Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
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Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
Ah, yes... Kingdom of the Spiders. Note the poster above, the way a giant Shatner towers over the town. As usual, Shatner looms over everything, screaming his angst away. He plays a vet named 'Rack' in Arizona (same state as in Phase IV!). His character was given that name by his dead brother (killed in 'Nam) when they played pool; "Rack 'em" his brother would say and the name stuck.
In an early scene, Rack plays on the ground with his dead brother's wife and she calls him by his brother's name, in error. He pushes her away roughly. I thought, 'Jeez, take it easy, Kirk.' But, this was an exception. Shatner actually underplays his character here and sort of loses himself in the 'Rack' role. No, I'm not kidding. I even remember an interview with him around that time, where he stated that he "tried to play the role as if it was really happening." Later, I thought, "hm, that's good, Bill. But shouldn't you try that approach with most of your roles - make it the rule, not the exception?" Oh, well, a little too late to muse about that now.
Shatner was apprehensive about his career at this point; but, two years later:
STAR TREK the Motion Picture!Anyway, Shatner's low key approach here was reflected in the rest of the movie. It ambles along in the first half, almost as if it were a drama about ranching, farming or something. Most of the characters are just locals who are suddenly faced with a population explosion of tarantulas. Tiffany Bolling is the visiting scientist. Woody Strode plays a local rancher. Marcy Lafferty, in the scene I described above, was Shatner's 2nd wife at the time. Overall, this is a more realistic and down-to-earth 'nature amok' thriller compared to all the numerous other hysterical eco-thrillers in the seventies.
Things get pretty intense by the last half-hour, as all the tarantulas decide to overrun the town and some of the main characters hole up in the local inn. I also remember the host of the Creature Features show (it must have been Bob Wilkins, but could have been John Stanley) call this one of the best endings ever! According to The Encyclopedia Shatnerica, Shatner signed a deal to star in & direct a sequel to "Kingdom..." in 1989, but Star Trek V was just released at that time and apparently nixed all those plans.
The Trailer gives you a taste of spider:
In an early scene, Rack plays on the ground with his dead brother's wife and she calls him by his brother's name, in error. He pushes her away roughly. I thought, 'Jeez, take it easy, Kirk.' But, this was an exception. Shatner actually underplays his character here and sort of loses himself in the 'Rack' role. No, I'm not kidding. I even remember an interview with him around that time, where he stated that he "tried to play the role as if it was really happening." Later, I thought, "hm, that's good, Bill. But shouldn't you try that approach with most of your roles - make it the rule, not the exception?" Oh, well, a little too late to muse about that now.
Shatner was apprehensive about his career at this point; but, two years later:
STAR TREK the Motion Picture!
Things get pretty intense by the last half-hour, as all the tarantulas decide to overrun the town and some of the main characters hole up in the local inn. I also remember the host of the Creature Features show (it must have been Bob Wilkins, but could have been John Stanley) call this one of the best endings ever! According to The Encyclopedia Shatnerica, Shatner signed a deal to star in & direct a sequel to "Kingdom..." in 1989, but Star Trek V was just released at that time and apparently nixed all those plans.
The Trailer gives you a taste of spider:
Last edited by BoG on Tue May 19, 2015 7:55 pm; edited 4 times in total
real mass spider attack
Mass spider attack in India is your nightmare come to life
http://now.msn.com/now/0603-spider-attack.aspx?ocid=todnow11
Death-delivering spiders taking over a small town? It sounds like an "Arachnophobia" reboot, but it's real. The town of Sadiya in northeastern India is under attack from poisonous spiders, the bites of which have led to two deaths and several more injuries. Baffled scientists don't know what type of spiders they are, but reports say the creatures suddenly swarmed the town and are highly aggressive. It's not certain what kind of spiders they are, and the superintendent of Sadiya's hospital even said they also couldn't be sure the spiders were actually poisonous or if the two people who died were just treated improperly, but death becomes them either way. Now if you'll excuse us, we'll be in our panic room.
http://now.msn.com/now/0603-spider-attack.aspx?ocid=todnow11
Death-delivering spiders taking over a small town? It sounds like an "Arachnophobia" reboot, but it's real. The town of Sadiya in northeastern India is under attack from poisonous spiders, the bites of which have led to two deaths and several more injuries. Baffled scientists don't know what type of spiders they are, but reports say the creatures suddenly swarmed the town and are highly aggressive. It's not certain what kind of spiders they are, and the superintendent of Sadiya's hospital even said they also couldn't be sure the spiders were actually poisonous or if the two people who died were just treated improperly, but death becomes them either way. Now if you'll excuse us, we'll be in our panic room.
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