Alex (Greg Grunberg) is an exterminator trying to make a living. He has a loyal clientele, but when a spider bite goes wrong, he ends up in the hospital. While in the hospital, a body is brought into the morgue that contains an unusually large spider. In exchange for his hospital bill to be cleared, Alex, along with a security guard Jose (Lombardo Boyar), agrees to exterminate the spider.
However, a unit from the U.S. Army shows up, led by Major Braxton Tanner (Ray Wise) and Lt. Karly Brant (Clare Kramer), reveals the spider has some unusual DNA that will make it grow, and soon enough the spider is the size of a freight train and wrecking havoc all over Los Angeles.
The world needs a movie like BIG ASS SPIDER. It’s just pure fun and pure escapism. The chemistry between Grunberg and Boyar turns SPIDER into a buddy movie. While Kramer was able to play “the damsel in distress” she also played her as a kick butt gunfighter. Wise, who has chewed the scenery in other movies, kept at the right pitch. He wasn’t too on and he wasn’t too off, just the right mix.
The effects were fun, the gore was just enough and it was fun.
I will the say the greatest strength of this movie is director Mike Mendez’s keeping it subtle. In a movie like this, it would be tempting to swing for the fences, be silly and overact in a why similar to Jack Palance. However, I believe they took an approach similar to Vincent Price’s approach. This is a welcomed approach to a movie in this genre.
Check out Fanboy Factor’s interviews with the cast and crew of BIG ASS SPIDER here.
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