• PDI Press

    PDI Press

    BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

    PDI Press
    January 17, 2022 2

    Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Seven)

    PDI Press
    January 16, 2022 1

    Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Six)

    PDI Press
    January 15, 2022 3

    Featured

    BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

    John E. Meredith
    PDI Press
    January 17, 2022 2
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Marvel at the Movies
    • Muppets 101
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews

    Reviews

    Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

    Movies
    June 26, 2025 7

    Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

    Movies
    June 8, 2025 13

    From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)

    Reviews
    June 7, 2025 28

    Featured

    Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

    Nate Zoebl
    Movies
    June 26, 2025 7
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews

    Interviews

    Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

    Interviews
    July 13, 2018 397

    David Black: Carnies, Carnage, and the Creative Chaos of Darkness Visible

    Interviews
    March 7, 2017 223

    Jaiden Kaine joins the Marvel Universe as new Luke Cage baddie, Zip

    Interviews
    September 29, 2016 8

    SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Batman: The Killing Joke

    Interviews
    July 28, 2016 61

    SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Syfy’s Van Helsing

    Interviews
    July 27, 2016 3

    Wondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien

    Interviews
    April 16, 2016 3

    Featured

    Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

    The Final Girl
    Interviews
    July 13, 2018 397
  • News

    News

    Regular Show: The Complete Series DVD is here!

    News
    February 9, 2025 20

    “PATER NOSTER AND THE MISSION OF LIGHT” UNLEASHES TERRIFYING UNDERGROUND HORROR – A PSYCHEDELIC CULT MOVIE EXPERIENCE COMING SOON!

    News
    November 15, 2023 74

    Breaking Down The Upcoming DC Studios Slate

    Shot for Shot
    February 1, 2023

    Featured

    Regular Show: The Complete Series DVD is here!

    Paul Brian McCoy
    News
    February 9, 2025 20
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Shop
Breaking
  • Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)
  • Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)
  • From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)
  • Until Dawn (2025)
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Who We Be
  • Contact
    Home
    Columns
    Drive-In Saturday

    Drive-In Saturday: Big Ass Spider! (2013)

    Alex Wolfe
    Drive-In SaturdayMoviesReviews
    January 17, 2015 2

    Sometimes, it’s a good idea to give the underdog a shot. Even if it shows none of the signs of being a piece of quality cinema, from time to time a B-movie, however campy, can end up surprising you. This most recent dark horse was a comedy/horror flick called… quite succinctly… Big Ass Spider! I didn’t add the exclamation point, by the way. It comes pre-packaged with the title.

    Obviously I had every reason to expect this movie to be, erm, unsatisfactory. While giant spider movies can be funny or spooky in their own way, it’s much, much more likely that they’re going to totally blow (Spiders springs to mind right away). And while we occasionally get a winner that rises to the top (Eight Legged Freaks), there’s no shame at all in judging a book by its skittering, eight-legged cover.

    Big Ass Spider! stars Greg Grunberg, who you all likely know best as Matt Parkman from the show Heroes. He plays a similar, though far more likable, character in this –  as Alex Mathis, an exterminator who “can think like a spider.”

    BAS1

    “We’re just dealing with a big-ass spider.”

    Now, I noted that I enjoy the Mathis character a good deal better than Parkman, and I want to quickly explain why. Both are chubby losers — which seems to be the sort of role Greg Grunberg is destined to be cast as. But while Matt Parkman is a chubby loser who is graced with an ability that he doesn’t deserve, and proceeds to use that ability very questionably, Alex Mathis is a chubby loser who has a skill that he earned, and uses that skill to help as best he can. He’ll be kind to those who need it, but doesn’t take shit just because he’s too weak to stand up for himself. It makes for a realistic yet compelling character that I actually found myself rooting for, an example of an everyman done right.

    I should get on to the movie itself, though — not that there’s much to say. It’s just balls-out fantastic. And yeah, I know that I’ve been doing a decreasing amount of “meh” reviews lately, but with all this delicious free reign I’ve found that the movies that inspire me to review them are either extremely good, or heinously terrible. Big Ass Spider! falls firmly under the former category as one of the most memorable B-movies I’ve seen in ages.

    Hell, it even has the Lloyd Kaufman certificate of authenticity. In that, well, it has Lloyd Kaufman in it, doing a silly jog and then instantly being killed by the big-ayuss spider. So that’s gotta stand for something. Of course, if you don’t know who Lloyd Kaufman is, then there may be nothing I can do for you. We may have to amputate.

