Kingdom of the Spiders
Short description
A veterinarian in rural Arizona, Dr. Rack Hansen, is called out when farm animals begin dying under unexplained circumstances. Blood samples sent to a university bring an entomologist, Diane Ashley, who concludes the animals were killed by spider venom. The two trace the deaths to a field near the town and find that vast numbers of tarantulas, normally solitary creatures, have gathered and are moving through the area. The spiders reach the town, cutting residents off from the outside, and a small group of people is forced to take shelter in an isolated hotel.
John "Bud" Cardos directed the film, working from a screenplay by Alan Caillou and Richard Robinson, with Igo Kantor and Jeffrey M. Sneller producing. William Shatner plays Rack Hansen, Tiffany Bolling plays Diane Ashley, and Woody Strode appears as farmer Walter Colby, alongside Lieux Dressler, David McLean and Natasha Ryan. It runs 97 minutes and was released in August 1977.
The film took about 17 million dollars worldwide, a strong return for a production of this scale. On TMDB it holds a rating of 5.6 out of 10 from 142 votes, indicating a modest reception from viewers there.
What's left behind the scenes
- Tiffany Bollinger was cast as the lead character because she was the only actress who was completely unfazed by working with spiders.
- $50,000 of the film's budget was allocated for the purchase of spiders. The producers offered $10 per specimen, and they were supplied with 5,000 live tarantulas.
- There is a widespread belief (which is also supported in the film) that the venom of most tarantulas in North America is lethal to humans. In reality, this belief is mistaken; in terms of pain, a tarantula bite is no worse than a hornet sting (provided, of course, that the person bitten does not have an allergy to the venom). The bodies of the spiders are covered in bristles that tend to shed, causing a skin irritation similar to a nettle sting upon contact. This is exactly what most of the actors working with the spiders in the film had to endure.
- Working with tarantulas was not easy. The arachnids required warmth and had to be kept separately to prevent them from fighting one another. Additionally, tarantulas typically behave calmly in the presence of people, so fans and air hoses had to be used during filming to force the creatures to move toward the 'victim.' In several scenes depicting tarantulas supposedly attacking people, it is noticeable that they are actually just moving, generally attempting to flee from the person.
- Filmmakers painted thousands of spiders on buildings in the business district of an Arizona city where filming took place, to give the audience the impression of countless hordes of insects. After filming concluded, all the buildings had to be repainted, but for some time afterward, poorly and hastily painted-over silhouettes of spiders could still be seen on the light-colored buildings.
- Once filming ended, all the tarantulas were released into the wild (as they are native to these parts of Arizona), and local residents subsequently noted a significant increase in the tarantula population on several occasions.
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