Director: Monte Hellman
Year: 1959
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Spider
Plot:
After making a getaway from the authorities, a group of thieves with a ransom of gold plan to use an accident at a ski resort as a distraction for a getaway, only to unwittingly release a giant spider-like creature that puts a halt to their escape plans as it hunts them down one by one.
Review:
This was a decent but enjoyable effort that really works a lot better than it should, despite some noticeable flaws. The main part to enjoy with this one is the cheap atmosphere, which is quite intriguing, where the manner of getting into the genre elements seems quite fun. Given the intricate nature of their robbery plan and how it gets carried off, which puts them in its crosshairs, is quite solid, as the film is never really all that slow, so it's got a nice pace to it with their setup to plan the robbery, how it gets carried out, and then going into the creatures’ hunting grounds. Taking into account the need to subtly keep their plans a secret during the trek, that leaves a large portion of time on features where the cast is forced to go through their different storylines, which are flipped between the heist and the group's distrust of each other, really making for some interesting and enjoyable times.
Once that setup is complete, the film gets a lot to like with the inclusion of the creature into that mix. Having the cave nearby with the various intruders coming across the area is a nice touch, as the suspense of the attacks works well with a few creepy moments, mainly of the web-covered limbs being shown poking around crevices or behind them unexpectedly, which has a lot to like. The stalking scenes of the group through the forest, where it freaks out the surviving witness, are quite chilling, and the attack on the house works quite nicely with the chillingly eerie scream echoing through the night. The big finale, where they confront the creature in the underground caves, is rather chilling with some fantastic action, and the overall design of the monster creates quite an impression. Those are enough to make up for some of the flaws.
That said, there are a few big flaws with this one. One of its biggest issues is the fact that the budget limitations are shown quite easily and obviously throughout here. At times, the creature looks way too cheesy and doesn't really seem a part of the scene at all with the way it's imposed onto the image, and the only time you see it in full is at the end, which is quite confusing, as it’s a solid design. As well, this leads to the last flaw in the haphazardly edited finale, which is so chaotic and confusing that there's no way to tell what's going on in any of the scenes, and the method of killing the creature gets lost in the fray due to this, as it's all done so fast. These are the film’s few drawbacks for the most part.
Overview: **.5/5
A fun and watchable quickie featuring a decent enough creature and enough going on to stay interesting, this is a serviceable entry provided you're intrigued by the kind of film this one is. Give it a shot if you're a fan of these cheap, quickie creature features or just into this style, while those who don't appreciate that kind of film should heed caution.
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