Arachnophobia

PG-13

1990

1 hr. 49 min.

Mystery & Thriller

Comedy

List

93%

45 Reviews

Tomatometer

54%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

After a nature photographer (Mark L. Taylor) dies on assignment in Venezuela, a poisonous spider hitches a ride in his coffin to his hometown in rural California, where arachnophobe Dr. Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels) has just moved in with his wife, Molly (Harley Jane Kozak), and young son. As town residents start turning up dead, Jennings begins to suspect spiders, and must face his fears as he and no-nonsense exterminator Delbert McClintock (John Goodman) fight to stop a deadly infestation.

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Critics Consensus

Arachnophobia may not deliver genuine chills, but it's an affectionate, solidly built tribute to Hollywood's classic creature features.

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Christian K

Works pretty well as a Spielbergy light horror creature feature. Goodman was awesome in this.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/15/24

Full Review

Johnson C

It was good I'd recommend it. We thought the spiders were too small. The queen shouldve been massive. The exterminator was funny. The fat cop was absolutely stupid. The assistant was annoying. The spiders could fly

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/24

Full Review

Sara

Fuck this movie, fuck this movie, fuck this movie, fuck this movie, fuck this movie, fuck this movie, fuck this movie, fuck this movie, fuck this movie, fuck this movie, , etc.. I cannot even fathom the idea of being one of the staff involved in this movie's making. I can't even begin to understand the fuckin' odd balls that worked with the actual spiders needed to gain footage. There is nothing cute, cuddly or comforting about a spider, so if you own one as a pet - do yourself a favor and put it out of it's memory, then go find yourself a nice girl and have her over for a nice time watching movies free of 8 legged freakazoids with 8 eyes.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/24

Full Review

Ed

Going into this movie, I'm not scared of spiders unless I can't see them and they're on me, and this movie took every advantage of that second fact. I'm also from a region where we don't have incredibly dangerous spiders, maybe if you're from Australia arachnophobia would be justified. Like this titles description and reviews before me, I agree that this is a mix between a horror and a comedy, although I found myself pretty scared (although that's a low standard). I particularly enjoyed at the end where they cut to a close-up of the spider's eyes, almost made it look cute.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/31/23

Full Review

Saso Q

This film is not about spiders but about desire for the desire of the other. The majority of the small town characters display a risible arrogance, a self-regarding pettiness, a thoroughly relational amour-propre which condemns them to submission to the spook which rises with discourse and slavery to the judgement which does not die with God. In other words, it is a movie about webs, not spiders. It is a moral psychological inversion of the British apocalyptic nuclear war drama Threads, which aptly shows that we are already doomed by the social media which fills us all with so much hate -- hate born of the effaced resentment of lacking the courage to resists the system which sets us on our paths to destruction in search of the spirit of the superior in the image of the divine self of organized consciousness. Here, on the screen, is the essence of the Hegelian master-slave dialectic: homicidal rage upon denial of recognition of the impossible, respect and recognition to the death for the rational rule of the father, prestige and right of the ruling elite, hubris of the man who first declares 'I own; this is mine, my property, you must pay or keep out', and expects people to believe him. Arachnophobia is a meditation and a discourse on themes treated most effectively by Augustine, Rousseau, Hegel, Kojeve and Lacan. The phobia is not for arachnids but for what Nietzsche called moral spiders, or moral Tarantulas, rationalists who would to resolve the problem of this agony with a General Will, a Kantian World Government or any self-righteous Leviathan to resurrect the deceased divinity which inaugurated the whole mess. Not only this, but when the small town doctor from hell dies under mysterious circumstances, how is the one man in the position to gain the most from his passing and the one man least likely to mourn his demise not immediately the prime suspect?

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/17/23

Full Review

Cera F

I just really like good creature features. this is one of the greats

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/11/23

Full Review

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Frank Marshall

Director

Jeff Daniels

Dr. Ross Jennings

Harley Jane Kozak

Molly Jennings

John Goodman

Delbert McClintock

Julian Sands

Doctor James Atherton

Stuart Pankin

Sheriff Lloyd Parsons

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Ryan Murphy

Miami Herald

Its screams are likely to be drowned out by a cacophony of joyful wails reverberating in the theaters when Arachnophobia creeps toward an edge-of-seat conclusion.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 17, 2021

Full Review

Gene Siskel

Chicago Tribune

[Goodman] is a quiet hoot, fancying himself as the last samurai in the battle against bugs. His performance takes the edge off the horror and makes ''Arachnophobia'' palatable for people of all ages.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 7, 2021

Full Review

James Ivory

Sight & Sound

The dexterity of the spiders as they merrily look for their prey is matched by the dexterity of Frank Marshall's direction in its nimbleness and sense of fun.

Jan 11, 2020

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

The film is passable entertaining. [Full review in Spanish]

Nov 16, 2022

Full Review

Eve Tushnet

Stuff.co.nz

Great pacing, great payoffs for all its setups, exactly enough characterization but not too much–and, of course, spiders. What more can you ask for?

May 23, 2022

Full Review

Alan Jones

Radio Times

A tension-laden web full of solid scares and well-timed wit in what is virtually a version of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, only with eight legs.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 7, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

After a nature photographer (Mark L. Taylor) dies on assignment in Venezuela, a poisonous spider hitches a ride in his coffin to his hometown in rural California, where arachnophobe Dr. Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels) has just moved in with his wife, Molly (Harley Jane Kozak), and young son. As town residents start turning up dead, Jennings begins to suspect spiders, and must face his fears as he and no-nonsense exterminator Delbert McClintock (John Goodman) fight to stop a deadly infestation.

Director: Frank Marshall
Screenwriter: Don Jakoby, Al Williams, Wesley Strick
Production Co: Hollywood Pictures, Amblin Entertainment
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 9, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $53.2M
Sound Mix: Surround

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