Warning Minor Spoiler Alert.
THE DEVILS RAIN (1975) - Interesting little film starring Ernest Borgnine and William Shatner. Satanist go after a book that is more of a group contract with the devil from the 1600's. The leader Ernest Borgnine and his followers go after the family who still holds the book 300+ years later. Believe it or not the real life Satanist Anton LaVey is the technical adviser and high priest on the set of this film. A young John Travolta also stars as one of the wax faced followers. You would never know that it is Travolta without reading the credits. Ida Lupino also stars as Shatners eyeless mother. She also starred in FOOD OF THE GODS (1976) and directed films earlier in her life like THE HITCH-HIKER (1953). The best parts of the film are the hollow eyed followers and the melted cheddar cheese dripping all over the Satanist as they melted away for about the last 10 minutes of this film.
(http://www.diabolikdvd.com/covers/devilsrain.jpg)
KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS (1977) - I heard this was a bad movie, but I kinda liked this creepy film. Unbelievible fun yes, but entertainly creepy with all those tarantulas crawling around even if they are harmless. If you are an arachnaphobe don't watch this film. There are many spiders in this film and none of them are CGI. The film was shot in Camp Verde, Arizona not far from Sedona. It's a nice area to shoot a film.
(http://www.needcoffee.com/html/dvd/images/kotspiderscover.jpg)
Enjoyed both films.
Post Edited (04-11-05 22:56)
You are truly a masochist. (:
Scott is my hero. I will seek these out with all the energy I can muster!
The Devil's Rain, apart from being a veritable ham buffet, is the source of two of my favorite taglines of all time:
"Positively the most incredible ending of any motion picture ever!"
and
"Heaven help us when THE DEVIL'S RAIN!"
Priceless.
My brother lent me some DVD's and Kingdom of the Spiders is among them. I will be watching it soon. I know I've seen it before, but it has been many years.
The Devil's Rain caught my attention for the cast alone. How could you not want to see Shatner, Borgnine, Travolta and Skerritt together in a movie about satanists? Still, when I bought it on Ebay a few years back, I found it kind of dull.
Kingdom of the Spiders is a hoot. I rewatch that one every couple of years.
Okay, I watched it this afternoon after work. It was pretty good actually.
I was impressed by some of the effects. I wonder where they got all the tarantulas? They are by the way, not poisonous. I've actually seen one in my yard before. They are very solitary and usually live in a hole in the ground. The fact that all the spiders were real was impressive (no CG or stop motion).
The crop duster crashing into the gas station with Shatner and crew standing there was pretty impressive too. I thought they were going to do the plane goes behind the hill and then we see an explosion trick. As for the pilot, can we say scream like a girl?
The mattes at the end were the worst part of the movie.
Trivia: Rack's widowed sister-in-law was played by Marcy Lafferty, who was Shatner's wife at the time They were married from 1973 to 1994, and she appeared in small parts in several of Shatner's films including Star Trek:TMP and Airplane II. She also guest starred on his short lived TV series Barbary Coast and appeared a few times on TJ Hooker.
Scott a must for Shatner purist is his 1974 film, Impulse. He plays a sort of con-man gigolo who smoozes older women out of their money. I've seen it and it makes his performance in Kingdom of the Spiders look like Oscar material. You'll really like the early 70's wardrobe.
I once saw a behind-the-scenes photo from Kingdom of the Spiders that showed how they kept the spiders from running around between takes. They put plastic cups over them. A lot of plastic cups. Kind of an ingenious solution for managing a bunch of little crawly things. Every time they shot, somebody would run around and collect the cups. After each take they'd arrange the spiders and cover them again.
Post Edited (04-12-05 20:22)
Andy C the cup thing is very funny. I can see it now..............Take #2.............. Take #3................. Ok, just burn the spider hill !
TrekGeezer I'll try to find IMPULSE if I get the chance and I have another Shatner Double Feature coming in the future. Next month it's going to be INCUBUS and INTRUDER from Netflix. Not only are Tarantulas not posionous, but they don't make webs as far as I know. Those webs covering those people was funny. Then you had the artist drawing of the whole town of Camp Verde covered with spider webs !
Menard and Kory both films were worth the viewing.
Anyone notice that in THE DEVILS RAIN one of the scenes was very very much like the scene from CONAN THE BARBARIAN near the steps of Phalsa Dooms Temple when one of the followers yells "infidel".
The ooozing bodies in THE DEVILS RAIN were great stuff VerminBoy.
Post Edited (04-13-05 00:09)
Incubus is a pretty strange movie. All the dialogue is in Esperanto and the subtitles are really badly placed.
This movie was 'lost' for 35 years. It was only shown in a few art houses in 1966. Scott if you haven't you should do a little research on it, there is actually supposed to be a curse involved with the film which involved the deaths of several of the participants.
I'm going to have to get The Intruder one of these days, I hear it's one of Shatner's finest acting jobs.
Post Edited (04-13-05 10:23)
Not to change the topic but the partial geek in me needed to clarify something that was mentioned about tarantulas.
