GIANT SPIDER INVASION (1975)
Label: Dark Force Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: PG
Duration: 79 Minutes 46 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Bill Rebane
Cast: Steve Brodie, Barbara Hale, Robert Easton, Leslie Parrish, Alan Hale Jr., Bill Williams, Kevin Brodie, Diane Lee Hart, Tain Bodkin, J. Stewart Taylor, Christiane Schmidtmer, William W. Gillett Jr.
Synopsis: The #8 release in the Dark Force 4K Ultra HD Platinum series is this 1975 cult classic, hilariously cheesy throwback to the giant-monster flicks craze of the 50s! In "The Giant Spider Invasion", giant arachnids from outer space begin to invade Earth after a huge black hole appears in a farmer's field outside a small town in Wisconsin. A NASA scientist deduces the invasion is the result of some sort of intergalactic gateway and devises a plan to stop the huge, hairy, creeping crawlers from devouring the local population.
Synopsis: The #8 release in the Dark Force 4K Ultra HD Platinum series is this 1975 cult classic, hilariously cheesy throwback to the giant-monster flicks craze of the 50s! In "The Giant Spider Invasion", giant arachnids from outer space begin to invade Earth after a huge black hole appears in a farmer's field outside a small town in Wisconsin. A NASA scientist deduces the invasion is the result of some sort of intergalactic gateway and devises a plan to stop the huge, hairy, creeping crawlers from devouring the local population.
The Bill Rebane (The Alpha Incident) directed The Giant Spider Invasion (1975) is a low-budget drive-in classic of the highest order, if what you ordered was a 70s schlockfest prone to unintentional laughter and corny creature effects. This is not to say that it is not entertaining an entertaining flick, because it is most certainly is a fun watch if you have that certain craving for b-movie creature features of yesteryear. In it a meteor crashes somewhere in rural Wisconsin and spawning a horde of giant spiders, which you probably already figured out from the title. Then we have hayseed Dan Kester (Robert Easton, Pet Sematary 2),a two-timing husband who regularly cheats on his alcoholic wife Ev (Leslie Parrish, Crash!) with the village cum-depository Helga (Christiane Schmidtmer, Scream, Pretty Peggy). One night Dan and Ev witness a meteor crash with a pretty spectacular light show, curiosity peaked they head-off into the woods to investigate and find a crater around which there are small softball sized stones, inside they discover what appear to be geodes filled with diamonds. What they don't notice is that the some of the geodes also contain hairy-tarantulas that end growing to varying sizes, while most grow to the size of a small Chihuahua, the queen spider grows to roughly the size of a Volkswagen Beetle.
On the periphery we have an unscrupulous owner of a rock shop Billy (Paul Bentley, The Devonsville Terror) who seems to be out to steal Dan's new found jewels and definitley wants to shag Ev's teenage sister Terry (Diane Lee Hart, The Pom Pom Girls). Then we have the Sheriff played by Alan Hale, Jr who you will know as the Skipper from Gilligan's Island!, and of course his first line of dialogue onscreen is "Hi, Little Buddy!", 'natch. Added tot he mixture are a pair of NASA scientists, Dr. Vance (Steve Brodie, Out of the Past) and Dr. Langer (Barbara Hale, Airport), who arrive on scene to investigate not just the fallen meteor, but the possible creation of a damn mini black hole in Dan's backyard!
Woo, this low-budget drive-in flick shoots for the Moon, but only makes it as far as a field in rural Wisconsin, but there's a lot to love about this schlocky slice of seventies cinema. Robert Easton is awesome as the hayseed Dan Kester and his wife is a riot, too. Don't feel too bad that her hubby is stepping out on her under the guise of attending church either, for this lush is no saint, she's lusting after her own sister's teenage boyfriend Perkins (Kevin Brodie, Delta Pi) - these two were made for each other!
Watching a move called The Giant Spider Invasion you have to wonder just how awful does the giant-spider look, right? Well, it sort of looks like a Volkswagen Beetle wrapped in fake fur with eight huge pipe-cleaners making up the legs, because that's exactly what it is! Director Rebane crammed nine kids into a Volkswagen to work the legs and keep them moving on film. Sure, it's cheap looking, and while not exactly pretty looking, I have to say that I loved it for how schlocky it was, this is exactly what you want from a bad creature feature, and if I am being honest, a couple of scene of the giant-spider attacking a house and later a car kind of look pretty cool. Truthfully, it looks pretty decent in the long shots and even the close-ups of the creature eating victims with torrents of blood spilling out of it's mouth are just awesome - and it's way bloodier than I expected from this sort of movie.
