Big Ass Spider!
When a giant alien spider escapes from a military lab and rampages across the city of Los Angeles, it is up to one clever exterminator and his security guard sidekick to kill the creature before the city is destroyed.
Indie
Mike Mendez Goes From ‘Big Ass Spider’ Back To ‘The Convent’
I’m not sure how official this is since they haven’t decided on a title yet (and it sounds like it’s one option on a list of many), but Big Ass Spider director Mike Mendez is toying with a sequel to his 2001 film The Convent with original writer Chaton Anderson, per Fangoria. Not yet sure if it will be called The Devil’s Convent or something else (ie The Convent 2), Mendez does seem keen on the idea of killing a few more nuns.
He tells them, “Chaton Anderson [who scripted the original] wanted to revisit it and I was like, ‘I only want to do it if it has a unique point of view.’ For those who saw the first movie, there’s something that happened in the ’60s [seen in an attention-grabbing prologue] that sets off the events in the present, so we want to do ‘The Convent’ in the ’60s. It’s more a period piece: the adventures of young Christine [Barbeau’s heroine], kicking ass early on… We’re looking at calling it ‘The Devil’s Convent’, and it would kind of be its own thing, but if you know the original, they do connect. It’s being written right now, so we’ll see where it goes. ”
More on this as it comes in.
Exclusive
[SXSW '13] A Quick Chat With The Minds Behind ‘Big Ass Spider’!
I had a lot of fun with Big Ass Spider!, directed by Real Killers and The Gravedancers‘s Mike Mendez, at SXSW. If you doubt that, I invite you to read my review. In the film, “When a giant alien spider escapes from a military lab and rampages across the city of Los Angeles, it is up to one clever exterminator and his security guard sidekick to kill the creature before the entire city is destroyed.”
Battling the disgusting creature are Greg Grunberg (“Heroes”, “Alias”) and Lombardo Boyar (“The Bernie Mac Show”), who star as Alex, an exterminator, and Jose, his security guard sidekick, respectively. The heroes team up with an elite military unit that includes genre vets Clare Kramer (The Gravedancers) and Ray Wise (X-Men: First Class, “Twin Peaks”).
The day after Spider‘s premiere screening at the Alamo Ritz I sat down with Mendez and Boyar along with producers Patrick Ewald and Shaked Berenson for a quick chat. We talked about Mendez’s initial reaction to the script, Boyar’s chemistry with Grunberg – and the potential CIA shakedown that weighed on the producers’ minds.
Head inside to check it out! READ MORE
[SXSW '13] ‘Big Ass Spider!’ Tramples You With Fun
Evan Dickson graces us with his review from the World Premiere of Big Ass Spider!, which took place at last week’s SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas.
Directed by genre fav Mike Mendez, and starring Greg Grunberg, Lombardo Boyar, Clare Kramer, Ray Wise, Lin Shaye and Patrick Bauchau, the comedy begins when a giant alien spider escapes from a military lab and rampages across the city of Los Angeles.
Dickson calls Spider!, “A film that’s simultaneously humble and ambitious,” further adding, “It’s a movie that sets out to elevate the terrain usually staked out for Asylum type productions and build something more enjoyable on it. In that regard, the film succeeds.”
And if it weren’t already obvious, “Big Ass Spider! will be a nice movie for that night when you want to crack open a few beers and hang with some friends.”
Click here for the full review.
[BD Review] It’s Easy To Have Fun With ‘Big Ass Spider!’
A film that’s simultaneously humble and ambitious, I had a good time with Big Ass Spider!. It’s a movie that sets out to elevate the terrain usually staked out for Asylum type productions and build something more enjoyable on it. In that regard, the film succeeds. Even though Spider‘s brand of humor and sub-genre aren’t necessarily my thing (though I did laugh a lot), I appreciated the wise decision to go the buddy-comedy route and actually stick with it – a rare choice for this kind of outing. It’s here that director Mike Mendez really sets his film apart.
Greg Grunberg plays Alex, a bumbling yet efficient exterminator. After being bitten by a brown recluse on the job, he’s taken to a hospital (where he really seizes upon the opportunity to flirt with the nurses). Soon after his arrival things begin to go awry. A mysterious corpse (housing a few guests) is wheeled in and, as they say, we’re off to the races. The hospital setting is pretty much ground zero for the first part of the film, and it’s there we meet most of our characters – chief among them the janitor Jose, played Lombardo Boyar (with Clare Kramer’s Lieutenant Brant a second place MVP).
Part of the charm of Big Ass Spider! is that it knows exactly what it is. It hits all the requisite beats (the spider, of course, is the result of military testing) but it always remains fleet and never lingers on or fetishizes its limitations. For example, the CGI isn’t great. But there’s a lot of it and Mendez never winks at the iffiness of the visuals, he just plows on ahead as if he’s making a movie that costs 50 times as much. That’s the kind of moxie I can get behind. The kills are also plentiful, inventive and gory.
Of course, most movies in this sub-genre are slight – and Spider is no exception. While it’s certainly no Asylum movie, it doesn’t get anywhere close to the realm of something like James Gunn’s Slither, either. It’s just not in that league. So while I can’t really take Mendez’s film to task for not being a five-skull movie, I can’t exactly just give it those five skulls either. It’s a weird conundrum, but it boils down to this – how strongly could I recommend this movie to all of our readers? The answer goes something like, “I certainly recommend it but feel that I need to contextualize that recommendation with something that provides the viewer with a realistic set of expectations.”
