B-movies. They're the new A-movies, you know.

They're here at last. And they're coming to get you. B-movies, those wayward cousins of the mainstream, are invading your local cinema right now. And the real horror is that you may not even know it.

In reality, of course, B-movies have been with us all along, thriving on the Poundland fringes of Hollywood like inbreds at the trailer park. Either providing an "ironic" resting place for fallen stars (did you see Tony Curtis in Lobster Man From Mars?), or feeding off the fodder from Beverly Hills with classics like Attack Of the Killer Tomatoes and, er, Dirty Cop, No Donut 2: I Am A Pig.

Eight Legged Freaks run riot over David Arquette

Now, though, it seems that the roles have been reversed and Hollywood is looking to B-world for inspiration. Ever since Tim Burton put the B-movie on the map, mythologising B-god Ed Wood (1994) and parodying the whole genre in Mars Attacks! (1996), LA's money men have begun to realise that B might just stand for big business. And they don't come any bigger than the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and Spider-Man, both entrusted to ex-B-directors. New Zealander Peter "Gandalf" Jackson, who made the freewheeling Braindead and the self-explanatory Bad Taste, and webslinging Sam Raimi, who gave the eager world Evil Dead I and II.

Possible Harry Potter And the Lobsters Claw remake?

As if that wasn't enough, mainstream B-shocker They will be out later this year, while Eight Legged Freaks is set to infest our screens this week. Brought to you by the people who made Godzilla and Independence Day (both B-movies out of control), Freaks is directed by newcomer Ellory Elkayem, whose previous projects include the made-for-cable They Nest (don't ask) and a short about a giant spider terrorising a housewife. Clearly the man for the job. "I don't know if I'll ever get bugs out of my system," he says. "I'd do another bug movie easy!" Expect Sixteen Legged Freaks next year.

But lampooning a genre that already parodies itself is a dangerous business. B-movie/A-movie mutant Tremors did it brilliantly in 1990 (although Tremors II and III didn't quite hit the mark), while 1999's Lake Placid fell on its face. Luckily, Eight Legged Freaks succeeds, thanks in part to the presence of B-queen Kari Wuhrer as the coolheaded sheriff of spider-filled Prosperity, Arizona.

It's crap of course, but good crap. And a welcome change from the brainache of Minority Report. JC 01 August 02

Eight Legged Freaks goes on release 09 August 02.

Film Four:
...rich in silly humour...
more

Empire Magazine:
...a real scream from beginning to end...
more

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