Included on the DVD of "Eight Legged Freaks" is director Ellory Elkayem's short film, "Larger Than Life." Filmed in black-and-white, the short is even more of a homage to classic big bug flicks then the feature is. When strange chemicals leak out of a sinister factory, normal spiders are exposed and gradually grow bigger. This is a problem for single woman Jo, alone in the house with giant arachnoids. The clueless exterminator isn't much help and soon she has to defend herself from the eight-legged invasion.
"Larger Than Life" functions more like a straight horror film. The tone is still light and jokey. The exterminator doesn't notice the giant spider on his back and the "Or Is It?" ending is winkingly silly. However, some scenes attempt to build suspense. The spider corners the girl in the shower, "Psycho"-strings playing on the soundtrack. An escape is cut short by a shot of webbing. Opposed to "Eight Legged Freaks" CGI, the spider here is mostly a puppet. Actors struggling with a real object, even if it's an obvious puppet, still prove more squirm-inducing. There's not a lot to the short and it's less charming then Elkayem's feature. Still, there's enough obvious strength and love of the material on display that it's not surprising the director would get the jobs he did.
"Larger Than Life" functions more like a straight horror film. The tone is still light and jokey. The exterminator doesn't notice the giant spider on his back and the "Or Is It?" ending is winkingly silly. However, some scenes attempt to build suspense. The spider corners the girl in the shower, "Psycho"-strings playing on the soundtrack. An escape is cut short by a shot of webbing. Opposed to "Eight Legged Freaks" CGI, the spider here is mostly a puppet. Actors struggling with a real object, even if it's an obvious puppet, still prove more squirm-inducing. There's not a lot to the short and it's less charming then Elkayem's feature. Still, there's enough obvious strength and love of the material on display that it's not surprising the director would get the jobs he did.