Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (1977 TV Movie) User Reviews

Not mind blowing, but solid

[TrickRider58 · 6/10 · 3 November 2009]

I have to admit, I was surprised by this movie. I bought it as part of a 2 DVD set with "Ants" for $5. Needless to say, I was expecting a "so bad it's good" movie along the lines of "Rockula". Instead, I found an interesting, if unspectacular... thriller? Horror movie? I really don't know what this is. It's not terribly scary, and the only really tense moments come at opposite ends of the film. Nevertheless, this is a good movie. It has a solid script, fairly god acting, (usually) and great music from Mundell Lowe. That's not to say it doesn't have it's flaws. The "cute kid" of the movie is less than competent, and I'm being nice. It also feels like the director doesn't use his full potential during the entire movie. During the climax, we see that he is a genuinely good director, capable of injecting tension into a scene, but just seems to be coasting through most of the movie. Hopefully, his other movies draw on that potential.

A strictly passable 70's made-for-TV killer animal horror flick

[Woodyanders · 6/10 · 13 May 2006]

This merely okay 70's made-for-TV killer animal fright feature centers on a horde of lethal poisonous tarantulas who run amok and attack folks in the heretofore sleepy little California hamlet of Finleyville after a cargo plane containing the deadly critters crashlands in a nearby field. It's up to take-charge two-fisted fire chief Claude Akins, diligent doctor Pat Hingle, and cranky mayor Bert Remsen to stop the evil arachnids before things get too out of hand. The story has the potential to deliver a suitably creepy nature-turns-nasty yarn, but alas Stuart Hagmann's pedestrian direction, a by-the-numbers script co-written by "The Candy Snatchers" director Guerdon Trueblood, sluggish pacing, infrequent and blandly staged spider attack scenes (although I have to give the film a couple of points for killing off a little boy), and a silly subplot concerning the town's orange crop doom this one to mediocrity. However, the sturdy cast do their best with the generic material (Tom Atkins and Howard Hesseman are especially engaging as the two cargo plane pilots), both Robert Morrison's crisp photography and Mundell Lowe's funky jazzy score are up to snuff, and the last twenty-five minutes with a bunch of people trapped in a warehouse infested with the dangerous buggers makes for a genuinely gripping and nerve-wracking set piece. All in all, this one sizes up as a strictly passable, but altogether rather blah and unexceptional timewaster.

Not the best.. but passable

[discoboys2006 · 5/10 · 28 November 2006]

I love all the 1970's "animals run amok" movies and was really pleased when I found that this TV movie had finally made it onto DVD.. This film is certainly not on a par with the fabulous KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS. The acting is rather wooden even by B movie standards ! I must admit the scenes with the spiders deliver the goods and the scenes inside the dark warehouse work well. I do feel more scary scenes involving spiders attacking the cast would have added more tension. The overall direction is rather poor and fails to raise much tension. Too much "talk" and not enough spider action !im glad I bought this film to add to my "creature flix" collection but I certainly would not recommend unless you are a hardcore fan of these kinda B movies. 5/10

Like ketchup, its slow, but its not good

[richard.fuller1 · 20 June 2001]

I saw this thing when I was eleven, so I related most to Matthew Laborteaux who was not yet on Little House on the Prairie. I rooted for him when he was teasing the spider with a stick and was dismayed when he met his fate. My sister, who hates spiders, jumped constantly during this thing. I had to argue with my brother, who wanted to watch 'Charlies Angels in Hawaii' or something. I eventually saw this movie tho. Like some bad influence from Irwin Allen, the spiders, which were all over the small town, end up in the warehouse with the produce, the town's main source of income and major export. A truly strange plan for killing the spiders is hampered by a bad, bad man, which endangers those within the warehouse with the spiders. It's not one you would want to watch twice, but once would leave it stuck in your mind. Check out 'Kingdom of the Spiders' with William Shatner tho. It's better.

