Mörderspinnen (1977)

Mörderspinnen: Directed by John ‘Bud’ Cardos. With William Shatner, Tiffany Bolling, Woody Strode, Lieux Dressler. In rural Arizona, countless killer tarantulas are migrating through a farm town, killing every living thing in their path. The town’s veterinarian will do everything in his power to survive the onslaught.

“u0026quot;Kingdom of the Spidersu0026quot; has earned a bit of notoriety in the 20+ years since its release, mainly because it features Captain Kitsch himself, William Shatner. However, this is actually a decent, watchable (though somewhat intense) horror film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;KOTSu0026quot; was one of the numerous u0026quot;nature on the rampageu0026quot; films that (pardon the pun) swarmed into theaters in the mid to late 1970s, riding the successful crest of Steven Spielbergu0026#39;s u0026quot;Jawsu0026quot;. It seems to draw inspiration not only from that film (in that it is set in a small town that relies on a summer festival to survive), but also u0026quot;The Birdsu0026quot; (an antagonistic romance between the two leads, a small town turned into utter chaos) and even u0026quot;Night of the Living Deadu0026quot; (the main characters ultimately wind up barricading themselves in a house to survive the onslaught).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe plot is typical: Shatner plays a veterinarian in a small Arizona town who is baffled by the sudden death of a seemingly healthy calf. When he asks for help from a university, they send an entomologist, played by Bolling, who informs Shatner that the animal died from a massive dose of spider venom. Sure enough, an investigation uncovers a massive u0026quot;spider hillu0026quot;, a kind of giant ant hill inhabited by hundreds of tarantulas, in a local farmersu0026#39; field, and many others are discovered later. Bolling theorizes that the normally solitary tarantulas have banded together to find food since farmers have killed their natural prey through overuse of insecticides. The hairy little devils show they have also become quite intelligent, as they carefully disrupt attempts to eradicate them, and ultimately invade the town.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlthough the script is paper-thin at times, the special effects are well-done, giving the viewer a genuine u0026quot;this could really happen!u0026quot; feeling. Not recommended for those who suffer from real-life arachnophobia, but highly recommended for anyone looking for a good thriller.”