During the eco-horror boom of the ’70s, which saw movies like Empire of the Ants and The Food of the Gods thrill and chill movie-goers, director John “Bud” Cardos made a notable entry with Kingdom of the Spiders, which borrows from “the” horror movie featuring an animal, Jaws, both in direction and story.
Buy Kingdom of the Spiders (Special Edition) Blu-rayWilliam Shatner stars as Dr. Robert “Rack” Hansen, a veterinarian who serves Camp Verde, Arizona and the surrounding area. Rancher Walter Colby (Woody Strode) brings his ill cow to Rack. It dies and Rack sends its blood samples to a university. The results lead to entomologist Diane (Tiffany Bolling) coming to examine the cow’s carcass. Initially, Rack doesn’t believe a spider could be responsible, but he soon learns what the audience does: thousands of tarantulas have descended upon (or under) Walter’s ranch, 600 miles away from where they should be and with a change in diet because of what mankind has done to the ecosystem. Naturally, the Mayor wants to keep any bad news quiet so as not to disrupt the revenue from the county fair, which as anyone familiar with these types of movies knows, never goes well.
Although the tarantulas are slow moving (yet not always when Cardos employs their POV shot as they approach victims) and don’t seem like they could do much against humans, these large, hairy spiders do have a creep factor for many. Plus, having so many in such large numbers can overwhelm their victims, even though at times, it seems like a hive mind is at work.
The script has a good plot for a horror movie and a great twist at the end. There’s not much character development beyond the two lead characters as their bond grows, but who can blame two good-looking people being attracted to each other. There are light moments to break the tension and unintentional light moments that elicit chuckles.
The image has been given a 1080p/MPEG-4 AVC encoded transfer displayed at the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The colors appear in strong hues right from the first sequence. There’s the light blue sky and a darker blue of denim jeans, a mix of greens and faded yellows of the grasslands, and various browns of the horses. At the local gas station, rich reds can be seen on the pumps and the interior of Diane’s Mercedes. Blacks are inky. Whites are bright, as seen in Rack’s shirt when he first rides onto the screen. The image delivers a sharp picture that exhibits depth and fine texture details, such as clothing and locations. There’s a good amount of film grain and the picture looks free from dirt and defect.
The audio is available in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono. Dialogue is clear. Composer Dorsey Burnette’s score is compressed, which it likely was at the source. It makes it sound a bit muddled at its louder moments, causing it not to work as smoothly when paired with the presence of the tarantulas.
The Special Features are:
- A new Audio Commentary by author/film historian Lee Gambin
- Audio Commentary moderated by Lee Christian and Scott Spiegel with Cardos, producer Igo Kantor, spider wrangler Jim Brockett, and cinematographer John Morrill.
- Audio Commentary moderated by Marc Edward Heuck with Kantor and Bolling.
- Interview with actress Tiffany Bolling (9 min) – She talks about working on the film and with flirtatious Shatner.
- Interview with Writer Steve Lodge (5 min) – the co-writer talks of the origins of the script.
- Radio Spot (audio only, 1 min)
- Six trailers
For those who like their horror mild and creepy, Kingdom of the Spiders fits the bill. This latest Blu-ray from the Kino Cult line delivers quality high-definition video and a good number of extras for fans to learn how the movie came to be. A shame Shatner wasn’t involved with them.