It's just fun creature flick, sure it's schlocky as all get-out, cheap-looking and at times inept, but I have such a spot for wooly monster flicks, and we get a cool psychotronic score, and the dialogue had me in stitches, my favorite being when Dan's wife says "Sometimes the only way I know you're alive is when I hear you flush the toilet!, or Dan's "You don't know rabbit turds from Rice Krispies", or when the Sheriff says "You ever see the movie Jaws? It makes that shark look like a goldfish!", oh brother, so much tasty bad-dialogue, chef's kiss.
Audio/Video: The Giant Spider Invasion (1975) makes its 4K Ultra HD debut from Dark Force Entertainment, presented in 2160p UHD in 1.85:1 widescreen with the benefit of an HDR10 color-grade. The source looks excellent, grain is intact, colors looks terrific and black levels are pleasing. This is a significant upgrade over the VCI Blu-ray in all the expected area. The 4K resolution resolves fine detail and textures quite well, it's a much tighter looking presentation, and the HDR color grade gives primaries a renewed blush, and the improved depth and clarity is easy to appreciate. Audio chores are handled by English language DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with optional English subtitles, the score, sound effects and dialogue are well-balanced and the psychotronic score by director Rebane himself also has a nice showing int he mix. The track is clean and well-balanced, limited in it's design and narrow in it's range, but sounding accurate to the original production, and without any hiss or distortion.
The only extras on this 4K release is a Demon Dave & Joe’s 'Savage Tracks Vol. 3”: featuring Demon Dave, Joe Rubin from Vinegar Syndrome, Doug Dunning (Dark Force Original “Deconstructing Dunning”) and the ever popular & outrageous Randy Cognata (The Young Nurses). It's a meandering track with far too little actual observations about the film we are watching, most of it dedicated to trying to get Dunning, who was Sir Miles Headlock from GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (1988-1990), to reveal information about himself and his background. After about 45-minutes I tapped out of this one for now, but next time I am cleaning around the house I will give it a listen, which is how I usually watch commentaries.
I will say that if you own the previous 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD release from VCI you should definitely hang onto it, while this release from Dark Force Entertainment looks terrific it lacks all the previous extras from that release. Missing is the is the 15-min "Size Does Matter! Making The Giant Spider Invasion” doc from Ballyhoo Motion Pictures, the 14-track CD of “The Giant Spider Invasion the Musical”, the 28-min Super-8 Version, 30-min The Super-8 Re-Edited Version, 133-min Archival Interviews with cult-film director Bill Rebane and other members of the cast, crew and Super-fans, 17-min Archival Interview with actor Robert Easton (Kester), 7-min Bill Rebane introduction by Kevin Murphy and Mike Nelson (of MST3K fame), 15-min Extensive Behind-the-Scenes Photo Gallery, 8-min of Theatrical Trailers and TV Spots, 7-min of Archival Newsreel: Bill Rebane on the set of Rana!, and Liner Notes written by Tom Stockman of WeAreMovieGeeks.com, and a 4-Page Comic Book Reprint. That release was dripping with content and it's a shame we don't get those carried over here.
Special Features:
- Demon Dave & Joe’s 'SAVAGE TRACKS VOL 3”: featuring Doug Dunning (Dark Force Original “Deconstructing Dunning”) and the ever popular & outrageous Randy Cognata (The Young Nurses)
- Demon Dave & Joe’s 'SAVAGE TRACKS VOL 3”: featuring Doug Dunning (Dark Force Original “Deconstructing Dunning”) and the ever popular & outrageous Randy Cognata (The Young Nurses)
When I first saw this flick when the VCI Blu-ray release came around I was pretty entertained by the flick, but did not have a super high opinion of it. Since then I've seen a good handful of Rebane directed flicks and can easily say that this might be my favorite of all of 'em so far. Sure, it's not a "good" movie, but it's a fun bad movie all the way around in the best possible way, and if you love bad cinema, hokey drive-in cult classics and schlocky creature features this is quite a treat. The Dark Force Entertainment 4K Ultra HD presents the film the best it's ever looked and sounded, and while I would have appreciated more extras, this is the best way to watch it on home video in my opinion.
Buy it!
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