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Arachnophobia refers to the fear of spiders-and if you happen to suffer from this affliction, be sure to steer clear of this 1990 thriller-diller. A particularly deadly species of spider manages to make its way from the Venezuelan rain forest to a small California town, thanks to the many oversights of entomologist Julian Sands . Yuppie doctor Jeff Daniels , fed up with the dangers inherent in big-city living, has resettled in this town on the assumption that nothing untoward could ever happen here to himself and his family. Before long, however, Daniels is trying to make sense of a series of sudden deaths-and to figure out why each of the corpses has been drained of blood. The audience, of course, knows that the culprits are those pesky South American spider, which grow larger with each kill. Oh, did we mention that Jeff Daniels suffers from a profound case of arachnophobia? Despite the high mortality rate, Arachnophobia has a healthy quotient of laughs, many of these supplied by John Goodman as a slovenly exterminator. Frank Marshall , longtime producer of Steven Spielberg 's films, makes his directorial debut in Arachnophobia . — Hal Erickson
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