Search - Arachnophobia on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Violence, Graphic Violence, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1990 DVD Release: 06/15/1999 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 50 mins Studio: Walt Disney Video Members Wishing: 9 Genres: Comedy, Horror, Horror Comedy, Natural Horror

Referring to the fear of spiders, Arachnophobia features a particularly deadly species of spider that manages to make its way from the Venezuelan rain forest to a small California town, thanks to the many oversights of entomologist Julian Sands. Yuppie doctor Jeff Daniels, fed up with the dangers inherent in big-city living, has resettled in this town on the assumption that nothing untoward could ever happen here to himself and his family. Before long, however, Daniels is trying to make sense of a series of sudden deaths-and to figure out why each of the corpses has been drained of blood. The audience, of course, knows that the culprits are those pesky South American spiders, which grow larger with each kill. To make matters worse, Jeff Daniels suffers from a profound case of arachnophobia. John Goodman supports the cast as a slovenly exterminator, and Frank Marshall, longtime producer of Steven Spielberg's films, makes his directorial debut in Arachnophobia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jeff Daniels - Dr. Ross Jennings
Harley Jane Kozak - Molly Jennings
John Goodman - Delbert McClintock
Julian Sands - Dr. James Atherton
Stuart Pankin - Sheriff Parsons

It's most people's worst fears realized in the eight-legged horror-comedy Arachnophobia. Featured in a 1.85:1 non-anamorphic widescreen transfer, this picture looks fairly well-produced, though sports a softness that sometimes hurts the image. While it's frustrating that this movie wasn't given an anamorphic transfer, at least there is a minimal amount of grain, edge enhancement, and shimmer in the picture. Overall, the colors are very vibrant and the black levels solid and even. The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 in English. This is a well-mixed 5.1 soundtrack that utilizes directional effects on many occasions, though the bulk of the soundtrack usually comes from the front and center speakers. All aspects of the dialogue, effects, and music are clear of any excessive distortion or hiss. Also included on this disc are English captions. The only extra features to be found on this disc include a very short production featurette with a few scant interviews by the cast and crew, a theatrical trailer for the film, and some recommendations for other movie titles the viewer might enjoy. ~ Patrick Naugle, All Movie Guide