Common Sense Media Review
By Charles Cassady Jr.
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Creepy/clever creature feature with touches of humor.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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Arachnophobia
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 15 parent reviews
Based on 29 kid reviews
Kids say the movie is a compelling mix of horror and comedy that effectively terrifies those with a fear of spiders while being suitable for tweens and older due to its intense and somewhat bloody scenes. Many reviewers found it a great introduction to the horror genre for younger audiences, praising its cleverness and humor despite some concerns about its frightening content.
- horror-comedy blend
- suitable for tweens
- intense scenes
- clever storytelling
- not for young kids
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's the Story?
On a scientific expedition in the jungles of Venezuela, a luckless young photographer is fatally bitten by a nasty, fist-sized spider, unknown to modern science, dwelling in the rainforest canopy. When the dead man's body is shipped back to his small Californian hometown, the spider goes with it, mates with a common North American spider, and ends up siring a whole colony of killer arachnids, centered in the barn of a newly arrived family in town headed by young Dr. Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels). Soon townsfolk around Dr. Jennings start mysteriously dropping dead -- felled by the venom of the growing army of spiders. As Dr. Jennings searches frantically for a cause, a major complication is that he happens to have longstanding arachnophobia, a crippling fear of spiders.
Is It Any Good?
Hailing from Steven Spielberg's production company, with a touch of the Gremlins vibe of little monsters doing big damage, ARACHNOPHOBIA is an undeniably fun ride. It actually plays on a number of fears, spiders being only the most obvious and marketable to the thrill-hungry audience. For grownups there's the additional angst of the phobic hero (a very nice everyman role for Jeff Daniels), a transplant from the big city who finds his new job opportunity evaporating, his new house purchase a wreck, and his new neighbors turning against him. That's a very Hitchcockian touch, and a lot of critics did compare Arachnophobia to The Birds, though this movie is much more comical in its characterizations and mayhem.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about spiders in real life, including the bird-eating spiders of the tropics (that obviously inspired the fictional species here). Why are spiders so creepy? Ask children if they fear spiders or can tolerate them.
For responsible opposing viewpoints, study up on the beneficial aspects of spiders, or read pro-spider storybooks such as Charlotte's Web.
Discuss how this movie doesn't go the giant-mutant-bug route of sci-fi thrillers like Tarantula and Eight Legged Freaks; spiders here are realistically sized. Talk about the "inverse square law," a scientific truth oft violated by Hollywood, in which the larger an animal is, the heavier its supporting anatomy has to be. Therefore invertebrates like the ones in giant-insect flicks would be squashed by their own massive exoskeletons.
Movie Details
- In theaters : July 18, 1990
- On DVD or streaming : June 15, 1999
- Cast : Jeff Daniels , John Goodman , Julian Sands
- Director : Frank Marshall
- Studio : Hollywood Pictures
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- Run time : 103 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
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