Eight Legged Freaks

(Eight Legged Freaks)

When a toxic waste barrel accidentally lands in a small pool of water near the mining city of Prosperity in Arizona, biological consequences are surprising. Joshua, a spider collector, who owns hundreds of them coming from all around the world and all highly dangerous, has well understood it. The arachnides he feeds with insects found in the surroundings of the pool enlarge more and more. When one of them escapes, it is bad luck for their proprietor.

Two later weeks, the very beautiful Sheriff Sam Parker, receives increasingly complaints about animal disappearances. Cats, dogs and ostriches disappear in mysterious conditions. Her young son, the little Mike, spiders fanatic and Joshua's friend discovers the horrible fate he was reserved. Mike is the first to see the mutant spiders to the monstrous size. He also notices that they have found refuge in mines of the region that hide toxic wastes stored by companies under shelter of Wade, the mayor of Prosperity.

Soon, the city is confronted with the threat of hundred of them. Bret, Ashley Parker's boyfriend, Sam's Daughter, and his amateur motocross friends are taken in hunting by a frightful pack of jumping spiders. The voracious beasts make a great number of victims and Bret gets escape them by entering the mine. While the night falls, monsters exit to search for food.

The residents of the mining city organize. Leading them is the engineer Chris McCormick and his ex-girlfriend who his nobody else than the sheriff Sam Parker. They mobilize a group of citizens -- among them Mike, the Sheriff's young son, her daughter Ashley and Harlan, a radio broadcaster persuaded of an imminent alien invasion -- in a sanguinary battle against monsters with eight legs. In town it is a real slaughter. The survivors flee in the shopping mall, the only building that possesses iron moving shutters that will be able to protect them. But the trenched camp is not sized agianst the determination of these hundred of spiders and against the terrible force of a giant tarantula…

Despite a hard defense, the fled are not strong enough. Those who survive attempt to clear a path to the bowels of the mine where they find back the young Bret. Obliged to cross it by taking the greatest precautions because of a gas pocket, they are found in the « refrigerator » of the largest of the spiders. Bodies are aligned there by tens, all in mortal cocoons. They have the chance to find back alive Wade, the mayor of Prosperity and Gladys, Chris's aunt.

Chris and Sam decide to make explode the nest and to inflame the mine by releasing the light that will burst out the gas pocket. After evacueing the last survivors, Chris escapes in extremis the largest spider and to the explosion of the mine that puts an end to the terrible arachnid invasion.