Spiders was an unexpected delight, especially coming from Nu Image, producers of the dire Octopus movies. Nobody could have expected a sequel to bottle the same lightning, and Spiders 2 doesn't but it is still surprisingly fun stuff. It takes a serious minded approach to its shenanigans and even opts for a first half of mystery and paranoia before going for the straightforward creature feature route, an approach which is generally interesting if not entirely successful. The story centres on Alexandra and Jason, lost at sea after investigating an abandoned boat when a storm hits. They get picked up by a cargo ship wherein everybody seems friendly enough, but Jason has his suspicions and fair play to the guy, there are strange goings on afoot. The trouble with going down the suspense alleyway is that the film pretty much gives itself away with the title, and for anyone who couldn't guess the general impetus of the film an early scene shows it off. This means that for all the mystery we know what's going to happen and so instead of being caught in the same mystery as the protagonists we basically watch them play catch-up. Luckily the actors are up to the task of sustaining interest, Greg Cromer showing mounting fear and bewilderment as Jason, Stephanie Niznik sympathetic as the at first stolid and sceptical but ultimately tough and heroic Alexandra, while the best show is put on by a glowering, happily hammy Richard Moll as the nefarious Dr. Grbac. The crew are generally well realised as well, a salty, shifty bunch led by the able Daniel Quinn as their ostensible nice guy leader. The perfomers keep things ticking until the film explodes and fortunately things are worth the wait. A couple of rather nasty gore scenes satisfy the meaner urges, and when the CGI spiders get clustering their rampage is rather good fun, daft but lively. Director Sam Firstenberg is something of a low budget action regular and he handles things with a certain chintzy flair, conjuring excitement out of unpromising effects and the cramped location. Its a shame the film doesn't get moving earlier though, leaving the big excitement to the final half hour may work in a big budget film where the makers can really go wild but here I think some more sustained action would have been better. Also, the writing has its share of blips, gaps and contrivances that wouldn't usually bother me a whit, were it not for the serious minded approach. Still, by and large I liked this one, its pretty sound as its genre goes, has a few gnarly moments and some engaging craziness. Check it out if it sounds like your cup of tea is my advice.
Review of Spiders II: Breeding Ground
