ARACHNOPHOBIA Blu-ray Review

Arachnophobia will soon arrive on Blu-ray for the first time since it's theatrical release in 1990 from Disney. The release is part of Disney's recent deluge of catalog releases on Blu-ray. It was directed by Frank Marshall and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. What sets this horror thriller apart from other films in it's genre is the great cast. Arachnophobia stars Jeff Daniels, Harley Jane Kozak, Julian Sands, John Goodman, Stuart Pankin, and Henry Jones.

Don Jakoby wrote the screenplay, which tells the story of a vicious spider from the South American rain forest who hitches a ride to a small California town in the casket with a dead body. Soon after arriving, the large spider mates with a local spider. Not long after, the small town is infested with venomous spiders and the population begins to die off one-by-one. The doctor and bumbling police chief are aided by an insect exterminator to kill off the eight legged killers before the town gets overrun. 

Jeff Daniels and John Goodman are two fantastic character actors that are at their best in this role. I love Daniels in Dumb and Dumber, but he is better as a straight-laced doctor. He is more believable in this type of role or his recent work on HBO's The Newsroom.

Goodman, on the other hand continues to parlay his off-the-wall characters into some very memorable performances. Roles in movies like Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, and Oh Brother, Where Art Though are some of my personal favorite Goodman roles. Every scene that his bug-killing character was in, was so memorable. 

The real star of the show are the spiders though. If there is one thing in the world I hate more than snakes, it is spiders. Arachnophobia had my skin crawling with the eight-legged monsters. One thing is for sure, the spiders look extremely realistic. I could not see any strings controlling the puppets. If you enjoy a lot of jump scares, then this film is for you. I can not think of a better way to kick off the coming month of horror, then with Arachnophobia. 

The disc was supposed to be released on September 4, but was delayed until September 25, 2012 because of "encoding issues" with the disc according to Disney. The film looks as good or better than it did when released in theaters. It has 1080p HD widescreen, and English 5.1 DTS. The special features are slim on this disc, but enjoyable. There are two featurttes, one on the making of the movie, and another from legendary producer Frank Marshall. Then there is an extended scene from Venezuela, not featured in the film. 

If you are looking for a fun, yet scary movie, then Arachnophobia is for you. It is scary enough that fans of the genre will enjoy it, but it still can be enjoyed by the whole family. 

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