Earth vs. the Spider

I should say i caught this little piece of gem the other day on tv and this tv movie was quite impressive.To begin with we have this kid who loses his job as a security officer at a research lab as he screws up a bust up by a bunch of crooks .To top it the kid injects himself with some potion say xxx which has something to do with spiders .So this kid will he become a super hero or some thing very sinister? thats for u to watch mucho. And well we have Dan akroyd as the investigating officer,and he gives a good performance.The movie builds upon the premise which we all dreamt when we were kids "to be a super hero with that special powers in order to save the world, save the girl and save the day". Quite a little neat movie i give it 4 otta 5.Have a good day.

What is the fetish with movies like this? Is gaining a super-power always a pre-cursor to becoming evil? Maybe that's why I liked Darkman so much. With the abilities that Peyton got, he used them for good, even if it was in a vigilante way. I really wanted to enjoy this movie, and was encouraged by the fact that initially, Quentin used his powers for good.

Of course, it took all of 45 minutes for him to go bad and go on a killing spree. Did somebody think that was original? Aside from the fact that it was a blatant knock off of Jeff Goldblum in "The Fly" remake, though much less gory.

The acting was of the "not bad" variety, but Dan Aykroyd is wasted in a role that tries to have depth, but fails (chalk it up to comic book writing? I dunno).

I did get a huge kick out of the store owner using the Hasbro "Darth Maul Lightsaber" (of which I have on right next to me here) as his last line of defense. A total hoot! Classic!

I would be remiss if I didn't say the movie does a decent make-up. Pretty creepy.

Sadly, the ending falls flat and comes way to abruptly, and is also cliche, and confusing to boot. Did he want to kill her, or not? I leave that for you to decide.

** out of four.

A title like Earth vs. the Spider is way too pretentious for a film of middling scale like this. What we have here is nothing more or less than a rip-off of the Fly. It feels shallow, pointless, maybe occasionally freaky, but hardly exciting. On top of that it has a majorly disappointing finale.

Quentin Kemmer is a security guard at a major biochemistry firm. He is a nice guy, and all he really wants out of life is a chance to be a hero. One afternoon there is a break in to the firm. Six people are killed, including his parter, and he blames himself for not being tough enough to prevent it. It a moment of hesitation he injects himself with the firm's latest top secret formula mixed from spider DNA. The next day he is a lot stronger, happier, and even gets a chance to be the hero he wants. As the days progress however, he gets hungrier, more deformed and dangerous to the point that he must stop himself before the beast within him gets loose.

The film is most involving when it explores the relationship between Quentin, and his lady friend next door, who he is shy of asking out. The entire film could've been based around this one thing and it would've been fine. However, another part of the plot concerns the investigation of Dan Akroyd's character which ends up amounting to nothing. What is more frustrating however is the total sloppiness of the climax. Like the film in its entirety, the last scene is random, rushed and insulting to the viewer. There is much to be explained when Earth vs. the Spider ends. The question is whether the story has gotten you involved enough to care, unfortunately no.

Neighbourhood vs. the Spider would be a more appropriate name. It is a small scale, not very effective creature feature, too short, and far too derivative. Monster fans will be disappointed I think.

Quentin Kemmer (Devon Gummersall) is a shy and coward security guard and a passionate collector of comic books, who lives in a junkie building and has a crush on his next-door neighbor, the nurse student Stephanie Lewis (Amelia Heinle). However, he is too shy to declare his love for or invite her for a date. He works in a laboratory, which is studying and trying to develop a secret genetic weapon using the power and skills of the spiders. When the laboratory is robbed and his partner and great friend is killed with other persons by the criminals, Quentin feels under pressure with the situation and decides to inject himself the experimental vaccine. In the beginning, his strength and abilities increase and he feels like an arachnid superhero from his magazines. However, a couple of days later, he begins to transform himself into a giant spider-man hybrid, capable of throwing webs through his abdomen, developing claws in his mouth and prevailing the instincts and a non-stop hunger of the spiders over his will. Meanwhile, Quentin eliminates many persons, and Detective Jack Grillo (Dan Aykroyd) investigates the series of mysterious deaths in the neighborhood.

"Spider Vs. Earth" is a surprisingly good B-movie that recalls the horror and sci-fi stories of the 50's, inclusive with a noirish environment. The plot is good, with the exception of the unnecessary participation of Theresa Russell, in the role of an adultery and drunken wife. The slow transformation of Quentin into a spider slightly recalls the dramatic situation of "The Fly". My true and honest opinion is that the IMDb User Rating is totally unfair with this film. I bought the VHS and I do not regret. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Maldição da Aranha" ("The Curse of the Spider")

Note: On 09 May 2023, I saw this film again.

I had to outbid several bidders on e-bay to get the VHS of this, as it seems to be getting a cult following or something. So it came and I watched, and it was completely interesting and never had a boring moment. It's kind of a low-rent SPIDERMAN, without the generally positive outlook of Spidey, kind of what might happen should the spider abilities include a hideous transformation and thirst for live prey. There are some suspicious coincidences between the 2 flicks. This one's dated 2001, and Spiderman is 2002, but who knows what the buzz was around Hollywood prior to the releases. So in this one, remake of the 50's version in title only, we have a hero/villain combination with pathos, and Dan Ackroyd in a good bit as a character actor, something he's been doing well since Driving Miss Daisy, as he's gotten too heavy to be a leading man any longer. If you like B-flicks, this is worth the time and you won't be disappointed. It's typical B-flick build and has the slow reveal of the hideous man/spider monster, which is well worth the wait, in the usual grand Stan Winston fashion (or his assistants perhaps). If you cannot stand B-flicks of this genre, then don't bother, you'll hate it and be mad at yourself for spending the time.