If there was ever a movie to make you question every itch and tingle you feel, this is it. Inspired by the recent Monster Apocalypse episode of Podcast at Ground Zero, I decided to track down a copy of Kingdom of the Spiders to see if it lived up to my hazy but fond memories, and I was not disappointed.
KotS is B-movie gold, just the right mix of straight-faced tension and drama, and cheesy prancing through fields of rubber spiders. William Shatner is great as, well, William Shatner, and I kept thinking to myself I could be watching Jim Kirk’s great-great-great-grand uncle, because Rack Hansen has a similar way with the ladies. The movie starts off slow, but once the spiders start swarming it’s great, and it ends with a scene that I’ve remembered for the 35 years or so that it’s been since I first saw it.
It’s not on Netflix or Amazon, but it’s been uploaded in its entirety to Youtube. Or if you want to make it part of your collection, a special edition is available on DVD from Shout Factory, with cast interviews and behind the scenes footage.
It’s definitely worth the watch, but now when I go to bed, I’ll have to try to convince myself that little tickle on the side of my leg is really nothing…
