Arachnophobia is an irrational fear of spiders.
A rare and deadly species of spider from South America hitches a ride to the United States in the coffin of a dead photographer. It ends up in a sleepy California town and mates with a local species creating a new and highly intelligent hybrid. The result is a clutter of lethal nasty baby spiders. When people start dying the new doctor in town believes something strange is going on. He has a hard time convincing anyone that these people are dying from spider bites. Once the full tilt spider invasion happens the only way to stop it is to find the queen and destroy her and her egg sack. By then the action is non stop gross and deliciously frightening.
Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels) is the new doctor in town and he brings with him a fear of spiders. Delbert McClintock (John Goodman) brings his uniqueness to the part of an exterminator or “infestation handler”.
It’s scary it’s funny, it’s creepy and it’s all brought to you by Steven Spielberg. Even if you don’t have a fear of spiders this movie might change your mind. And don’t miss the closing credits where you can here “Don’t Bug Me” written and sung by Jimmy Buffett.
The actual spiders used in Arachnophobia were Avondale spiders which are native to New Zealand. They are known to be aggressive but not poisonous. Even so, they’re still ugly looking.
The animatronic General Spider seen at the film's climax was one of the earliest prop jobs done by Jamie Hyneman, star and co-producer of MythBusters. The sound of a spider being crushed by John Goodman was made by the foley artists crushing a couple of potato chips. When dead spiders were needed, the filmmakers used bodies of arachnids that had died of natural causes.