaign. This homage to the cheesy atomic monster movies of the 1950s doesn’t make any claims to have great acting, a solid plot, or any of that stuff. It just wants to be fun. And it is. Any movie with David Arquette – let alone giant spiders – is instantly placed in a particular category. I think it’s silly to expect anything else.
The visual effects (by CFX) are pretty good – the shots ranged from outright impressive, to just short of bad. Generally, though, they were pretty solid throughout, and the film was entertaining enough that you didn’t really dwell on the realism of the shots. John Ottman’s score to the film is fun, thematic, and plays on the whole cheesy b-movie edge. I was at the scoring session in January, so it’s nice to finally see the finished film with all the music. Of course, I’m slightly biased – but I’m pretty sure this film will make some money, and I’m really pleased for Ottman – since he needs a moneymaker under his belt!