Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Main Menu Audio & Animation Dolby Digital Trailer-Canyon Audio Commentary Theatrical Trailer Notes-Creepy Crawling Giants Filmographies-Cast & Crew Featurette-Larger Than Life: The Short That Inspired The Film DVD-ROM Extras
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	95:16 (Case: 99)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (39:40)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Ellory Elkayem
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	David Arquette Kari Wuhrer Scott Terra Doug E. Doug Scarlett Johansson
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$39.95	Music	John Ottman

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    So then, why the fast home release? A lot of the reason is to do with the type of film that Eight Legged Freaks is — it is a purposefully B-grade horror/comedy take on the 50s monster movies, tailored to a very specific niche market. That market is largely comprised of "geek fanboys" who will be quite keen to own the film on DVD (although I am reviewing this movie, I refuse to acknowledge myself as a "geek fanboy", although I do own the Region 1...), and will be prepared to buy it. At least that is my theory.

    The next obvious question is does Eight Legged Freaks meet its intentions of being a cheesy, even campy, B-grade horror? Well the answer to that is a definite "yes". The most resounding thing about the movie is its very dry sense of humour. While there are some characters playing it directly for laughs, the majority of the time the readings are completely straight, simply set against the backdrop of patently ridiculous events, using the situations rather than the dialogue to generate the humour. The plot is simple — a toxic waste spill causes some spiders to grow really big, really fast, and they start attacking the residents of the nearby town. That really is about it (okay, there are a couple of romantic sub-plots, but they really have little to do with the point of the movie). As is typically the case in this sort of movie, the town residents have to band together to battle the monsters and save both their lives and their homes.

    Another thing that aids the appeal of Eight Legged Freaks is the casting that goes completely against stereotype (or is that clichι?). Instead of the muscle bound, strong-jawed, sheriff we have Samantha Parker (Kari Wuhrer) as the action hero, while the male "hero" Chris is portrayed by geeky David Arquette, who certainly does not have the physical presence typically expected of the lead in a horror. Adding to the playful casting is the role of the local alien-invasion-theorist going to African-American Doug E. Doug, very much playing against type, and finally the casing of the gorgeous Scarlett Johansson as Sam's daughter Ashley, will not raise any complaints from the largely male target audience.

    The only real down-side to Eight Legged Freaks is the fact that there is absolutely no purpose for this movie in today's climate. The original monster movies of the 50s were created to play on, or help combat, the populace fear of the emerging nuclear technology, but these days that is no longer at the forefront of the public conscious. The result is that this movie is very much an entertainment experience alone — and while it is fun, it does seem to be a little empty at times. Despite this, Eight Legged Freaks is very much worth enjoying for any who fit the target audience (I'm sure we all know who we are), while any who do not like "B-movies", or are easily annoyed by movies that are entirely tongue-in-cheek, should stay as far away as they can get.

Video

    The transfer is presented at the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The sharpness is the first area where this transfer is a little down. While it is sharp overall, it is just a little hazy, and is definitely not very sharp. On its own, the transfer is quite good, but it has the look of many of the earlier DVD transfers, lacking the complete clarity of more recent efforts. Shadow detail suffers no such problems, and is excellent, a big plus as there are a large number of night (and underground) scenes in this movie. There is no low level noise, and grain is never really a problem.

    The colours are slightly washed out, although the desert setting may have something to do with this. The overall look of the film is very desert-like, and appropriate to the settings, so it does work quite well.

    There are no compression artefacts during the film, and only one really noticeable film artefact, at 63:02. There is, however, quite a bit of aliasing. It is never really severe, although there are a few occasions, such as on the car at 21:18 when it is easily noticeable, and creates an obvious shimmer.

    The subtitles are generally accurate, are well paced, and easy to read, although they are not rendered in a particularly attractive font.

    This is an RSDL formatted disc with the layer change taking place at 39:40 during chapter 12. It is an extremely well placed layer change, managing to stay largely hidden despite occurring right in the middle of a scene, on a moving camera shot.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are two audio tracks present on this disc: the original English dialogue in Dolby Digital 5.1 (at 384 kbps), and an English audio commentary track in Dolby Digital 2.0 surround (at 192 kbps).

    Dialogue is always clear and easy to understand. The spider effects noises are likewise clear, to the point it is possible to determine the type of spider that is attacking based solely on sound. Audio sync is spot on throughout, and never causes any problems.

    The music is credited to John Ottman, and is well deserving of the praise heaped on it during the commentary track. The score manages to find a very good balance between comedy and seriousness that helps immensely with both the atmosphere of the film, and in how well it works.

    This soundtrack is a very good example of surround use. The surrounds not only help carry the score and some ambient noise, but they are often and aggressively used for discrete surround effects. There are many occasions where the sound of spiders or other activities will come from one or other of the rear channels, and there are many panning effects, including pans both around the soundstage and across it. This is one of the best surround sound efforts available, and the best part of it all, is that it is very subtle, providing a truly immersive experience.

    The subwoofer is very well used, providing more than enough backing when required — explosions, crashes, the pounding of enormous spider feet — and staying silent when not.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

Audio Commentary - Ellory Elkayem (Director), Dean Devlin (Producer), David Arquette and Rick Overton (Actors)

Theatrical Trailer (1:05)

Additional Scenes (13:10)

Creepy Crawly Giants (7 pages)

Cast and Crew

Larger Than Life (13:37)

DVD-ROM Content

Easter Egg

    The video quality is good, but feels just a little under-done, not really coming up to the standards of other recent releases.

    The audio quality is excellent, making up for any failing in the video, demonstrating very good use of the surround channels.

    The extras are not quite as plentiful as the list may suggest, but they are none the less interesting.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall