Ugh, just the title alone gives me the heebie jeebies, but I’ve never been too keen on anything with more than six legs. Although my gut instinct was to throw this DVD down on the ground, spray it with half a can of Raid, and light it on fire, I decided to give it a shot. And I’m certainly glad I did, as it is one of the best put together and shows how a monster movie should be made.
“Big Ass Spider” is a title that fully covers all you really need to know about this film. Alex Mathis (Greg Grunberg) is a local exterminator who is bitten by a bug while at the home of a client. He goes to the hospital just in time for patients to be dying from what seems to be spider bites. Perfect timing, right? In exchange for his hospital bill being waived, Alex teams up with hospital security guard Jose Ramos (Lombardo Boyar) to track down the elusive arachnid. What they don’t expect to find is a large genetically altered spider that has escaped the confines of a military lab. The hospital is soon taken over by Major Braxton Tanner (the wonderful Ray Wise) and his second-in-command Lieutenant Karly Brant (Clare Kramer), who immediately set out to quarantine the hospital in order to catch the spider, and to keep it as quiet as possible. Too bad said spider has already made it out of the building and is making its way through downtown Los Angeles. But don’t think that this movie is all doom and gloom-Gregory Gieras has written some of the funniest scenes in a comedy-horror film that is a little schlocky, but will have you thinking “I know that guy!” as you watch. The movie as a whole is better than I expected, especially with some of the hybrid/gigantic monster films that have been put out recently. The writing is great, but with the comedic prowess and strong acting by not only Greg Grunberg (who is really hard NOT to like in anything he does) and Lombardo Boyar, it makes it a fun movie to watch.
“Big Ass Spider” airs on Syfy Saturday, April 19. And yes, I have my Raid at the ready.
