everyday is halloween!

kingdom of spiders [1977]

is located in a tiny rural ranching town called verde valley, az.  the local tarantula population are now five times more venomous & are organizing to take down larger prey, including cows, horses & people!  this is the 1970s era of exploitation moviemaking when we've totally fucked the environment & the creatures of the natural world become the apex predator & start taking out humankind.  in this case DDT is used on local crops.  the tarantulas' food supplies have been killed off by the pesticide.  so now they have evolved to become more deadly to their prey & hunt in packs.  

william shatner stars as the local vet, dr. rack hansen.  fantastic character actor woody strode is a local rancher whose livestock fall victim to the arachnids.  exploitation stalwart tiffany bolling is a specialist in arachnids sent to study the newly formed phenomenon of tarantulas killing & eating cows & horses.  this is a NATURE ATTACKS movie that was a subgenre in the 1970s.  longtime exploitation actor/director john 'bud' cardos keeps the pace taut & manages to subdue shatner's usual brand of histrionic acting.  i was surprised how well this movie kept pace & really ratcheted up the tension in the final reel.  

because i saw this movie in 1977 in a matinee movie house.  i always remembered the final haunted image of desolation & doom.  i don't remember if i sought out this movie in particular.  more likely i happened to watch this flick because i was always at the movies when i was a wee pup.   it would be a very different & much darker film if all spiders turned against us.  because spiders are everywhere.  i remember when i managed the local recycling facility at my alma mater.  i enjoyed the work which allowed lots of downtime for reading.  i was eating lunch outside my office underneath an oak tree.  it was a lovely warm, sunny spring afternoon.  i was in a lull between customers.  i was, dare i say it, at peace.  then i felt something on my right forearm.  i looked down as i raised my forearm.  there was a little garden spider.  its eight eyes in a rectangle.  its spotted black & brown legs jacked up as if the spider's body was a car in a lift in a garage waiting for the attendant to press the hydraulic button for the body to rise.  i marveled at this little creature.  fucking amazing!  that it evolved to be only itself in its own form.  then, all of a sudden, those eight eyes swiveled toward me!  it craned its neck to get a gander at me!  as i wondered at the marvel of the creature on my forearm it marveled at me!  or so i thought.  i was probably as alien to it as it was to me.  or so i thought.  who fucking knows what, if any, thoughts our fellow creatures, particularly spiders, have & if they decide to take us out!  oh sweet fucking hell!  

boo!