I have a Chilean Rose Hair tarantula(docile) and a Cobalt Blue tarantula(very aggressive) and have a fair knowledge of tarantulas in general. I have been keeping spiders for over 10 years (oh, my wife is so thrilled, can you imagine?) and have done quite a bit of research. All spiders, tarantulas included, are poisonous. By saying that they are poisonous I am not saying that they can actually kill a human. For the most part, a tarantula bite is similar to a real nasty bee sting unless you happen to be allergic to that specific spider, in which case death is a possibility. There is a common misconception that "pet" tarantulas are "de-venomed" which is completely impossible, spiders need the venom in order to eat. On the other side, there is also the misconception that tarantulas are extremely poisonous and will kill you with a bite (probably because they're so ugly to most people). Anyway, deadly or not, I certainly wouldn't like a pair of half inch fangs puncturing my skin any time, not to mention that certain species (Cobalt Blue for example) will hammer at you over and over and continue biting/injecting if they're p**sed off enough until something makes them stop.
Also, most tarantulas will lay webs. Whereas many spiders use webs to catch prey, a tarantula will lay web down usually where they live...almost like a carpet. My Rose Hair has often made thick webs from her lair to the side of the tank. It's probably got something to do with them feeling safer while being surrounded by the web or perhaps it's a warning to other creatures to stay away. Tarantulas are predators so the web is not used for catching or wrapping prey but they do use it.
OK, I'm done and I appologize for throwing this topic off track...I couldn't help myself.
Carry on.
That's really interesting. Didn't know you were into spiders.
In KOTS, I think they pretty much explained the deadliness of the spiders as a result of them attacking in large numbers, or freaking somebody out and causing an accident. Single ones seemed pretty harmless.
Mind you, they did accomplish some pretty impressive things, like taking down a running woman. Then, for some reason, it was all right for Rack to kneel down next to her, brush the spiders off and have a touching moment.
Even funnier was watching Shatner run through the spiders, dodging left and right to avoid all of the tiny, slow-moving, widely spaced creatures that he could easily squish.
Yeah, you say they're slow moving...you don't realize how fast they can move if they want to until you've got your hand in their tank for some reason and they move at you...whew. Some of them even "jump" at you. They're cool to look at but you don't want to make a habit of playing with them.
Sorry again.
I do remember this movie and it was quite funny and way over acted (well, it is Billy Shatner after all) but I did enjoy it. You have to figure that if they wanted to be scientifically correct with the spiders, there wouldn't have been much for anyone to be scared of in the movie other than touching one of them and being grossed out.
"The town's being invaded by spiders!"
"EEwww, gross!"
That was very informative odinn7. Thanks. Though they may not be deadly you are right about having those fangs in ya and I didn't know that about the tarantula web.
Post Edited (04-13-05 13:50)
New on Ebay. KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS spider wrangling cups!
With Shatner's autograph for authentisity!
odinn7 wrote:
> Yeah, you say they're slow moving...you don't realize how fast
> they can move if they want to until you've got your hand in
> their tank for some reason and they move at you...whew. Some of
> them even "jump" at you. They're cool to look at but you don't
> want to make a habit of playing with them.
I believe it, but these ones are pretty indifferent toward our hero. I don't think there is a spider in this movie that isn't just quietly going about its business while people overact around it.
Lucky me, the movie is on TV right now. The airplane pilot is screaming like a little girl as I type this. The movie is refreshing my memory about a few things.
Besides causing death through numbers and human error, the spider venom isseveral times more toxic than normal, so they've really covered their asses. I guess this is another mutation from DDT, which has not only wiped out their food supply, but caused them to multiply in huge numbers (while starving?) and made them live like ants.
Hey, now farmer Colby's wife is shooting at them with a revolver. Does anybody in this movie try to step on one? Apparently, you can pick them up, brush them off things and stand right next to them in some scenes, but you dare not squash one with your shoe. When Shat runs through them, he actually tries to avoid stepping on them, like he doesn't want to hurt them (probably doesn't in real life). Looks really funny.
Whoa! a couple minutes later, and they've tackled Rack's sister-in-law. Funny, the spiders seem to be crawling off of her body, not onto it.
I must also mention one beautiful bit of writing from earlier on. Colby learns that his calf was killed by spider venom. He doesn't believe a spider bite could do that. They suggest possibly hundreds of bites, and something clicks. Hey, there are hundreds of spiders out back! Maybe they had something to do with it.
And one of the all-time great Shatner lines, as he picnics with his love interest - "I could do things to a beer right now." Ew!
I love this movie.
Post Edited (04-15-05 17:17)
Flangepart wrote:
> New on Ebay. KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS spider wrangling cups!
> With Shatner's autograph for authentisity!
>
He should have been marketing some of those on Invasion Iowa. Would have gone nicely with the Shats and the other memorobilia.
