The Giant Spider Invasion is a low-budget 1975 science fiction horror film produced by Transcentury Pictures, a partnership owned by the film's director Bill Rebane. The film is about giant spiders that terrorize the town of Merrill, Wisconsin and the surrounding area. The Giant Spider Invasion was given a U.S. release in theaters in 1975, and was distributed by Group 1 Films. The iconic theatrical poster art was a throwback to the monster movies of the 1950s. The film received a considerable theatrical run and became one of the fifty top-grossing films of that year. After a three-time ABC television network run, the movie achieved additional exposure many years later, when it was featured in a 1997 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) (season 8, episode 10). It is now regarded as a cult classic in the B movie realm. The film is listed on 'The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made' in the book The Official Razzie Movie Guide by Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson.
The film gives major roles to some actors who might have been considered "has-beens" at the time. The leads were Steve Brodie and Barbara Hale, with other roles going to Alan Hale, Jr. and Leslie Parrish. The film's one "Giant Spider" was constructed by covering a Volkswagen automobile with artificial black fur, with the fake legs operated from the inside by seven members of the crew. The back of the car was the front of the monster, and its red tail lights served as the monster's glowing eyes. A few other "giant spiders" were puppets representing spiders as large as dogs, while full-grown tarantulas were used as spider hatchlings.
That's the best pert of the movie ... no really.
The invasion is deduced to be the result of some sort of inter-dimensional gateway, and is ultimately thwarted when Drs. Vance and Langer manage to close off the gateway, draining the spiders of their energy and causing them to melt into puddles of disgusting sludge.
Best known for his role as the Skipper on the 60s sitcom Gilligan's Island, Alan Hale was cast as Sheriff Jones. This is jokingly referenced in his first line of the film, when he calls his deputy "little buddy".
There was supposed to be a shot of a big spider in a tree bursting into flames. To achieve this, the director covered a large prop spider with gunpowder and had two crew members sitting above it in the tree who would drop a match on the spider. The director got the camera up to a very fast fps to achieve a slow motion look, and had them drop the first match. Nothing happened, so they dropped a second. Still nothing happened, so they lit the entire book of matches and dropped it on the spider. With nothing happening, the director turned off the camera - and immediately afterwords a huge explosion and fireball shot up, burning the hair off of the crew members and starting several small brush fires. The director was furious that he wasn't able to get the shot on film.
Originally the spiders in the film were suppose to be only about 10 feet in length but the producers insisted that if the film were going to compete with Jaws (1975), which was released around the same time, the size of the spiders would have to be increased to pose more threat.
There was supposed to be a dramatic shot of the giant spider crushing the house by having the spider dropped from a crane onto it while a bulldozer chained to the back of the house would pull away. However, when the shot was filmed, the spider's legs all went straight up into the air! The crew inside working it's arms were nearly killed when broken wood from the demolished house went through the spider, coming close to impaling them.
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This has been one of my favourite b films ever. I saw it at a drive-in theatre when I was 6 and was both creeped out and fascinated with it. However, I never really knew how cheesy it was until I saw it as a teenager. Even so, it's a movie I continue to watch and enjoy. I have it on DVD. It's a special commemoration to the movie which even includes an extra feature of a soundtrack of songs based on the film, most of them hilarious!
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