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Review added April 1, 2004.                            Arachnophobia :: DVD Review  

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Studio: Touchstone >> Review Equipment
Video: 1.78:1 (Enhanced for 16:9) Length: 105 Minutes
Audio: Dolby Digital 4.1 (384kbps) En Subtitles: En/Fr
Audio: Dolby Digital 4.0 (384kbps) It/Fr Disc Format: RSDL DVD-9
Video Format: PAL Disc Capacity Utilised: 6.38GB
Layer Change: 56:09 Region Coding: 4/2
Average Bit-Rate (A+V): 8.23Mbps
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:: The Film ::

 
 

>> Skip to Audio/Video Details

Arachnophobia is a rare beast indeed: a fun comedy/horror that appeals equally to both adults and children alike. Like Tremors, it's basically an updated 1950s B grade horror film, with a better story, script, special effects and acting. Arachnophobia also has a sly sense of humour that really goes a long way to making it the entertaining film it is.

Dr. Ross Jennings (played by Jeff Daniels) and his family have just moved to the sleepy American town of Canaima in an attempt to escape the hectic pace of big city life. Another new resident has also recently arrived in the town: an extremely aggressive and deadly spider that hitched a ride in a coffin from Venezuela.

As it turns out, one of Canaima's residents is (or rather, was) a nature photographer who tagged along on an expedition intended to identify new insect species in a remote Venezuelan rainforest. One of the new species the expedition came across was a lethal species of spider, a species that the photographer had an extremely closer encounter with: an encounter he didn't survive. His coffin, however, turned out to be a very convenient means of transport for the eight-legged globe-trotter.




As the good doctor and his family settle into the small town, so does the arachnid immigrant, and it isn't long before the spider's flourishing family begins to reduce the town's two-legged population. Several of the spiders' victims also happen to be patients of Dr. Jennings, quickly earning him the unfortunate nickname 'Dr. Death'.

Suspecting that the spate of mysterious deaths may be more than a consequence of natural attrition, the doctor calls upon world-renowned araneologist Dr. James Atherton (played by Julian Sands) who, as it happens, has recently returned from an expedition to Venezuela. Atherton quickly confirms that the town has a serious bug problem. Atherton, Jennings and Delbert McClintock, the town's local beer can-collecting exterminator (memorably played by John Goodman), must prevent the insects from spreading outside the town.

Great stuff. This is the sort of film that has children squealing behind the sofa and less hardy adults watching from behind white knuckles. Arachnophobia includes enough jolts, thrills and spills to satisfy horror fans, but nothing to really upset children. A good story, skilled direction and enthusiastic acting make this a fine example of slick Hollywood popcorn entertainment. Recommended.
 

  :: Video ::
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This 1.78:1 anamorphically-enhanced transfer comes to us from Hollywood Pictures, and it's really very good. The film print used was generally very clean, with only a few notable instances of hairs, flecks and blemishes.

The film's first few minutes contained quite a few scratches and a few soft scenes, but overall the transfer is clean, clear and sharp, with an impressive amount of detail and no obvious grain. Colours are excellent, looking very natural and nicely saturated, especially during the first few jungle-bound scenes, while skin tones are accurate and rock-solid throughout.

Blacks are deep, with little noise and no artefacting, and shadow detail is very good, with dark scenes in basements and barns containing a considerable amount of visible information. Edge enhancement is kept to a minimum, and there are no visible compression artefacts, nor is there any aliasing or shimmer. Overall a nice transfer.
 

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  :: Audio ::
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Arachnophobia was released theatrically with a 'baby boom' six-track 70mm Dolby Stereo magnetic soundtrack, and this disc's Dolby Digital 4.1 soundtrack appears to be sourced from the theatrical soundtrack's stems, hence the split-mono surround channel.

The front soundstage is impressively wide, containing numerous directional cues and creating a nicely enveloping soundfield. Although the soundtrack is slightly compressed, with some definite high frequency roll-off, overall fidelity is impressively high. The film's score is nicely recorded, spreading widely across the front channels and is frequently supported by the surround channel. The centre channel is well integrated, and dialogue is always clear and easy to understand, while ADR inserts are detectable but not distracting.

The soundtrack is very front-hemisphere oriented, and the surround channel is often subdued, containing few ambient cues. Being split-mono, there are no discrete directional surround effects. The LFE channel is used infrequently, but effectively, containing some nice bass. Like that found in the front channels, LFE bass isn't particularly deep, but gets the job done. This is a very pleasant soundtrack, although its age is beginning to show.
 

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