Earth vs. the Spider (2001)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

"Earth vs. the Spider" is a sad, missed opportunity for a sleeper hit.**SPOILERS**Tired of constantly being picked up, Security Guard Quentin Kemmer, (Devon Gummersall) indulges in comic books to escape the torments of work, much to the chagrin of Nick Bezis, (Mario Roccuzzo) a fellow security guard. Following a robbery at the weapons research plant he works at, he begins to act strangely, which Stephanie Lewis, (Amelia Heinle) feels is different. As he starts to realize that he has super powers from the accident, Det. Insp. Jack Grillo, (Dan Aykroyd) begins to get involved in a series of murders that are believed to have been committed by Quentin, and he must race to stop the powers from taking over his whole persona.The Good News: There's a couple of really interesting moments in here. The final half-hour, when things really start to heat up and the action gets far more intense, are the best parts. From the beginning discovery of the body wrapped up in webbing inside a dank, grimy factory, it creates a nice atmosphere that really gets it down right. The ensuing chase scene is pretty nice, but the real kicker is the suspenseful walk-through of the building with no lights and just a flashlight. It's a long, incredibly drawn-out scene with all the clichés about a suspenseful scene played out to it's best potential, and is a really impressive sequence. This also has the final reveal of the monster, allowing for some nice cheesy moments in there with it's design and the final confrontation with it. The design is pretty cool, but it's basically apart of the really impressive ending that's the best part of the film.The Bad News: Outside of the final half hour, there isn't a whole lot to like in this one. It spends the middle part of it dealing with the discovery of the powers, but the fact that it really glosses over them with only a short amount of time devoted to them. Rather than simply being a long, drawn-out process of discovery, this has the full realization of the powers pretty quickly and easily. It really seems like a longer amount of time, as it's shown to be about a week, but it only shows snippets of that time, condensing it down considerably. It could've been a lot longer than that amount of time to what was shown, rather than just taking a highlight reel of it's best moments and make it seem a lot longer than it really was. The fact that it takes so long for him to receive his powers is also a missed opportunity. It occurs around the half-hour mark, far too long into the movie for this sort of revelation. It really could've been condensed far more and kept it rolling along much more. As it is, the beginning of the film is much to slow, as the main event is far too long coming and then a long, drawn-out realization of what's going on makes this a really long sit-through, especially in comparison to the rapid-fire and spectacular conclusion.The Final Verdict: Had it fixed a couple of problems in the first half, this might've been a good sleeper hit, but only the conclusion of the film is the only really good part. Won't make much of a dent to comic book fans or fans of the original, but it might be a possible view for the most accepting horror fans.Rated R: Graphic Language and Violence

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.

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.

In the genre of b-rate, made-for-TV, monster movies, this is as good as they come. The dialog and directing are surprisingly good. There is a definite David Lynch influence as Quentin begins his transformation, but it's all so flawlessly executed that the whole thing is quite enjoyable to watch.Dan Aykroyd and Theresa Russell added star power to the credits, but only Aykroyd's presence really benefited the film. Though still looking 35, Theresa Russell turned in what was probably her worst performance to date.One of the last films produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff before his death. He was responsible for bringing us some really great (if somewhat cheesy) horror and action titles in the 1970s: the Dr. Phibes and Slaughter movies, Futureworld, the original version of The Amityville Horror, and the 1977 remake of The Island of Dr. Moreau. Anyone who enjoyed those old movies should certainly get a kick out of this one.