Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Kingdom of the Spiders

Shatner’s Secret Trilogy People Spiders Rain?

Is “The People” (1972) actually the first part of an unofficial trilogy of William Shatner movies that also encompasses “Kingdom of the Spiders” and “The Devil’s Rain?” Just a theory of mine.

Plenty of ruminative digressions during last night’s discussion of “The People,” the Francis Ford Coppola-produced TV movie that aired just two months before “The Godfather” cemented his reputation as one of the leading filmmakers of the 1970s. A strange progression, to be sure.

Here Shatner somehow winds up playing second banana to Kim Darby. The circumstances were reversed when they worked together on a “Star Trek” episode, “Miri,” only a few years earlier. Darby would soon be lending trauma to our childhoods with the TV movie “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.” That’s the one where she’s attacked in the shower by little carrot goblins. Note to self for this Halloween!

Of course, you’ll be able to hear our reflections on all this and more in our chat about “The People,” now archived here:

Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner may be on hiatus next week, but that all hinges on whether or not somebody can find his passport. I’m guessing we’ll be back to livestream on Facebook next Friday evening at 7:00 EDT!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

July 16, 2022
Shatner’s Kingdom of Spiders with a Spider Expert

Nothing brightens an eight-legged apocalypse like a visit from a good friend. Especially one who knows how to make you laugh.

Yesterday, when I posted about tonight’s episode of “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner,” on which Roy and I will observe the 91st birthday of William Shatner with a discussion of his magnum opus, “Kingdom of the Spiders” (1977), I was remiss in not mentioning that our very special guest this evening will be my lifelong friend, Matt Anthony. Matt and I were basically inseparable from the 7th grade up through college. (I could tell you bloodcurdling tales.)

In the meantime, he’s become quite the arachnologist. So Matt will be on-hand to tell us all we need to know about the scientific accuracy of the movie, to show us around his own little kingdom of the spiders (which he now raises), to play us a number or two on the ukulele (he also busks), and to cook us up a burger from William Shatner’s own special recipe. My mom introduced us to this 40 years ago, after she found it in a magazine in the early ‘80s.

All in all, it’s shaping up to be a Shat-tacular evening. It will be a Matt Matt Matt Matt world, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Observe it slack-jawed in the comments section, when we livestream on Facebook, this Friday evening at 7:00 EDT!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

PHOTO: Flanked by Matt (in stylish Sasquatch t-shirt) and Roy in October

March 25, 2022
Kingdom of the Spiders Shatner’s 70s Horror

In the “Kingdom of the Spiders” (1977), the man with one idea is king.

Too bad that one idea is transparently lifted from “Jaws.”

William Shatner stars as a Southwestern veterinarian who teams up with an arachnologist from Flagstaff to grapple with a natural threat, even as the mayor (predictably) is determined to keep the town open for the county fair.

The film also plays into the whole ‘70s environmental horror sub-genre (cf. “Frogs,” “Night of the Lepus,” “Orca,” “Prophecy,” etc.), by positing that it’s man’s rapaciousness and stupidity that’s at the true root of his own peril. This of course has its antecedents in the atomic horror movies of the 1950s. If only those idiots hadn’t been spraying DDT.

It takes a mighty suspension of disbelief to accept notoriously shy, solitary tarantulas working together to turn a county fair into a buffet. “Land of the Daddy Long-legs” would be about as threatening.

And poor Woody Strode. A longtime favorite of John Ford, who got to fight Kirk Douglas under Stanley Kubrick’s direction in “Spartacus,” and he’s reduced to this.

At any rate, Roy and I will be discussing it as a belated birthday tribute to Mr. Shatner, who turned 91 on Tuesday. So burn your offerings at the altar of Shat in the comments section. We’ll be dancing the tarantella to emolliate the effects of spider-bite, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, when we livestream on Facebook, this Friday evening at 7:00 EDT!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

March 24, 2022
Altered States, William Hurt, and Existential Dread

As one of our viewers wryly observed last night: “Showed up for a discussion about ‘Altered States’ and ended up hearing how Ross and Roy spent their youth getting into R-rated movies.”

Fair enough. The digressions were front-loaded and thick on the ground.

But we also talked a bit about the nature of existence, too. If there is a God, I’m pretty sure He’s not some bearded Michelangelo sitting on a cloud. From the evidence of Paddy Chayefsky’s screenplay, the Universe is a pretty cold place and whatever comfort exists is in the here and now. So be thankful for the love you’ve got. And don’t do too many ‘shrooms.

The chill of the Universe is nothing next to the tension that existed onset between Chayefsky and director Ken Russell. There’s plenty of hard fact amidst the dime store philosophizing on last night’s show, a tribute to the late William Hurt, now archived at the link.

I can’t say it will expand your consciousness, but there’s every possibility you could regress.

Next week, we’ll observe the 91st birthday of William Shatner, with a discussion of one of his immortal screen classics, “Kingdom of the Spiders” (1977). The Shat demonstrates his incredible versatility, going from starship captain to Southwestern veterinarian, in a town besieged by crazed tarantulas. The comments section will be devoid of arachnophobes, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Roy and I will have the best legs in the room, when we livestream on Facebook, Friday evening at 7:00 EDT!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

PHOTO: Hurts, don’t it? Maybe Edvard Munch was right.

March 19, 2022

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