Arachnophobia -- The Movie

Lawyers protest the way they’re portrayed on L.A. Law, newscasters sometimes cringe at the way they’re parodied on Murphy Brown, but they watch nonetheless. The American popular media makes sure no major profession gets away without having its ox gored.

Now, with Arachnophoia, it’s the PCO’s urn. In many ways, the movie perpetuates the "bug man" image the industry has been trying to overcome for decades. John Goodman, playing Bugs-Be-Gone’s Delbert McClintock,is billed by the studio as "the Rambo of insect exterminators." He spits a lot, pontificates, and yells out the name of a major insecticide, all while an acidic solution gushes from his sprayer.

At one point, for instance, meeting an entomologist played by Julian Sands, he introduces himself as a "colleague," and the audience laughs. Little do they know how knowledgeable PCOs must be about insect biology and control, and how the industry has grown in stature in recent years because of its willingness to hire trained entomologists Goodman’s line, "there’s no room for amateurs here," draws another laugh, as does his response of "Don’t mention it" to a proffered "Thank God."

At the same time, we go to the flicks to be entertained, not trained in the realities of pest control. We don’t expect total scientific accuracy. Yet the movie makes clear these are not ordinary spiders, but a horrible cross-breed of domestic spiders with Venezuelan killer spiders that dispatch their intended victims with a single bite. Care is taken to point out that spiders are for the most part beneficial bugs. And, although it is up to star Jeff Daniels to face the queen spider in a cellar showdown, when he emerges from his basement battle, he finds it is good old Delbert McClintock who has cleaned up the town.

The movie is both comedy and thriller, and like a roller coaster ride the whole point of the fun is scaring the audience while it both spoofs and capitalizes on the conventions of the horror film.