Arachnophobia (1990)

Directed by Frank Marshall. Starring Jeff Daniels, Harley Jane Kozak, John Goodman, Julian Sands, Stuart Pankin, Brian McNamara, Henry Jones, James Handy, Roy Brocksmith, Peter Jason, Mary Carver, Mark L. Taylor, Kathy Kinney, Frances Bay. [PG-13]

A deadly spider from the Amazon rainforest hitches a ride to small-town America, mates with a local arachnid, and breeds an army of tiny killer drones; it’s not long before the bodies start piling up, much to the chagrin of new-to-town Daniels, a doctor with a pathological fear of spiders. Polished but predictable little thriller with a solid dose of humor and a handful of “gentle” jump scares. Aided immeasurably by a likable family to root for and a number of colorful supporting characters, especially Goodman, in fine form as a big galoot of an exterminator. The even balance between the laughs and the squirms is well-executed, though it may have been beneficial to tilt things in one direction and make it either scarier or goofier; the way it is, it’s a crowd-pleaser that gets the job done, but as “comfort food” entertainment rather than the rollicking good time it might have been. Directorial debut for Marshall, a frequent producer on films helmed by Steven Spielberg; Spielberg, in turn, gets an executive producer credit here.

70/100