Two acts out of three ain't bad, plus cuties Deborah Winters & Noelle North

[Wuchakk · 5/10 · 4 July 2017]

Released to TV 1977 and directed by Stuart Hagmann, "Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo" stars Deborah Winters, Charles Frank (her fiancé) and Claude Akins as citizens of a small orange-producing town in Southern California who have to deal with an invasion of deadly banana spiders, which are unleashed when a cargo plane from Ecuador crash lands in the fields. Pat Hingle plays the doctor, Bert Remsen the mayor and Sandy McPeak the police chief. Howard Hesseman & Tom Atkins appear in the opening act as pilots of the doomed plane. Cutie Noelle North is also on hand.

I'm sure the filmmakers used tarantulas in replace of the similar-looking banana Spider (aka phoneutria or armed spiders), but they're close enough and, besides, this was the pre-CGI era and the producers had no other choice.

In any case, the first hour or so is surprisingly good, considering this is a TV-budgeted nature-runs-amok flick. The cinematography features numerous aerial shots of the shooting area, which is in the semi-arid sticks 20-25 miles NW of Los Angeles. Claude Akins is surprisingly effective as one of the protagonists while Deborah Winters and Noelle North shine on the female front, both in form-fitting jeans from beginning to end. While Noelle's character may seem to be around 16 she was actually 27 during filming. The movie works as a 70's period piece, showcasing a nice cross-selection of the demographics & styles of any Southern California town of that era. Also, there's a nigh-shocking death scene considering this was made in the mid-70s, which I wasn't expecting in a TV flick.

Unfortunately, the last act that revolves around extinguishing the spiders at an orange factory is decidedly dull compared to the first two acts. This portion is packed with filler to complete the overlong runtime. But at least Winters & North are there to somewhat hold the male viewer's attention, lol.

The film runs 95 minutes and was shot in Piru & Moorpark, California. WRITERS: Guerdon Trueblood & John Groves.

GRADE: C+ (5.5/10)

Deadly cargo isn't overly scary. Actually a fun watch

[michaelRokeefe · 5/10 · 11 February 2018]

A plane carries South American coffee beans, and crash lands because of stowaways aboard. Not hijackers or terrorists...tarantulas. The furry eight-legged critters hiding in the coffee beans also have attraction for the oranges in the small California town, where the cargo plane goes down.

This MADE-FOR-TV fare is pretty tame. Plenty of tarantulas, and they do look harmful to your health. The towns folk worry about the roaming arachnids destroying the towns main industry as well as taking bites out of human flesh along the way. The story meanders a bit and you could even say that the creepy crawlers are more lively than some of the actors. And that isn't saying much. The kills are limp and lame; there are some comical situations. So don't fear, just chuckle and have fun with this one.

The cast includes: Claude Akins, Pat Hingle, Charles Frank, Deborah Winters, Charles Siebert, Howard Hessseman, Penelope Windust and Bert Remsen.

the spiders were the best actors

[disdressed12 · 5/10 · 4 August 2007]

this movie isn't' total crap,but it's not great either.but you cant really expect much from these types of movies.there's almost no suspense and not very much excitement in this movie.it just sort of plods along to the end.it's entertaining,if nothing else.i mean,you get some horrid dialogue,sometimes delivered just as horridly.the acting isn't great,and some of the characters are as dumb as could be.i guess it's sort of in the category of so bad it's good.i thought the spiders were pretty good actors,at least.i've watched quite a few of these movies and this one is no better or worse than any other one of this type.i find this type of movie a good way to waste 90 minutes or so.besides,none of these movies come close to being the worst movie i have seen,so that's something.

Attack of the pretty normal looking spiders!

