Movie Spiders Aren't As Scary As They Could Be

               As a monster movie fan, I enjoy seeing all kinds of monsters. It really is a delight to see what many filmmakers can think up. whether it is a new and original monster or a "monstrous" form of a creature we are all familiar with. Sometimes the latter of the two leaves much to be desired. there is usually something "off" about these kinds of monsters. They either look slightly wrong or act in a way that goes against it's base instinct. To me the most notorious offenders of these, are spiders in movies.

               Spiders are Terrifying. They are Tiny hunters that, in many cases, have a bite that can either severely harm or outright kill a human many times their size. Many eat in gruesome ways and capture their prey using equally cruel methods. Human's innate fear of them has made them perfect catalysts for horror movies. Filmmakers use them to show horror in a scene, establish tension or make them the antagonist in monster movies. Despite this, spiders are not quite as scary as they could be in movies. Most monster movies featuring spiders can be eerie and have a few scares but they could be so much scarier if they portrayed spiders differently.

               Truth be told, my friend was the one who pointed this out to me and I 100% agree with him on this regard. the primary reason spiders are not as scary in movies vs. real life is simple: Spiders rarely, if ever make any sounds. In many movies spiders make plenty of sounds ranging from their skinny limbs tapping on the floor, to loud screeches and roars. Sometimes it is excusable, but not often at all. One prime example is a comedy called "Eight Legged Freaks". The movie makes it known very early that, while there are some scares, this is a comedy and you should not take it seriously. in this case it is excusable to hear the occasional roar or cartooney sounds coming from the spiders. sadly most other movies don't have the excuse of having levity in their comedy to explain this.

               There are two examples of good spiders in movies, in my opinion, where they make little to no noise whatsoever. The first is the short film that inspired Eight Legged Freaks known as Larger Than Life. In this film, the main character is constantly spotting spiders in her new house that seem to get bigger every time she sees them. Eventually she calls an exterminator who gets killed by a rather large spider that begins to hunt her down as well. what makes this short work is the tension is left to the music and the reaction of the actress to show how scary the spider is. There is only one instance of the spider making a noise itself. When the woman kills the spider it lets out a fading screech. It really amazes me that this director has made two underrated giant spider films; one being eerie and tense while the other is silly stupid comedy.

               The other example of a spider done well in cinema isn't even in a movie where the spider isn't the focus at all. This may sound like cheating but considering the scene I believe it counts. It was this scene that my friend pointed this idea out to me with in the first place. The spider from The Fly is scarier than so many movie spiders. We all know the scene when David Hedison is in the web screaming "Help me! Help me!" and nobody can hear him since he is the size of a fly. Think back to the spider. That spider, despite the effects, was scary. It acted just as a spider would, keeping him in his web, slowly creeping towards him to feed with no regard for his life or for the large humans around him. That spider was scary, not only because of situation and accuracy of its behavior, but because it was silent and you didn't know when it was going to sink it's fangs into Hedison.

               Truth be told there are other factors to why spiders aren't quite as scary as they could be. Some would argue that once they become bigger they enter an unrealistic realm and our minds cope by laughing at the absurdity. That just seems subjective to me. It is up to filmmakers to make their creatures as scary as they can be. For spiders, the first step is to close thir fangs shut and keep them quiet until its time for the kill.