Product Details

• Actors: Jeff Daniels, Julian Sands, John Goodman, Harley Jane Kozak, Stuart Pankin
• Directors: Frank Marshall
• Writers: Don Jakoby, Al Williams, Wesley Strick
• Producers: Frank Marshall, Don Jakoby, Kathleen Kennedy, Richard Vane
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Video
• VHS Release Date: April 14, 1994
• Run Time: 103 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301948092
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #231,335 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Most horror movies depend on giant monsters; Arachnophobia gets just as many thrills out of creatures only a few inches long. A scientist (Julian Sands, Warlock, A Room with a View) who's hunting a vicious new species of spider in Venezuela unknowingly ships one back to the U.S. It ends up in a small town where a new doctor (Jeff Daniels, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Something Wild) is trying to establish a practice. When his patients start suddenly dying, Daniels suspects spiders--but no one takes him seriously because he's had a phobia about spiders since childhood. Arachnophobia builds a slow but relentless sense of menace and creepiness, mixed with a sneaky satire of small town life. If you're squeamish about spiders, this will get under your skin. Also featuring the ever-dependable John Goodman (The Big Lebowski, Barton Fink) as a comically zealous exterminator. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you're afraid of spiders, watch out!, January 19, 2005

By 

Kona (Emerald City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Arachnophobia (DVD)

"Arachnophobia" is a clever comedy/thriller sure to scare the spider-phobes out there. Jeff Daniels and Harley Jane Kozak star as Dr. Ross and Molly Jennings, a young couple who have moved to the country to start his medical practice. Little do they know that a huge, deadly spider has arrived from South America and is reproducing - a lot! One by one, town residents start dropping like flies, until Ross figures out they were all bitten by spiders. This brings back memories of a childhood trauma that left him with a paralyzing fear of spiders - and the spider's nest is right in Ross' barn.

There are many creepy scenes of menacing spiders that will have you looking around to make sure none are near you. They must have used some robotic spiders, but they all looked very real to me. The idyllic rural setting contrasts nicely with the intensely scary stalking spiders. Daniels is perfect as the dedicated doctor, and John Goodman has a small but funny part as an exterminator. The movie may be too scary for very young children, but others will giggle a little and gasp a lot.

Kona

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Movie, November 22, 1999

By 

Brian Doherty (Revere Ma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arachnophobia (DVD)

I thought that archnophobia was a great movie. It was Thrilling and funny, and I recomend it to anyone who likes a good thriller. I think that the guy who gave it one star needs to get a life and stop taking things to seriously. He's a little too attached to spiders if you know what I mean.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a nifty creature feature, June 19, 2005

By 

Alejandra Vernon "artist & illustrator" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Arachnophobia (DVD)

This often amusing, sometimes suspenseful film about killer spiders starts out in the dense jungles of Venezuela, with bug-O-maniac Julian Sands, as he tracks down a new species of lethal as well as big and hairy arachnid. One of these hairy creatures finds its way to sweet suburbia in California, using a wooden coffin as transport, and starts mating with the local spider population, causing havoc and rigor mortis.
City transplant Jeff Daniels, a doctor with severe arachnophobia, who wants the quiet country life as long as he doesn't have to see a spider, finds himself the center of controversy because of the deaths, and his newly bought house infested with the critters. Daniels, one of Hollywood's more underrated actors, gives a terrific performance as Dr. Jennings, as he tries some hands-on therapy for his phobia.

John Goodman is hilarious as the town exterminator, who if he can't kill 'em with insecticide, uses his big boots, and others in the fine cast are Harley Jane Kozak as Molly Jennings, Henry Jones as old Dr. Metcalf, and Stuart Pankin as stubborn Sheriff Parsons. This was the feature film directorial debut for Frank Marshall, who has been known mostly as a producer, mainly for Stephen Spielberg's films. A good score by Trevor Jones (with songs like Jimmy Buffett's "Don't Bug Me") adds to the overall enjoyment of this fun creature feature, which takes us back to the days when the bugs were filmed in black and white.
Total running time is 103 minutes.