[The_Void · 4/10 · 18 December 2007]

Some animals just lend themselves to horror movies, and as movies such as Tarantula, Kingdom of the Spiders and Arachnophobia have proved; big spiders are one of them. Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo was made for television, so it's probably unfair to expect great things from it; and while the film does have its moments, I really wouldn't add it to the list of films that prove spiders are prime candidates for having horror films made about them. The plot is pretty simplistic, which isn't really surprising considering the television origins and basically focuses on a bunch of tarantulas from South America being released in a town in California. We focus on a small airplane carrying coffee beans that have spent a lot of time in storage. Unbeknown to the crew, these particular beans have become infested with huge spiders that kill some of the crew and cause the plane to crash in the aforementioned Californian town. It's not long before the spiders have got off the plane and begin killing local residents; causing the authorities to take action.

Most horror films about spiders have the antagonists with something about them - perhaps they're genetically modified, a new type of spider, absolutely huge or maybe there's just thousands of them - this film doesn't bother with all that, all we get is just a bunch of pretty average looking spiders, and it's really not all that menacing - I constantly wondered why the lead characters didn't just put on a big pair of boots and go round stomping on them all. The film was obviously a pretty cheap production as there is no special effects and the sets are very minimal. Unfortunately it would seem that they couldn't afford to hire someone to write an imaginative screenplay either, as despite some standout moments - there aren't a lot of them, and the main sequence in a warehouse, while well done, is really too silly to take seriously if you take a minute to think about it. The conclusion to the film includes an interesting method of getting rid of the spiders - I have no idea whether or not it would work in real life, but one thing is for sure - a big pair of boots would have worked better and wouldn't have involved so much messing about. If only I were there to lend a hand

"We're not talking about oranges, we're talking about people." Low budget boring rubbish about killer tarantulas who have a genetic fear of wasp's!

[poolandrews · 3/10 · 4 December 2005]

Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo starts in Ecuador in South America where two partners Fred (Howard Hesseman) & Buddy (Tom Atkins) are about to fly off to San Francisco with a cargo bay full of coffee beans that they intend to sell for a huge profit, unfortunately they fail to realise that lots of deadly tarantulas have gotten on board... As Fred & Buddy head for San Francisco their plane develops a technical problem which forces them to land in the small Californian town of Finley Ville, however before they get the opportunity Buddy is bitten by a tarantula & the plane crashes in a field. Fire Chief Bert Springer (Claude Akins), Sheriff Beasley (Sandy McPeak) & the town's mayor Jack Douglas (Bert Remsen) are on the scene in no time. As they fight to rescue the trapped pilots the tarantulas make their escape & scatter. Within minutes Frank (Edwin Owens) has become the tarantulas first victim, shortly after Gloria (Penelope Windust) has become the second & Dr. Hodgins (Pat Hingle) soon realises what's happening. However Finley Ville is an orange producing town & unless the oranges go out on time the town will be financially crippled, but can they send out oranges infested with deadly tarantulas? Plus any chemical treatment to them will destroy the unique flavour...

Directed by Stuart Hagmann Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo is a pretty obscure & hard to find made-for-TV film & to be brutally honest that's a bit of a blessing as it's rather crap. The script by John Groves & Guerdon Trueblood is painfully slow as it's over half an hour of boring exposition before the tarantulas even start to leave the plane, it's dull as there are very few attack scenes & it concentrates on the deeply uninteresting drama surrounding the oranges more than the fact that these tarantulas are killing people & is stupid as it seems to take itself far too seriously & features a silly climax where a guy holds a cage full of wasp's up to a microphone to scare the tarantulas into a comatose state. As I've already said Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo is a really slow film but I think it needs saying again, for a film that lasts over 90 minutes not very much happens. The character's are clichéd, the hero & his missus, the corrupt official who only cares for money, the local Doctor who tries to warn the town, the annoying kid who becomes involved & the level headed reasonable character who has a plan in every situation. They are all dull, have little personality & there is a brief sub plot about Gloria having an affair which last for about 5 minutes & then completely forgotten about. Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo is a very unfocused & uneven film that doesn't seem to know what it wants to be, is it a horror? A drama? A thriller? I suppose it tries to be all three but fails miserably at being any & doesn't satisfy in any regard. The only good thing I can say about it is that tarantulas are cool, it has some reasonably nice location shooting & while it's dull I suppose it's sort of watchable & it's just a shame it doesn't deliver much in the way of entertainment as it definitely had potential.