We must also remember Shatner's other great 70's film, Big Bad Mama, which has been reviewed here. Shat-man gets it on with Angie Dickinson!!
http://www.badmovies.org/movies/bigbadmama/ (http://www.badmovies.org/movies/bigbadmama/)
I can't imagine anyone collecting spiders (or snakes). It would freak me out.
I never thought spiders would be aggressive enough to jump at you. I'me getting creeped out thinking about sticking my hand in an aquarium with tarantulas in it.
Devils Rain: this is a movie that is one my list of "must see" bad movies.
Alan Smithee wrote:
> I can't imagine anyone collecting spiders (or snakes). It would
> freak me out.
> I never thought spiders would be aggressive enough to jump at
> you. I'me getting creeped out thinking about sticking my hand
> in an aquarium with tarantulas in it.
>
> Devils Rain: this is a movie that is one my list of "must see"
> bad movies.
Tarantulas make excellent "pets" as long as you don't want a pet to cuddle or play with. The worst part about them is the initial cost, but when you figure it out over their life span, it's not bad. The Rose Hair cost me $20 (that was 10 years ago) and the Cobalt Blue was $45 a few months ago. A Goliath Bird Eater (9 inch leg span on adults) will go for over $100 as a spiderling. But if you get a good female specimen, most of these will live 20 years or more so the cost isn't bad if you think about it. They do make good pets because A) they make no noise B) they hardly take up any space, I keep mine in 10 gallon fish tanks C) they don't smell D) cheap as hell to feed. I buy crickets for them twice a month and it costs 4 dollars and change. E) They're fun to show people and watch reactions.
There are a few species that will try to attack you but for the most part, if you're careful, nothing will happen. My Rose Hair has almost a 5 inch leg span and I have no qualms about putting my hand in her tank, she's calm and I doubt she'd attack even if provoked. The Cobalt Blue is still young and only about a 2 inch leg span but I'm extra cautious about that one. Even though she's young and hasn't reached her full psychosis yet, it doesn't take a whole lot to get her going and set her off. So you see Alan, it's really all in the way you look at it. I find spiders fascinating in the way they are adapted to survive. Others, my wife included, don't like them because they're hairy, have 8 legs, and 8 eyes and just generally are creepy looking.
Here's a link to a nice looking Cobalt Blue if anyone is interested:
Cobalt Blue (http://www.bighairyspiders.com/cobalt.shtml)
Now, as far as the Devil's Rain is concerned...you need to see it. You won't be disappointed if for nothing else but the "endless" ending. It seems to take forever and must have cost at least 50 bucks to film it.
Funny, I don't mind tarantulas so much because they're big and furry. Unconsciously, I think they seem more like small animals (eight-legged poisonous gerbils). It's the little spiders with the thin, pointy legs, the shiny shells, big abdomens and a habit of dropping in from the ceiling that give me the creeps. A tarantula is interesting, but a big, fat orb weaver - kill it! Funny, how the human mind works.
The talk of different species of tarantula reminded me of one other interesting observation about KotS. The spiders not only started living in colonies, but different species started living together. Black ones, brown ones, Mexican red-kneed ones, all living together in harmony. What do you make of that?
AndyC wrote:
> The talk of different species of tarantula reminded me of one
> other interesting observation about KotS. The spiders not only
> started living in colonies, but different species started
> living together. Black ones, brown ones, Mexican red-kneed
> ones, all living together in harmony. What do you make of that?
>
For the most part, tarantulas are solitary creatures and most species will fight if kept together. There are some that I know of that can be kept in the same aquarium as long as they grow up together but this isn't something that's common. Think about if you've ever seen a nest of spiders... never did, right? Even when spiders first hatch, the mother doesn't look after them, they leave pretty much right away. It's funny in movies like this (Arachnaphobia did it too) how all the spiders live peacefully together but I guess they need to do that. If the spiders were all spread out and fought when they got together, you couldn't "scare" people with a swarm of spiders. As far as when they made the movie, I really think that since the spiders were slow moving and all seemed fairly docile that they obviously used docile species and somehow probably kept them somewhat cold while not filming.
Wow, I never thought there was such a thing as a blue tarantula. Looks exotic.
Still, even if I had my pet spider locked up in the most secure aquarium, I'd still feel sheepish.
I can tell you this much, if I feel something at the foot of the bed at nite moving around, I'd be up out of that bed faster than you can imagine.
I'd have thought it would be more credible to use only one kind of tarantula, but I suppose when you need that many for a movie, you can't really be picky. The living in colonies thing was deemed an evolutionary response to DDT, as was just about everything in the movie. I'll say one thing for them, they did try to cover their asses on most questions people were going to ask.
Since we are talking about other films w/ William Shatner, one might try 1961's "Shame," which was directed by Roger Corman. Shatner stars as a bigot who travels around the American south stirring up animosity between blacks and whites. One of Corman's better films, it is also--apparently--one of the few Corman films to lose money at the boxoffice.
SHAME and INTRUDER are the same Roger Corman film under different titles. I have the film on my short list. Might catch it next month.