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Earth vs. the Spider (2001) (TV) More at IMDb Pro »

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9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
This is *NOT* a spiderman rip-off! (Spoiler warning), 21 February 2004
Author: willywants

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Before I begin my analysis, I would like to point out this is not a spiderman rip-off as it was released before spiderman trailers even came to the screen.That said, on with the review:

PLOT:A shy, obsessive comic book fan gets injected with an experimental serum of a lab that is studying how to give humans the abilities of spiders. At first he develops minor abilities such as increased strength, which allows him to fight local criminals and bullies, thus living out his dream of being a superhero, and impressing his attractive next-door neighbor. Things start to get more odd when he is able to shoot webs out of his abdomen. Then he loses control over the force with which he applies his increasingly deadly abilities, as well as his judgment to discern between criminals and jokesters. His dream becomes a nightmare when he starts growing large spider body parts, he's in constant pain, and he develops a nearly insatiable hunger. A detective with a traumatized wife begins investigating when bodies covered in cobwebs and spider venom start piling up.

DIRECTING: 7.5/10- The directing and editing for this type of film are top-notch. The production values and cinematography are top of the line and create a almost dream-like world. It's nothing super-stylish, but it is still fits the bill nicely.

WRITING: 5.5/10- The script comes across okay, but there are still a few cheesy lines here and there and the characters aren't all that realistic......

ACTING: 6/10- Dan Ackroyd comes across best, all the other cast members are fine and Devon Gummersall who plays Quenton is good as the ever mutating spider-monster.

GORE: 6/10- This film isn't gore driven, but it has some nice moments here and there. Victims get there blood drained, leaving mummy-like bodies, a guy gets flung across a hall and has his neck snapped, and more. The gore isn't graphic, and squeamish or faint of heart viewers won't have to turn away too much.

MONSTERS: We get the "Quentin arachnid" in many forms. He starts out like a deformed person i.e. the elephant man, and rapidly becomes a "Predator"-like monster with spider legs, etc. it's a damn cool monster, as cool as I could ask for from a made-for-cable film.

SPECIAL EFFECTS: 8.5/10- Special effects mastero Stan Winston delivers terrific creature effects and one but-ugly monster! Great work on the final stage of the transformation, too.

SOUNDTRACK:5/10- We get some groovy Jazz tunes, but nothing memorable.

FINAL VERDICT: "Earth vs. the spider" is a fun monster film/above average made-for-cable flick. Decent acting, solid production values, great monster, fun movie. I really enjoyed it and theres a funny in-joke at the very end.

My rating for "Earth vs. the spiders"--7/10.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
echoes of greatness..., 23 June 2005
9/10
Author: joshlemli from Illinois, USA

This may not be the best film ever, but the writing and direction manages to be fresh around every bend. You'd expect lots of dumb noise-swell scares, cheesy one-liners, etc, but you'll find none of that here. Good old fashioned horror is alive and well here, and although this movie isn't the most involved or beautiful film you'll ever see, give it a chance.

The direction and cinematography is surprisingly good, and the transformation of the spider is done just right -- you don't see too much too soon, but just enough to keep it creepy and interesting. I really can't say enough about how this film avoided the pitfalls into which most big-budget movies stumble. Horror movies in particular, having made a big comeback in the last few years, suffer from cheap jump-out-at-you thrills, poor plot, and weak plot twists. This movie keeps it good and simple.

My favorite part is that you can sympathize with all the characters, which is especially awesome with the "villian." Oh, and the spider looks FRIKKIN AWESOME. But just as a forewarning, the ending is a little disappointing.

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9 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Spidey gone completely wrong, 24 April 2004
Author: lucifer_1981 from MALDIVES

I should say i caught this little piece of gem the other day on tv and this tv movie was quite impressive.To begin with we have this kid who loses his job as a security officer at a research lab as he screws up a bust up by a bunch of crooks .To top it the kid injects himself with some potion say xxx which has something to do with spiders .So this kid will he become a super hero or some thing very sinister? thats for u to watch mucho. And well we have Dan akroyd as the investigating officer,and he gives a good performance.The movie builds upon the premise which we all dreamt when we were kids "to be a super hero with that special powers in order to save the world, save the girl and save the day". Quite a little neat movie i give it 4 otta 5.Have a good day.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
The Arachnid Avenger!, 30 October 2001
8/10
Author: Elliott Patrick

As a fan of superhero comics, hard-boiled pulp stories and old school monster movies, this film was a lot of fun. Yes, there are immediate comparisons to David Cronenberg's remake of "The Fly," but I think there are a lot of other cool influences here as well. The movie has an interesting "retro" feel. The thugs are like 50's era baddies, the female lead always looks like she's dolled up to go swing dancing and the music has a kinda hep-cat jazz flavor. And it works. The main character "Quentin" is in that mold of hero/villains, like Sam Raimi's "Darkman." You like seeing him get even, but then it starts to go too far and he just can't help himself. The way he learns and deals with his transformations is also really well done. Another solid entry in the Creature Features film series. There's even a cool homage to the original "Earth vs. The Spider." See if you can spot it.