Director Hagmann does nothing to liven the dull proceedings up, there is no style or visual flair & he fails to create any excitement, atmosphere or tension which is a real killer as far as the film goes. The tarantulas themselves just crawl across things very slowly & we get shot after shot like this which becomes boring as they never do anything else & it's hard to feel scared by something so slow. There is no blood or gore so forget about that. Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo maybe good for one thing though, to stretch the running time out Hagmann pads the film with seemingly endless shots of the orange factory & it's inner workings so if you've ever wanted to know what happens in an (70's) orange factory here's your chance!

Technically the film is alright, nothing special but is professionally made although I thought the music was crap & it annoyed me, basically Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo has cheap made-for-TV film written all over it which is not a good thing. The acting was OK as well but that sentimental ending is embarrassing to watch.

Trantulas: The Deadly Cargo is pretty crap stuff all the way, it has no excitement, it's slow, it's dull & since Arachnophobia (1990) is ten times better & much more widely available there is no need whatsoever to be wasting your time on this. For die-hard killer spider film fans only, if such people exist.

There's a spider in my coffee

[Chase_Witherspoon · 7/10 · 29 April 2011]

A plane carrying a payload of Ecuadorian coffee beans bound for the US, plunges into a field in the struggling town of Finleyville. When rescuers discover that two survivors appear to be afflicted by a deadly plague-like condition, the townspeople are quick to respond to the threat. It takes the tenacity of local GP (Hingle) and occupation unknown jack-of-all trades (Frank) and his girlfriend (Winters) to determine that the mysterious deaths are attributed to a particularly toxic breed of Tarantulas that have stowed away on the doomed flight. Director Haggman applies a very matter-of-fact treatment to this above average thriller, with great attention to detail and a well paced continuity that builds to a satisfying climax.

A capable cast of familiar faces portray likable characters, who band together to solve their own problems and save the town from socioeconomic devastation, proving that necessity is the mother of all invention. Frank is an affable leading man well supported by durable character actors like Akins, Hingle and Remsen in sizeable supporting roles. John Harkins also has a key cameo identifying the aggressive arachnids as the most venomous of their species, sending the town into a virtual state of emergency. Mature, intelligent dialogue is sometimes too functional, but realistic and well delivered. It's just a pity that the rather vapid climax wasn't more rousing, as the impetus was there throughout the movie for a satisfying resolution.

There's an absence of smoke and mirrors to this small screen production that rejects the temptation to sensationalise the subject matter, focusing instead on the logical and convincing storytelling that saw this minor matinée nominated for two Emmy awards. Overall, while there's the obvious constraints of a television scale, and a curiously inapt jazz soundtrack bookends, this remains a taut, mature, well conceived little critter of a spider movie, and well worth a look.

Californian oranges, Ecuadorian coffee beans and BIG hairy spiders!

[Coventry · 5/10 · 22 October 2007]

Possibly one of the best and most suspenseful made-for-TV creature-feature flicks accomplished during the 70's decade, "The Deadly Cargo" nearly equals the menacing atmosphere of classic and more famous spider films like "Kingdom of the Spiders" and "Arachnophobia". Of course, you shouldn't expect a bloodbath, partly because it's a TV-production and partly because… well, tarantulas aren't exactly capable of tearing people to pieces. But hey, at least the suspense is constant and the plot moves forward at a satisfying pace. Two sleazy coffee smugglers, one of them being Tom Atkins of "Night of the Creeps" and "Maniac Cop", fly a cargo full of Ecuadorian coffee beans and political fugitives towards California and through a thunderstorm. The cargo is infested with "Banana Spiders"; the deadliest kind of tarantulas in the world. With the plane severely damaged by the storm and the pilot wounded, it crashes down in the fields surrounding the orange-producing & exporting town of Finleyville. The spiders escape, all hell breaks loose and pretty soon the entire town lives in a state of hysteria. The script is solidly penned down, partly courtesy of Guerdon Trueblood (director of 70's favorite "The Candy Snatchers") and Stuart Hagmann's direction is surefooted. At least during the first half, the plot contains a few surprising shock-elements and unlikely victims (that'll teach them to poke animals with sticks!) The second half is very muddled and particularly the unexciting climax is a letdown. Overall a decent film that deserves a slightly better rating around here.

