This article concerns the spiders in Eight Legged Freaks. For spiders in other movies, see this page.
| Spiders | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Naming | |||
| Binomen | N/A | ||
| Morphology | |||
| Body type | Arachnid | ||
| Intelligence | |||
| Sentience | Sentient | ||
| Sapience | Non-Sapient | ||
| Aggressivity | Extreme | ||
| Ecology | |||
| Place of origin | Arizona | ||
| Diet | Carnivorous | ||
| Locomotion | Octopedal | ||
| Status | Extinct | ||
| Behind the Scenes | |||
| Universe | Eight Legged Freaks | ||
| “ | GET BACK, YOU EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS!!! |
” |
— Chris McCormick
| ||
The spiders are the main antagonist of the horror-comedy movie Eight Legged Freaks.
They were originally normal arachnids but mutated into larger sizes after Josh, the spider farm owner, brought back crickets from a lake that had been contaminated with toxic waste, and then went on a murderous rampage killing humans indiscriminately.
History[]
Outside the sleepy mining town of Prosperity, Arizona, a truck driver carrying a load of chemicals on a highway swerves to avoid a rabbit. As a result, a barrel of toxic waste falls into a reservoir. An exotic spider farmer, Joshua, has regularly been visiting the site, collecting the crickets which unbeknownst to him have fed on the chemicals. He then feeds the insects to the spiders, which in turn grow larger and become hungry almost the whole time.
Joshua shows Mike, a local boy, his collection, including an enormous female Orb Weaver from Brazil named Consuela. When Mike leaves, Joshua is attacked by a tarantula that left its cage, and feeling terrible pain, he knocks down all the other cages. The spiders escape, in the process killing Josh and his parrot.
A week later Mike pays Joshua another visit, but is intercepted by his mother Sheriff Sam Parker and Deputy Pete. Both are pulling the toxic barrel out of the pond. Wade, the Mayor of Prosperity, confers with the residents about whether they should sell the mines and relocate. Chris McCormick, whose father owned the mines before he perished ten years prior, shows up and rejects Wade's suggestion. He also sparks a romance with Sam.
Meanwhile, Harlan Griffiths, an eccentric extraterrestrial enthusiast, is broadcasting his hypothesis that various missing pets around town have been abducted by aliens. The townspeople all ignore his theory, passing it off as the product of a deranged imagination. Mike sneaks out on foot and finds Joshua and the spiders missing, the farm covered in webbing, and the corpse of Joshua. Although he sees an enormous spider shadow in the mines and tells Chris that the spiders have grown to massive sizes, based on a giant spider leg he found at the mine entrance, Chris doesn't believe him. Simultaneously, the mines have reopened with the miners searching for a famous gold lode.
One miner falls victim to a giant spider, whose clans have taken over the mines as their habitat. Because the entire town is connected somehow to the mines, more arachnids show up in many different places. Deputy Pete Williams's cat has a fight with one of the monsters in the air vents before being eaten - meanwhile, some of the ostriches on Wade's farm are devoured by trapdoor spiders. Ashley, Sam's daughter, breaks up with her boyfriend Bret. He and his motorcyclist friends are chased by jumping spiders, with him the only survivor, accidentally cutting off the telephone line and being stuck in the mine when he kills the arachnids. Chris finds out that his Aunt Gladys and her dog are abducted by a male orb weaver in their basement. Sam is convinced Chris and Mike are delusional. However, her skepticism fades and she realizes that Chris and Mike were right all along when she witnesses a giant male orb-weaver attempting to abduct Ashley and Chris. Sam kills the spider with a shotgun and saves them both. Meanwhile Bret, still wandering the mines, gets a good peek at the giant Consuela during her feeding.
Types of spiders[]
As expected, the spider farm had a multitude of arachnids. Here is a list of the species seen.
- Jumping spiders
- Brazilian wandering spiders
- Australian funnel web spiders (specifically, the lethal Sydney funnel web spider)
- Tarantula (there is a notable individual called the "Tank")
- Various tarantulas were seen: Chilean red tarantula, the Mexican redknee tarantula, the Pink foot goliath and the Goliath birdeater
- Black widows (also with a notable individual called "Consuela")
- Orb weavers
- Trapdoor spiders
- Garden spiders
Notes[]
- They were able to perform an evil laugh, as evidenced when they converged on the shopping centre.