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
A comic book brought to life!, 23 October 2001
10/10
Author: peanuts mom from Burbank, CA

This movie was everything I hoped it would be! The director and writers created a wonderful comic book feel that made this movie all the more enjoyable. Devon G. did an excellent job as Quinten - we felt every emotion he felt. His character was well written. We understood his struggle as he tried to accomplish his dream of being a hero and how that dream slowly destroyed him. I loved the comic book store owner as well. There were some great scenes that took place there. I thought this was a well put together movie - the writing, casting, directing, music and of course - THE SPIDER!

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8 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Not a remake of the 1958 cult classic., 16 May 2003
1/10
Author: Sylvester from Surrey, England

For some reason film reviewers have created and now perpetuate the myth that this is a remake of the 1958 Bert Gordon film. Apart from the title, the Arkoff connection and the odd "in" reference (the leading character's surname is Kemmer - see cast list for the 1958 film), this dreadful tv movie has nothing whatsoever to do with the cult classic original. A cross between "Spiderman" and "The Fly", this uninspired and boring time-waster has a weak script, poor sets and a barely adequate cast. The make-up is reasonable but, despite the gap of nearly half a century, the special effects are nowhere near as good as those of the 1958 version - and Bert Gordon's films were not known for their lavish special effects budgets. Don't fail to miss it!

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8 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Lame 2/10, 20 January 2002
2/10
Author: The_Wood from slc

Wow, this movie is just awful. First off, the spider isn't really vs. the world, the spider goes against Dan Aykroyd (giving a lazy performance). Secondly, the film has lousy special effects, and even worse voice acting.

The disappointing thing is, the film actually had me hooked for the first little bit. I like the concept of a man who thinks he is going to become a super hero, but ultimately ends up becoming a super villain. It's just too bad the villain is lame, and the hero is....well Dan Aykroyd.

2/10

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
homage to the Fly and Spider-man, 17 September 2006
7/10
Author: voidasunder from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

i saw this on the sci-fi channel and it was a decent little movie. its basically what if the movies Spider-man and the Fly had a baby, and the baby grows up to be the Punisher. its also a warning to all the comic book fan boys out there not to inject themselves with irradiated spider juice. it never works out like you hope.

our main character is a shy, geek, boy who works at a low level security job for a bio-genetic research company. he likes a girl, but is too shy to ask her out, he reads comic books, and he wishes to be a super hero. he gets his chance, but things don't turn out like he planned. at heart he still want to be a hero and you can see that even when hes at his worst.

the story moves along nicely, even though it get s a little predictable. its fun to just watch how the story unfolds. it does remind one of the 1950s sci-fi horror movies, but with acting that isn't as over the top.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Where's the Earth? Where's the Spider?, 23 December 2006
1/10
Author: pksky1 from Northern California

We've seen a lot of good movies from Dan Akroyd. One might hope that if he made a bad one, you would be able to spot it. It is usually easy to spot bad movies, but only because the plots are easy to spot. But unfortunately in this movie, they are advertising things that don't even exist in the movie. There is no giant spider and the planet is in no way involved with the thing we do get.

I happen to recall that there was a giant spider movie somewhere recently that was also pretty bad, but had some nice special effects. This movie also cites special effects as something to look for, but we don't get any until the last 15 minutes or so and they are nothing special. The latest King Kong was no great story, but the special effects were truly benchmark stuff, absolutely awesome.

The movie makers are generally pretty careful about listing the ingredients on their films, but not this time.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the many films released with a misleading title., 7 July 2005
Author: Prolox from Canada

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

When the title on a video box reads EARTH VS. THE SPIDER, instantly (At least for me it does) you think of a giant mutated spider stomping on a cardboard city, while people in the city run for their lives, the army shooting at the thing, trying to hit it with bombs, war planes shooting at it from the sky etc. etc. well if you think that this is what you'll be in for when you sit down to watch this, then you will be majorly disappointed, this was yet another one of those films that rips off the title of one of A.I.P.'s classic films of the 50's 60's & 70's, the film has a shy young security guard (who happens to love comics) who witness's the killing of his friend & partner, an elderly man who is shot by robbers who break into the lab that they are suppose to be watching. He feels horrible & wants to stop crime, so why not drink the formula that some scientists have made up using spider DNA & other chemicals, I mean it works for the guys in the comic books, they always wind up as these muscle bound superhero's? well this time the total reversal happens, instead of the formula turning him into a muscle bound hero who fights crime, it slowly turns him into, you guessed it, a spider monster! DAN AYKROYD makes a good turn as a detective & the acting, effects & direction is good, so if you just ignore the title, you may just find something to like with this movie, I did anyways.

*** stars

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