Done in the tradition of the 50s horror films

[Jeremysnow9 · 9/10 · 8 July 2008]

I only gave this movie a shot because i am a fan of Claude Atkins. I am glad i gave it a try. It has the properties of an 50s sci-fi/horror film, only with a modern twist, the spiders are normal size! A plane carrying coffee beans (and killer tarantulas) crashes and spiders escape from the crash site, wreaking havoc on the towns people. It has its good / bad moments. The death scenes are pretty good, the giant bites from the tarantulas, but the corny part is, the spiders are afraid of wasps? But it is well done for the mid 70s. Claude Atkins did a great job in his role as a doctor. I also liked the little kid who first found the spiders, but he sadly dies. 9.5/10

Jaws with Eight Furry Legs

[TheFearmakers · 7/10 · 16 July 2022]

The JAWS craze went beyond hungry fish as the TV-Movie TARANTULAS: THE DEADLY CARGO winds up with a town torn between business and people's safety, with cranky Bert Remsen in the Murray Hamilton mayoral position, running an orange mill where the furry-legged-critters wind up...

That's after what seems like two separate short films, especially the intro where grungy maverick pilot/smugglers Howard Hessmann and Tom Atkins sneak coffee beans away from the local crooked government, and they wind up as Janet Leigh-from-PSYCHO characters in that they only seem permanent...

After crash-landing in the orange crop town, inadvertently bringing the titular CARGO along with them, this otherwise title-oriented creature-feature builds mystery/thriller tension as random deaths are initially enigmatic, disconnected with the tarantulas and, before computers, fearless crews known as spider wranglers provided the genuine article, making for more bonafide viewer-cringe moments...

Although. Visually, they're a very beautiful black and yellow color, and are actually known as Banana Spiders, shown a lot in the finale when buried lead Deborah Winters, older sister of LITTLE HOUSE child actor Matthew Labyorteaux and owner of a local airfield, is eventually teamed with Charles Frank as her boyfriend/partner, Pat Hingle the town doctor and Claude Akins the stalwart fire chief, who, although capable enough as a banded group, were more intriguing on their own before everything got figured out, far too soon.

Thrilling monster movie in which large spiders from the jungles of South America are accidently transported in a plane with fateful consequences

[ma-cortes · 4/10 · 15 February 2022]

Horror spiders film without special effects , but simple spiders appearing here and there . It is a routine TV-Movie, but was released theatrically in some countries . In Ecuador, two reckless money-hungry pilots (Tom Atkins, Howard Hesseman) bribe officials in order to fly a load of coffee beans from South America into the United States . To pay off the officials , they sneak aboard three passengers whom they agree to smuggle into the U. S. Later on , the airplane with an unknown cargo: hundreds of deadly Tarantulas or Brazilian wandering Spiders or Banana spiders , crashing on an orange-producing town in California inhabited by peaceful towners (Charles Frank , Deborah Winters , Bert Remsen , Pat Hingle..) , and subsequently some unlucky inhabitants of the town release the poisonous spiders into the mayhem . Then terror and death sweep through a defenseless town

