Kingdom of the Spiders (1977) Movie Info
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | Kingdom of the Spiders |
| Release Year | 1977 |
| Original Title | Kingdom of the Spiders |
| Director | John ‘Bud’ Cardos |
| Screenplay Writer | Richard Robinson, Alan Caillou |
| Story By | Jeffrey M. Sneller |
| Based on Novel by | — (Original screenplay) |
| Producer(s) | Igo Kantor |
| Executive Producer(s) | Jeffrey M. Sneller |
| Lead Actors | William Shatner, Tiffany Bolling |
| Cast | William Shatner, Tiffany Bolling, Woody Strode, Lieux Dressler |
| Genre | Horror, Sci-Fi |
| Subgenre | Nature Horror, Creature Feature |
| Release Date | August 24, 1977 (United States) |
| Runtime / Duration | 1h 37m (97 minutes) |
| Budget | ~$500,000 |
| Box Office (Worldwide) | Successful drive-in release |
| Language | English |
| Country | United States |
| Production Company | Tarantula Productions |
| Distributor | Dimension Pictures |
| Filming Locations | Arizona, USA |
| Music By | Dorsey Burnette |
| Cinematography | John Arthur Morrill |
| Edited By | — |
| Production Design | — |
| Costume Design | — |
| Special Effects | Thousands of real tarantulas used during filming |
| Makeup Effects | Practical bite and injury effects |
| MPAA Rating | PG |
| Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 |
| Sound Mix | Mono |
| Format | Color |
| Themes | Ecological imbalance, fear of nature, survival |
| Setting | Rural Arizona farming community |
| Notable Trivia | Over 5,000 live tarantulas were reportedly used in production |
| Critical Reception | Mixed reviews but praised for atmosphere and ending |
| Audience Reception | Strong cult following among creature-feature fans |
| Awards / Nominations | Saturn Award nomination |
| Home Media | VHS, DVD, Blu-ray |
| Streaming Availability | Available periodically on cult horror streaming platforms |
| Sequels / Franchise | None |
| Franchise Type | Standalone nature-horror cult classic |
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In the small town of Verde Valley Arizona, local farmers are finding their livestock dead in their fields. Perplexed, they call in the local vet, enter Dr. Robert “Rack” Hanson, vet-extraordinaire. Searching over the dead animals, he quickly learns the cause of the deaths, tarantula bites. While trying to find out why there are suddenly so many animal deaths in the area, Rack stumbles upon a horrible situation. Verde Valley is in the direct line of a mass tarantula migration! Before he can get the word out towns people are being bitten left and right and Verde Valley is plunged into chaos. Now holed-up in a remote motel with a few other towns folk Rack and the others must try and survive the kingdom of the spiders.
Starring the legendary William Shatner as “The Rack” and 70’s drive-in queen Tiffany Bolling as his love interest Diane, you know this one is gonna be entertaining, at least.
Kingdom of the Spiders was the standard direct to drive in movie that ran rampant in the early seventies and then found life on the first years of TBS. Your average infestation movie with lots of creepy crawlies, that tends to give you a good case of the willies, especially those of you with a fear of spiders.
No CGI, no fake spiders, just real live tarantulas crawling on everything and every body. The acting is OK but we get the classic delayed Shatner dialog “Diane you have something on your arm. My God hold still.” No one can act like the Kirk. Also he is the only one immune to the spider bites as at one point he runs across about a thousand spiders and gets bit a bunch of times, everyone else dies after one bite. But the best scene in this flick is when this wild ass mountain woman gets a spider on her hand, now instead of brushing it off, or shaking it loose, what does she do? That’s right blows it off with a shotgun! Of course she takes her hand with it, but hey, she got the spider.
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