Kingdom of the Spiders - 1977
A new species of horror is born.
Director
John 'Bud' Cardos
Writer(s)
Alan Caillou
Stephen Lodge story
Richard Robinson
Jeffrey M. Sneller story
Producer(s)
Henry Fownes executive producer
J. Bond Johnson associate producer
Igo Kantor producer
Jeffrey M. Sneller producer
Cast
William Shatner - Dr. Robert 'Rack' Hansen
Tiffany Bolling - Diane Ashley
Woody Strode - Walter Colby
Lieux Dressler - Emma Washburn
David McLean - Sheriff Gene Smith
Natasha Ryan - Linda Hansen
Altovise Davis - Birch Colby
Joe Ross - Vern Johnson
Marcy Lafferty - Terry Hansen
Adele Malis-Morey - Betty Johnson (as Adele Malis)
Roy Engel - Mayor Connors
Hoke Howell - Earl Forbes
Bill Coontz - Clyde
Whitey Hughes - The Baron
Jay Lawrence - Deputy
Bettie Bolling - Mildred Cobb
Juanita Merritt - Waitress
Nadia Caillou - Screaming woman
Valla Rae McDade - Screaming woman
Jon-Jon - Injured boy
Review by Sven Soetemans
I LOOOOOOOOVE this junk!,
Even the most avid fans of 70's kitsch-cinema will have difficulties defending this "Kingdom of the Spiders", as it basically is rubbish from start to finish! Immensely entertaining rubbish, though, with lousy but unscrupulous plotting and over-the-top action sequences that'll keep you amused unconditionally! Charismatic actor and professional cool dude William Shatner stars as the veterinarian of a little Arizona town that developed a BIG spider problem on short notice! Tarantulas have suddenly altered all their natural instincts and they're turning against the yummy cattle and – of course – the unknowing inhabitants of the little town. The female scientist Diane Ashley explains that this is due to the destroying of their normal food sources with pesticides etc, but it's too late... The extremely venomous spiders eat their way the town and really nothing can extinguish them! "Kingdom of the Spiders" actually is so damn entertaining because of its ineptness! The screenplay doesn't even bother to drag in theories about genetic mutation or military experiments gone wrong, like it usually is the case in this type of creature-features. The spiders are just furious at humans and eat them...period! Although very low-budgeted, some sequences are well-mounted and quite suspenseful. Especially the obligatory mass-hysteria scene in which the poor villagers get overrun by millions and millions of tarantulas is a fine example of trash-cinema. Director John "Bud" Cardos, previously an actor is dreadful drive-in horror movies himself, clearly had great fun making this good old-fashioned "Don't-mess-with-Mother-Nature" flick, so why shouldn't you! His enthusiasm even was so big he threw in a hilariously inappropriate country & western soundtrack! That's fabulous!!
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