Monster film in which terror has 8 legs with plenty of thrills , chills , spectacular scenes and spider attacks . It's an average spooky terror/monster movie . It is a blending of the monster movies of the 50s such as 'Tarantula' and modern American production in televison style . The thrilling screenplay is a bit yawn-inspiring but nifty spiders will keep you from dozing off , but here neither Animatronics , nor computer visual effects , but actual spiders and enormous Tarantulas . An inferior Spider flick but with good cast , such as : Claude Akins , Charles Frank , Deborah Winters , Bert Remsen , Pat Hingle , Tom Atkins , Howard Hesseman and the little boy Matthew Labyorteaux of The little house on the prairie series. Although nothing which haven't been seen before, this is not the picture to watch if you are scared of spiders , however the movie is entertaining enough , but very mediocre and boring . Utterly arachnophobia people must flee this film. The production is in low budget and the motion picture was regularly directed by Stuart Hagmann . Rating : 4/10 , below average .

Other movies about this Spider sub-genre are the following ones : ¨Tarantula (1955)¨ by Jack Arnold with John Agar ; ¨Tarantula: the deadly cargo (1977)¨ with Claude Akins ; ¨Kingdom of spiders (77)¨ by John Budd Cardos with William Shatner , ¨Arachnophobia(1990)¨ by Frank Marshall with John Goodman , Jeff Daniels , Harley Jane Kozak, Julian Sands ; ¨Arachnid¨ by Jack Sholder with Chris Potter , Jose Sancho , Neus Asensi ; Spiders (2000) by Gary Jones with Lana Parrilla , Josh Green , David Carpenter , Jonathan Btreck ; ¨Spiders II: Breeding Ground¨ (2001) by Sam Firstenberg with Stephanie Niznik , Greg Cromer , Daniel Quinn , Richard Moll ; ¨Eight Legged Freaks¨ (2002) by Ellory Elkayem with Scarlett Johansson , Kari Wuhrer , David Arquette and Spiders 3D (2003) by Tibor Tabaks with Sydney Sweeney , Patrick Muldoon , Christa Campbell , William Hope .

"When Are We Gonna Get These People Back To Picking Oranges?!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 27 May 2018]

Two would-be coffee exporters / human traffickers (Tom Atkins and Howard Hesseman) run into trouble when they discover some unexpected, eight-legged stowaways on their cargo plane. It seems that the hairy arachnids of the title have decided to forfeit their native Ecuador for the good old USA. Going from bad to worse, the ill-fated flight crashes just outside of the small town of Meadowmere, California.

When the tiny, fanged passengers fan out on their mission of destruction, it's up to the crusty town doctor (Pat Hingle) and cranky fire chief (Claude Akins) to combat this horde of creeping doom.

There's also a big orange crop that simply must be harvested, or it's greedy owner will have an aneurysm. His blindness to the unfolding tragedy around him is reminiscent of that exhibited by the soulless mayor in JAWS.

As made-for-TV movies go, TARANTULAS: THE DEADLY CARGO isn't bad, though the cheeeze-factor is quite high. Some of the death scenes are surefire chuckle-inducers! Of course, several unbelievable / absurd events take place for no discernible reason, including the explosive "motorcycle jump" sequence. Still, it's all a lot of fun to watch, as long as you have a hankering for enjoyable nonsense...

Total crap

[TDR'mann · 1/10 · 6 August 1999]

This movie is so crap, there is no suspense whatsoever, actors seem to perform a repetition, and even the spiders are insipid. The idea was not so bad one could have made a good movie, even a TV movie, unfortunately it is far from being the case. Bad Bad Movie.

Spiders, coffee, and oranges what a diet

[bkoganbing · 2/10 · 11 February 2018]

A bunch of nasty poisonous variety of tarantula come up from Ecuador in a plane piloted by Tom Atkins and Howard Hesseman. The eight legged critters snuck aboard their plane with a cargo of coffee, and three illegal aliens. But the tarantulas do their dirty work on the plane and it comes in a ghost ship, just like Renfield and those rats in Dracula, a much better movie.

The creatures which seem to multiply exponentially upon arriving in California farm country make for the warehouse where the oranges are stored. As the towns people discover what has descended upon them it's Fire chief Claude Akins has to figure out a way to kill the bugs without destroying the oranges in this one crop economy town. After all can't let the Department of Agriculture know. They might just kill all the oranges and the mayor of this place Bert Remsen says that just can't be.

