Giant Spiders and Shatner? Oh My!

Okay, so, I finally got around to watching "Kingdom of the Spiders" (1977) last night. I know, I know, I'm late to the arachnid party. Honestly, I mostly watched it because Shatner. I'm a sucker for his, uh, unique acting choices. And, true to form, he delivers as vet Rack Hansen! He's got that whole 'man of science slowly losing his mind' thing down pat. The movie itself? Well, let's just say it's got a certain charm. The special effects are... something else. I mean, it's really just a lot of tarantulas. I was a little skeptical at first, but they really committed to using real spiders! There's one scene where a tarantula is crawling on his face. Eek! You can see the panic slowly overtaking him in that moment. It must've been absolutely terrifying for him. Speaking of horrifying, the ending... woah. Totally bleak and I did NOT see it coming. Seriously, the way they just... left it? Chilling. The plot is pretty straightforward – spiders are taking over because reasons – but it's the sheer volume of spiders that makes it effective, and I mean, I can't help but appreciate a film that goes all-in on its premise with the real arachnids. Was it groundbreaking cinema? Nah. But it was definitely entertaining in a gloriously cheesy, '70s horror kind of way. It's one of those movies where you can appreciate the dedication to a specific cinematic style, and Shatner's performance is the cherry on top.