REVIEW: FANTASTIC FACTORY ARACHNID
By Marc Gras (*)
Hugely mistreated by critics and the public, ARACHNID, the second Fantastic Factory film, did not improve the opinion already materialized about the productions of the label founded in Barcelona by producer Julio Fernández (LOS SIN NOMBRE) and director Brian Yuzna (SOCIETY, THE DENTIST) in 2000. It started under the aegis of Filmax, after the first attempt with FAUST: LOVE OF THE DAMNED, an adaptation of the comic by Tim Vigil and David Quinn, directed by Yuzna himself.
In a script full of topics written by Mark Sevi, an aspiring musician turned screenwriter, author of the drafts for films such as CLASS OF 1999 II: THE SUBSTITUTE, GHOULIES IV or SCANNER COP II, ARACHNID narrates how a scientific expedition to a small island in the South Pacific searches for the causes of a mysterious and deadly virus that is affecting the inhabitants of a small town. The members of the expedition ignore that the origin of the disease is in an alien ship that has turned the island into a zoo full of monstrous species, among which are huge killer spiders.
ARACHNID is a creature feature movie to use, designed for quick consumption and without any other pretense than entertaining, and we have to start here. It can even be seen as a timid tribute to the giant bug movies of the 1950s and, in a way, a precursor of the current low-budget creature features nowadays companies release (Asylum productions, for instance). A plus point is its traditional special effects (with some digital, but little), courtesy of the DDT team (HELLBOY, PAN’S LABYRINTH) and professionals such as Steve Johnson (SPECIES, MEN IN BLACK) or Sergio Sandoval (HELLBOY) as conceptual artists and designers of the creatures. Anthony C. Ferrante, by the way, director of the SHARKNADO saga, who at that time was writing for Fangoria magazine, participated in ARACHNID as special makeup effects consultant.
ARACHNID’s direction fell to Jack Sholder, another aspiring musician who ended up in the world of cinema, responsible for cult titles such as ALONE IN THE DARK, THE HIDDEN, or A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE. A career that started from the top but little by little watered down to end up taking refuge in television and in commissioned jobs like this ARACHNID, of which he is not very proud of. He stated in an interview in 2012: “I did it for the money and it was a stupid script… I got to live in Barcelona for six months and, you know, they paid me well. Everything was good except I had to go to work every day and shoot a dumb script. I haven’t seen that one since, you know, I made it. And some people say ‘Oh well, it’s better than you think’, but I tell people to avoid that one.”
It is interesting to know that Brian Yuzna trusted Jack Sholder to carry out ARACHNID. It is true that the second had indeed shown an amazing ability with his first works, but Sholder himself has always assured that he feels much closer to Jean Renoir than to Wes Craven and that he has never been a gorehound. Considering how the filming of ARACHNID unfolded (with Yuzna himself having to finish scenes that Sholder didn’t feel like shooting), hiring Sholder was probably not the best decision.
ARACHNID is not a great film in artistic terms (although its special effects were nominated for an award in Germany), even though it has great names within the cast and crew. Regulars of the Spanish screens such as Neus Asensi (TORRENTE), like Susana, or José Sancho (CARNE TRÉMULA) as Dr. Samuel León, share space with the television Chris Potter (HEARTLAND), in the role of Lev Valentine, and Britain’s Alex Reid (THE DESCENT, MISFITS) as Loren Mercer, in one of her earliest roles. Neither of them does a memorable job, whether it’s overly simple dialogue or disinterested direction (or a bit of everything).
But, as we said before, ARACHNID was conceived as a fast product that, although it hit theaters in Spain, was doomed to video worldwide. In fact, like the vast majority of Fantastic Factory productions, it was in video where ARACHNID got the numbers. With a budget of $ 570,000, it raised $ 1,123,000, which is not bad for a film distributed at a time when the video store crisis was already evident and the current streaming platforms did not yet exist.
Since its release in June 2001, ARACHNID has been distributed numerous times in many countries both on VHS and DVD and on television. Currently, its distribution is managed by Lionsgate and it can be found on Netflix.
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Marc Gras is a writer, filmmaker, and comic-book artist, author of several books devoted to pop culture, and collaborator of cult legends like Lloyd Kaufman and the late Ted V. Mikels. His comics have been published in Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and the US and include original works and graphic novel adaptations of films like Don’t Look in the Basement, Licantropo, La Noche del Terror Ciego, Enter The Devil, Bonefill Road, and many more.
You can follow him on his web https://tyrannosaurus.wixsite.com/marcgras, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
