Big Ass Spider Trailer Brings Big Ass Thrills And Laughs

By Nick Venable | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

With outlets like Syfy around, there will never be an end to schlocky creature features. But as much fun as those movies are, it’s nice to see that some filmmakers are still stepping out and producing some really slick looking monster movies. Case in point, the sci-fi comedy Big Ass Spider!, acquired by Epic Pictures Releasing a few months back. They just unleashed the first theatrical trailer, and it is one eight-legged doozy of a preview. Everything about this film just screams awesomely cheesy self-aware goodness, but with a production value that totally blows its contemporaries out of the web.

Directed by Mike Mendez (The Gravedancers), Big Ass Spider has a simple but effective plot that doesn’t look like it’s ever taken too seriously. The titular big ass spider escaped a military lab! It’s on the loose and attacking Los Angeles! There’s nothing anyone can do! But wait, here’s Alex Mathis, a top-notch exterminator played by Heroes‘ Greg Grunberg, and Jose Ramos, a Latino security guard played by The Bernie Mac Show‘s Lombardo Boyar! These two guys are going to team up and take down this spider for sure! Only don’t ask me how, because it seems like a truly ridiculous task. Perhaps Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s Clare Kramer or Twin Peaks‘s Ray Wise can help. Or possibly a shitload of bombs and ammunition.

I mean, seriously. This trailer is a quintessential preview for how a non-Pacific Rim-size creature flick should look. You’ve got two amiable and talented leading men, with Boyar standing out as a solid gag machine. Generally this kind of character grates my nerves, and I’m sure he’ll bother other people, but I dig his timing and hope that happens throughout the entire movie.

Most important, you’ve also got a fantastic looking creature. While these arachnids aren’t generally my most feared of all the critters out there, giant spiders turn my limbs to al dente pasta, still in the boiling water. And seeing this beast crawl all over an entire city just makes me giddy, like the first five minutes of a terrible video game with an amazing concept. It’s admirable that they’re not keeping the spider hidden for 90% of the film. I feel bad for the people that have to clean up all of the spider leg-holes smashed into the buildings. Those guys are the real unsung heroes.

My main hope is that Wise is allowed to come out of his dark surveillance office and take on the spider hand-to-hand. I’ll get to see if that dream comes true or not when Big Ass Spider simultaneously infests theaters and VOD platforms on October 18.

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