    BAS2

    Pictured: Lloyd Kaufman’s tragic death-by-big-ass-spider. He will be missed.

    Anyway, the movie begins with Alex Mathis getting bitten by a brown recluse on an extermination job, and being quickly sent to the hospital. Little does he know that a mysterious body bag just arrived – with a darling little present inside, ready to eat the fuck out of absolutely everyone so that it can sustain its physics-defying size. When the first sighting is made, the staff at the hospital (including the security guard, Jose, who is played by Lombardo Boyar) dismisses it as a small animal of some sort since, obviously, spiders straight-up do not fucking get that big.

    However, Alex Mathis hears the commotion and promises to handle the issue, “pro bono”… which in his case, means he’ll do it if his hospital bill “goes away.” The chief administrator agrees and Alex gets into action, bringing Jose along with him. Jose provides the film’s sustained comic relief… however, it’s worth noting that while most designated funny sidekicks are annoying and worthless, Jose is gut-bustingly hilarious and absolutely everything out of his mouth is pure comedic gold. He also ends up actually being pretty damn useful.

    BAS3

    “Hi!”

    As the two unlikely heroes go on their search for the spider, we are treated to a both amusing and pants-pissingly terrifying game of cat-and-mouse… or, in this case, losers-and-big-ass-spider. In this “phase” of its life, the spider is just small enough to be realistic, yet just big enough to be fucking unacceptable, and it’s during this first act that we get the real scares. Now, I should mention that I’m very severely arachnophobic – of the “paralysis and helpless shrieking” variety – but I also didn’t watch this movie by myself. And everyone watching, myself included, and during a certain scene specifically, joined in on the classic chorus of “nononononoNONONONONONONONOFUCKAHHHHHHH,” as one is wont to do.

    I guess the point I’m trying to make here is that, if you have anything even resembling a fear of spiders, tryyyyy not to watch this alone. Unless of course you want nightmares/phantom spiders on your neck. ‘Cause you’ll have them.

    Eventually the army gets involved, revealing that they’re involved with it somehow and searching the hospital for the critter before it enters the next phase of its life… after which it will quadruple in size.

    That’s, um… that’s four times, by the way. x4. 400%. S’bad. It’s also not the last time it plans to quadruple.

    BAS4

    Gonna need more bugspray, bud.

    The spider inevitably escapes through the sewers (since sewers work that way) and the dynamic duo of Alex and Jose chase after it, doing things their way while the army searches for it using cameras and news feeds – and amazingly, keeping up with them every step of the way. Between Alex’s knowledge of spiders and Jose’s random flashes of inspiration, they manage to track the big ass spider to a nearby park, where it is now about the size of a minivan and impaling a truly tragic number of bikini-clad women. Lloyd Kaufman dies somewhere around here, but everyone else manages to survive this phase of the critter’s life. However, Alex’s love interest, an army lieutenant by the name of Karly (portrayed by Clare Kramer), is webbed up and captured.

    The spider then escapes once more, and Alex and Jose team up with the armed forces to stop this King Kong-sized spider once and for all – leading to an ultimately enjoyable and satisfying climax that I won’t spoil for you, since I want you to watch the film and support it.

    BAS5

    “Fuck the Square-Cube Law, mothahfuckah – I’ma big-ass spider!”

    If I hadn’t made it obvious enough, I enjoyed this piece of work thoroughly. Well-cast and well-shot, this is one of those horror/comedy hybrids that manages to be both genuinely scary and genuinely funny. It’s a rare combination, but it’s one of my all-time favorites. Each line of dialogue is a gem, and the love that went into this really shows. It’s charming, well-put-together, and you really don’t want to let it pass you by. Silly name or not, give Big Ass Spider! a shot when you’ve got a few beers and someone to watch it with.

    APPIP ERROR: amazonproducts[
    AccessDeniedAwsUsers|The Access Key Id AKIAIIK4RQAHE2XK6RNA is not enabled for accessing this version of Product Advertising API. Please migrate your credentials as referred here https://webservices.amazon.com/paapi5/documentation/migrating-your-product-advertising-api-account-from-your-aws-account.html.
    ]
    (Visited 269 times, 1 visits today)

    Related

    Alex WolfeBig Ass Spider!Drive-In SaturdayGreg GrunbergLloyd Kaufman

    FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
    Previous OUR TOP TEN FAVORITE 2014 TV DRAMAS
    Next Revenge 4.12 “Madness”
    monsterid
    Alex Wolfe
    Dragon Lady
    Alex is a borderline-hermetic, overopinionated, Chaotic Neutral critic, author, gamer, and overall dweeb. When not mocking others of lesser fandoms, she is creating wildly-overthought character builds for Dungeons and Dragons, listening to punk rock, or trying to come up with the next great American novel (which inevitably fails on account of her attention span). She's a big fan of using parentheses and dashes way more than any self-respecting writer should, and firmly believes that character development and strength are far more important than actual narrative, storyline, or atmosphere. In the coming years, science will prove this theory to be indisputably correct. She has a Tumblr page, but don't expect to find anything of worth on there besides pictures of kittens and backsides. She also has an infrequently-updated blog.