I'm not sure of the science in all of this. All the actors including some very known players besides those already mentioned just seem to be sleepwalking their way through this gobbler.

Not particularly frightening, exciting or worth paying any attention to... even if you manage to stay awake

[squirrel_burst · 2/10 · 21 April 2015]

"Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo" is a critter feature that offers no scares and little thrills. When a batch of Guatemalan tarantulas finds themselves in a sleepy little American town, we have a crisis on our hands! Oh not so much that people might get fatally bitten by these arachnids. The real issue is that they have nested themselves In the shipping centre that contains all of the locally harvested oranges. They can't use pesticides to get rid of them because that would contaminate the fruit, but if they wait too long the produce won't be fresh anymore. Can you feel the terror already?! While the acting and sets are good, the story moves at a snail's pace and the stars of the show, the tarantulas, aren't used in any creative or inventive way. We always see the tarantulas simply crawling on the ground, slowly making it's way in the general direction of the would-be victims. It isn't frightening. Spiders are frightening because they can crawl on walls, hide inside little objects and appear at any moment. By using mostly static tarantulas (which are spiders that are easily recognizable and commonly known to be harmless) the scares simply don't happen. I also found myself restless during the beginning of the film. A long portion of the introduction is wasted on the setup where we meet characters that are simply killed off a few minutes later. This is precious time that could have been used to develop our main characters and make us care about them. Easy mistakes make the whole production look amateurish, particularly when you realize what the "real crisis" is.

Overall "Tarantulas: the Deadly Cargo" is dull and audiences won't be scared or excited to watch it. Although there are a few jokes at its expense that can be made, even as a "so bad it's good" kind of film it's not terribly entertaining. (On DVD, November 16, 2012)

The cheesiest you can get. Not so good...

[insomniac_rod · 4/10 · 14 May 2006]

Man how could I fell into this? Anyways, the movie is as bad as you can get. I don't know if the director tried to make this movie look like a "real" footage or something but it has a feeling of raw that makes the movie effective for some moments.

But overall this movie is very bad. It's poorly done, directed, and I won't even get on the f/x. The idea is not that bad and could've been better with more budget but oh well, you can't have everything.

The acting is atrocious but it's good for it's B-movie standard. I'd recommend this movie only if it airs only on cable. Don't waste your money on it please. This is an objective review for a movie this bad.

These were supposed to be deadly?...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 16 August 2022]

When I sat down to watch the 1977 movie "Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo" for the very first time ever here in 2022, I must admit that I wasn't really expecting a whole lot from writers John Groves and Guerdon Trueblood. Why? Well, a movie from 1977 and about killer tarantulas just didn't sound like the best formula.

But true to my way of giving a movie a fair chance, of course I opted to sit down and watch director Stuart Hagmann's 1977 movie "Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo".

And while this movie might have been scary or thrilling back in 1977, the movie just didn't stand much of a chance now 45 years later. Sure, the movie was watchable, but it was nowhere near being scary or thrilling. In fact, the movie was just permeating with low key. And you never felt that anyone in the story were ever in danger from the tarantulas peacefully scurrying about.

The storyline was pretty straight forward, but it was lacking majorly in the scare department. I didn't feel any thrills as the 95 minutes of runtime milled by at a rather monotonous pace. And it didn't help to further the narrative that so very little actually happened throughout the course of the movie.

The movie did, however, have a good cast ensemble, with the likes of Tom Atkins and Pat Hingle, to help carry it and keep it afloat.

All in all, then I hadn't been missing out on a horror gem here. And I can honestly say that this is not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time. And even if you are scared of spiders, then chances are slim to none that a movie like "Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo" will have you scared.

My rating of "Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo" lands on a three out of ten stars.

Who said anything about being scary?

