Episode XXXIII: Kingdom of the Spiders – May 1st, 2014

“A living, crawling Hell of Earth…”

What happens when you mix Captain Kirk and about 5000 real tarantulas? You Get KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS. There have been many films about spiders attacking in cinema history but none capture the authentic assault quite like Kingdom. When all the pesticides do away with the spider’s natural food source, there’s only one thing left to do….go for the mammals. This film cleverly utilizes thousands of real tarantulas to simulate a lot of people’s worst nightmare; a massive, unstoppable army of hungry arachnids. We’ll discuss how this film set off our own personal arachnophobia and how it makes all other spider films inferior. What is the message that the movie gives us about our environment and how could anyone allow dozens of tarantulas to crawl all over them for a film? It’s a perfect example of 70s ‘Nature Runs Amok” features in the spirit of The Birds. Get out your bug spray and join us for another Horror 101 show that’s certain to make your skin crawl.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:

1:00 Fulfilling the promise to The Cult Sensation Nick MacPherson…
2:50 The invasion of the ‘nature runs amok’ genre…
4:55 The non-lethal wildlife of Windsor, Ontario…
8:30 “Oh, take me, Bill!!” (sexual assault Shatner)
10:30 The anti-spraying message…(The Jaws comparison)
12:45 The screaming crop duster…
15:00 Shooting off two fingers…(Nood’s favourite scene)
16:20 The swingset attack (get some pants on that child!)
18:35 The finale of this film will scar you…
21:43 Trivia for the making of the film and real tarantulas…
25:08 Why we hate spiders…
27:35 Scoring the film and final thoughts…
32:30 Conclusion

Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)

Directed by: John ‘Bud’ Cardos
Written by: Richard Robinson

Starring:

William Shatner as Rack Hansen
Tiffany Bolling as Diane Ashley
Woody Strode as Walter Colby
Marcy Lafferty as Terry Hansen
Lieux Dressler as Emma Washburn
Roy Engel as Mayor Connors

Cinematography by John Arthur Morrill
Henry Fownes…executive producer

All video, pictures and audio used from Kingdom of the Spiders is copyright © 1977 by Arachnid Productions Ltd. and Shout! Factory (2010) (USA) (DVD)