"Kingdom Of The Spiders" Exploits Both Actors And Animals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             Now, girls, I may not like spiders, but they have a right to exist.  Same with rats and pit bulls.  But "Kingdom Of The Spiders" sets new lows, not just in script, acting, direction; in fact, just about every aspect of filmmaking, but some things I will not tolerate.

                              One thing I don't abide is child exploitation.  Now, the child pictured above is Natasha Ryan, who was forced to do this scene.  But Natasha has an unsavory history.  For a brief period of time--maybe till Child Protective Services got wise--Natasha was whom to call on when needing an actress to portray a doomed child.  Take note.  She was the abused child in the 1976, TV film "Sybil" with Martine Bartlett unforgettable as the abusive Hattie Dorsett.  The same year she was in "Kingdom Of The Spiders," Natasha was in "Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night," a TV movie about child abuse. which had an adult Susan Dey not only being horrid and neglectful to this child, but cozying up to daddy Kevin McCarthy in a disturbingly incestuous manner that I thought was pushing the envelope for television.

                               Now, let us talk about the spiders themselves.  Six years ago, when Bruce Davison scored a hit with "Willard," which used real rats, I understand that when the film was done, all the rats were exterminated.  Again, I don't like rats, but that seems inordinately cruel.  Why not just fly them to New York City, and dump them into the subway system?  What difference would it make, anyway?

                               It was comforting to notice that, in the crowd scenes, which hardly compared to "Gone With The Wind," the actors seemed to be dancing over the spiders, as though not wanting to kill them.  This also may have had to do with fear of contact with them, or being bitten, but at least the viewer did not have to watch spiders being squashed in front of their eyes.

                              What this film proves is that giant spiders are better than real ones.  They are scary and menacing--and, most of all, not REAL.  At least, I hope not.  And they are much more menacing than real life spiders.

                                 Those having never seen this film should take a look.  Having already seen it, I can say if "Svengoolie" should show this again, David and I will skip it.

                                  "Down came the rain, and washed the spider out," darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!