Big Ass Spider! will be a nice movie for that night when you want to crack open a few beers and hang with some friends. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It also doesn’t hurt to open with The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind” – if you ever need a direct link to my heart that’s one of the 10 songs that will get you there.
[SXSW '13] Face-Melting First Clip From ‘Big Ass Spider!’
Aint it Cool News has shared the first ever clip from Big Ass Spider!, directed by Real Killers and The Gravedancers‘s Mike Mendez. The film has just world premiered at SXSW. Tough through the idiotic introduction for a pretty sick death scene. Your face will melt.
“When a giant alien spider escapes from a military lab and rampages across the city of Los Angeles, it is up to one clever exterminator and his security guard sidekick to kill the creature before the entire city is destroyed.”
Battling the disgusting creature are Greg Grunberg (“Heroes”, “Alias”) and Lombardo Boyar (“The Bernie Mac Show”), who star as Alex, an exterminator, and Jose, his security guard sidekick, respectively. The heroes team up with an elite military unit that includes genre vets Clare Kramer (The Gravedancers) and Ray Wise (X-Men: First Class, “Twin Peaks”). READ MORE
[EFM '13 Bites] ‘Mega Spider’ Begins To Sell; ‘Body Art’ Gains Sigourney Weaver; Weinstein Company Acquires And Dates ‘Blood Sisters: Vampire Academy’
Sigourney Weaver is joining the cast of Body Art, Luca Guadagnino’s new film based on the novel “The Body Artist” by Don DeLillo, Screen Daily reports. The film, shooting this summer in Portugal, also stars Isabelle Huppert, David Cronenberg and Denis Lavant. Written by Guadagnino, “Body Art stars Huppert as a woman who, grieving after her husband’s death, discovers that a stranger is living in her upstairs room.”
The site also reports that The Weinstein Company has acquired US rights to Blood Sisters: Vampire Academy, which they’ve committed to release on February 14, 2014. Blood Sisters is the first instalment in Richelle Mead’s “Vampire Academy” property that comprises six books and two graphic novels. Mark Waters will direct from a screenplay by his brother Dan Waters, “About two friends who attend a strict school for vampires where they team up with their guardian to battle evil forces.” Zoey Deutch and Lucy Fry will star.
Epic Pictures Group has closed key territories at the EFM on Mega Spider, the upcoming SXSW entry known in the US as Big Ass Spider! Rights have gone to Splendid for Germany and Benelux, FIP for France, Daro for CIS, Presidio for Japan, M Pictures for Thailand, Sonamu for South Korea, Star Alliance for China and Eagle Films for the Middle East. US news forthcoming. Mike Mendez’s Mega Spider “Centers on a team of scientists and an exterminator who race to destroy a giant rampaging arachnid in Los Angeles.” READ MORE
[SXSW '13] Sales Poster For ‘Big Ass Spider!’ Spins Its Web
Update: Higher resolution version added.
Here’s the EFM sales art for the newly titled Big Ass Spider!, directed by Real Killers and The Gravedancers‘s Mike Mendez. The film will world premiere at SXSW in March.
“When a giant alien spider escapes from a military lab and rampages across the city of Los Angeles, it is up to one clever exterminator and his security guard sidekick to kill the creature before the entire city is destroyed.”
Battling the disgusting creature are Greg Grunberg (“Heroes”, “Alias”) and Lombardo Boyar (“The Bernie Mac Show”), who star as Alex, an exterminator, and Jose, his security guard sidekick, respectively. The heroes team up with an elite military unit that includes genre vets Clare Kramer (The Gravedancers) and Ray Wise (X-Men: First Class, “Twin Peaks”). READ MORE
[SXSW '13] Trailer For ‘Big Ass Spider!’ Spins Its Web
One thing that scares me more than anything are spiders, which is why you see Evan Dickson covering all of those films. Yet, I sucked it up to bring you the trailer for the newly titled Big Ass Spider!, directed by Real Killers and The Gravedancers‘s Mike Mendez. The film will world premiere at SXSW in March.
“When a giant alien spider escapes from a military lab and rampages across the city of Los Angeles, it is up to one clever exterminator and his security guard sidekick to kill the creature before the entire city is destroyed.”
Battling the disgusting creature are Greg Grunberg (“Heroes”, “Alias”) and Lombardo Boyar (“The Bernie Mac Show”), who star as Alex, an exterminator, and Jose, his security guard sidekick, respectively. The heroes team up with an elite military unit that includes genre vets Clare Kramer (The Gravedancers) and Ray Wise (X-Men: First Class, “Twin Peaks”). READ MORE
[SXSW '13] ‘V/H/S/2,’ ‘Haunter,’ ‘You’re Next’ Lead Midnighters Lineup; First Look Imagery!!!
The SXSW Film Festival has announced their Midnighters lineup for their forthcoming March event, which includes our newly retitled V/H/S/2!
Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious include Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem, as well as Adam Wingard’s hotly anticipated You’re Next, and Cube director Vincenzo Natali’s Haunter.
Get the entire lineup by reading after the break, as well as sneak peak low quality images. This year’s festival looks incredible! READ MORE
14 Comments
[BD Caption Contest] Win “Texas Chainsaw 3D” On Blu-ray!!!