    Related Posts

    Slumberland (2022)

    Alex Wolfe
    Reviews
    November 28, 2022 19

    Barbarian (2022)

    Alex Wolfe
    Reviews
    November 25, 2022 5

    Daily Top Ten

    • batmanforeverBuilding the Bat: Batman Forever (1995) by Shawn Hill
    • i-spit-on-your-grave-09The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
    • war-planet-apes-05War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) by Nate Zoebl
    • Batman-Fluxx-posterLost in Translation 155: Batman Fluxx by Scott Delahunt
    400x400 GI Joe Funko Banner

    Weekly Top Ten

    • i-spit-on-your-grave-09The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
    • hills-have-eyes-02The Hills Have Eyes (1977) vs The Hills Have Eyes (2006) by Corin Totin
    • AT606-visionAdventure Time 6.06 “Breezy” by Dave Hearn
    • meg-foster-headerWomen in Horror: Meg Foster by Shawn Hill
    • guinea-pig-2-04Sick Flix: Guinea Pig 2 – Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985) by Corin Totin
    • patty-mullen-headerWomen in Horror: Patty Mullen by Fred L. Taulbee Jr.
    • babylon-5-blu-ray-04Babylon 5 Complete Series Blu-ray Review by Paul Brian McCoy
    • Raven’s Watch Production Stills 2016The Watcher (2016) by Jessica Sowards
    • killer-sofa-07Killer Sofa (2019) by Fred L. Taulbee Jr.
    • AttackInterview of the 50 Foot Cheerleaders! by Jason Sacks

    psychodrivein

    We came here to chew bubblegum and write intelligent reviews and commentary on cult TV and movies! And we're all out of bubblegum!

    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 482: Examining Recent Trailers

Two new trailers dropped that are of interest to Lost in Translation: Spaceballs 2 and The Naked Gun!
—
Read more of Scott’s article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #Spaceballs2 #TheNakedGun #Trailers
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Final Destinat Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES is a return to form for a franchise that never should have been on the brink of death.
—
Read more of Nate’s review at the link in our profile!

#FinalDestination #FinalDestinationBloodlines #AdamBStein #ZachLipovsky #KaitlynSantaJuana #TonyTodd
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S02E29 - File Card Focus: Big Boa
 
Greg and Jaren return to take a hard look at Cobra’s one-man trainer: Big Boa! 
—
Watch the @AnythingJoesPod gang at the link in our profile!

#AnythingJoes #GIJoe #Cobra #BigBoa #FileCardFocus
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com The Psycho Dri Today at https://psychodrivein.com

The Psycho Drive-In Podcast: 28 Years Later

Paul and John are back with a new PSYCHO DRIVE-IN PODCAST with a brand-new review of 28 YEARS LATER plus a look back at the franchise, its themes, its innovations, and its impact on the genre!
—
Listen to the guys at the link in our profile!

#ThePsychoDriveInPodcast #28YearsLater #28WeeksLater #28DaysLater #DannyBoyle #AlexGarland #AlfieWilliams
 #AaronTaylorJohnson #JodieComer #RalphFiennes
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: Backstock Blacksite - Night Specter (2008)

In Backstock Blacksite, we open the classified crates and dig deep into Greg’s personal G.I. Joe overflow closet, where extras, variants, and forgotten figures wait to be unearthed.
—
@anythingjoespod #AnythingJoes #GIJoe #GIJoeClassified #NightSpecter #BackstockBlacksite
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Predator: Kill Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

With Predator: Killer of Killers, Predator fans are feasting, baby!!
—
Read more of Paul’s review at the link in our profile!

#Predator #PredatorKillerOfKillers #KillerOfKillers #DanTrachtenberg #LindsayLaVanchy #DamienCHaas #LouisOzawa #RickGonzalez #MichaelBiehn #JoshuaWassung #MichoRobertRutare
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com From the World Today at https://psychodrivein.com

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)

I can’t wait to see more Ballerina films. Seriously. I want one right now.

—

Read more of Paul’s review at the link in our profile 

#Ballerina #JohnWick #FromTheWorldOfJohnWickBallerina #AnaDeArmis #KeanuReeves #IanMcShane #AngelicaHuston #GabrielByrne #DavidCataneda #LenWiseman #ShayHatten #ChadStahelski #NormanReedus #LanceReddick
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com The Psycho Dri Today at https://psychodrivein.com

The Psycho Drive-In Podcast 05: Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2 

Join Paul and John in the fifth episode of the Psycho Drive-In podcast, where they delve deep into the universe of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill.
—
Listen to the guys at the link in our profile!

#PsychoDriveIn #ThePsychoDriveInPodcast #KillBill #QuentinTarantino #LadySnowblood #Arena #FemalePrisonerNumber701Scorpion
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Until Dawn (20 Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Until Dawn (2025)

If you’re going to be Until Dawn in name only, why not just be that original horror idea and let someone else actually adapt Until Dawn as it was? 
—
Read more of Nate’s review at the link in our profile!

#UntilDawn #DavidFSandberg #PeterStormare #EllaRubin
    Follow on Instagram

    Look Who's Talking

    Shawn EH
    Shawn EH - 5/4/2025
    Thunderbolts* (2025)
    Yep, very well done; avoiding the big flashy battle that these heroes (can any of you fly?)...
    Ideonova
    Ideonova - 12/26/2024
    Page to Screen: F. Paul Wilson’s The Keep
    Not living up to the source material? What source material? The book is a predictable, at times...
    Fred L. Taulbee Jr.
    Fred L. Taulbee Jr. - 8/17/2024
    Cahiers du Horror 03: Frank Henenlotter and The Brain that Wouldn’t Die
    I need to see that again. Maybe make it a double feature with All of Me. Steve Martin is someone you...
    RSSTwitterFacebookinstagramtumblr

    Archives

    Large_rectangle_336X280
    • PDI Press
      • PDI Press Catalog
      • PDI Press Writers
        • Fiction
    • Columns A-D
      • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
      • ABCs of Horror
      • All Binge… No Purge
      • Anything Joes
      • Beautiful Creatures
      • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
      • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
      • Cahiers du Horror
      • Dispatches From the Field
      • Drive-In Saturday
      • Dungeons & D-Listers
    • Columns F-P
      • The Final Girl
      • First Looks… Second Thoughts
      • The Flesh is Weak
      • Innocence and Experience
      • Lost in Translation
      • Marvel at the Movies
      • Muppets 101
      • Page to Screen
      • Popcorn Cinema
      • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
      • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Columns S-Z
      • Schlock & Awe
      • Shakespeare on Film
      • Shot for Shot
      • Sick Flix
      • Unnatural Selections
      • Versus
      • Video Word Made Flesh
      • We Got Lists
      • Women in Horror
      • The Xeno File
      • Zombies 101
    • Reviews
      • Books
      • Comics
      • DVD/Blu-ray
      • Movies
      • TV
      • Series
    • Interviews
    • News
      • Trailers
    • Psychos
    • Shop
    • PDI Press
      • PDI Press Catalog
      • PDI Press Writers
        • Fiction
    • Columns A-D
      • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
      • ABCs of Horror
      • All Binge… No Purge
      • Anything Joes
      • Beautiful Creatures
      • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
      • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
      • Cahiers du Horror
      • Dispatches From the Field
      • Drive-In Saturday
      • Dungeons & D-Listers
    • Columns F-P
      • The Final Girl
      • First Looks… Second Thoughts
      • The Flesh is Weak
      • Innocence and Experience
      • Lost in Translation
      • Marvel at the Movies
      • Muppets 101
      • Page to Screen
      • Popcorn Cinema
      • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
      • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Columns S-Z
      • Schlock & Awe
      • Shakespeare on Film
      • Shot for Shot
      • Sick Flix
      • Unnatural Selections
      • Versus
      • Video Word Made Flesh
      • We Got Lists
      • Women in Horror
      • The Xeno File
      • Zombies 101
    • Reviews
      • Books
      • Comics
      • DVD/Blu-ray
      • Movies
      • TV
      • Series
    • Interviews
    • News
      • Trailers
    • Psychos
    • Shop
    Type to search or hit ESC to close
    See all results
    Username
    Password
    Remember Me
    Lost password?
    Create an account
    Username
    Email
    Cancel
    Enter username or email
    Cancel