[GeraltTargaryen · 6/10 · 11 January 2023]

I don't know why so many reviews are obsessed with the fact that this movie is not scary. Well, it's not, so if you're looking for a horror movie, simply skip this one. But for me it's a pretty decent creature feature, and the characters' reactions towards the spiders are actually convincing - what would you do when you are beset by a bunch of 2-inch spiders? They can kill you with a bite, but you can also swat them! It's not like they're dealing with 8-foot-long mutant monsters! Admittedly it's not as good as Kingdom of the Spiders (1977) or Arachnophobia (1990), the other two spider movies where they aren't freakishly large, but just sit back and enjoy, it's simply a different tone!

Finleyville - The Home of Tree-Ripened Oranges . . . and Killer Tarantulas

[bensonmum2 · 3/10 · 29 February 2008]

Two guys, looking to make a quick buck, buy a plane load of Ecuadorian coffee to resale in the United States. On the way to San Francisco, their plane develops engine trouble and goes down in a field near Finleyville. But there's more than coffee on this plane. Unfortunately for the people of this small town, the coffee is infested with killer tarantulas. And now they're loose.

Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo is another in the long line of nature vs. human movies that were so popular during the 1970s. This one was made for TV so it comes with the limitations of that medium. Namely, other than a scene where a boy is killed, it's all pretty tame. The movie is also poorly paced and, at about 95 minutes, it's about 20 minutes too long. You could cut out a lot of the talk about shipping oranges and no one would miss it. Most of the acting isn't too bad. Claude Akins and Howard Hesseman (using some sort of crazy accent) are probably the best known members of the cast. But, I suppose my biggest problem with Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo is that it's just not fun. I'm all about entertainment and I wasn't entertained. If you want to see a cheesy spider movie that's also entertaining, check out The Giant Spider Invasion. As bad as that movie is, at least it's fun!

Finally, there's a scene near the end of the movie where the characters are scooping up the spiders by the bucket-full. Well, that's just not possible. There weren't anywhere near that many spiders on the plane when it left Ecuador. In the beginning, the movie shows a few stowaway spiders getting on the plane – not enough for an army. Besides, there wouldn't have been room for coffee on the plane for all the spiders.

Spiders On A Plane

[saint_brett · 7/10 · 9 October 2021]

Why is Tom Atkins billed as the star of this movie when he's one of the first to die in it?

Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo, along with The Savage Bees, were notorious TV movies back in the 80's for the 8:30p.m. Slot. (I think they played them every year without fail?)

Movie starts out in Mexico as three dudes bag some goodies, and creepy crawlies, into heshen sacks as some Rocky 3 training music plays. They only shovel a handful of spiders but by movies end there's 100's of them.

Dr. Challis, and Jake The Snake, are our transportation mules importing this goods via some BIG Turkey plane. After bribing corrupt officials, with American Peso's, they smuggle three stowaways on board and one of them looks like the hitchhiker from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Not really.

Can I sign a statutory declaration for a minute, please? Um, hello, tarantulas are not deadly or venomous, okay?

Is this where they got their idea for Snakes on a Plane from?

That hole "cut the wound, slurp the blood out" technique DOES NOT work and it doesn't take this long to fly from Mexico to San Francisco.

I forget if this movie has a memorable scene in it like The Savage Bees with that little Volkswagen covered in frozen bees entering a ball park stadium.

Dr. Challis, and a Gibb brother, have trouble landing the BIG Turkey UFO when suddenly, to add misery to woe, Dr. Challis is devoured by tarantulas and they crash, with vultures circling nearby.

Is that Kevin Arnold's father, Jack?

Not the Wally World family truckster again! How many movies was that vehicle in?

Plane crashes out in the middle of nowhere. Tarantulas move at a snail's pace. So how are they going to commute to the nearest town?

The town's folk gather to aid the fallen spacecraft and Evil Canival comes along, uninvited, and gatecrashes a tank of diesel setting off a chain of events including setting the deadly cargo free. The plane explodes but the spiders don't go up with it for some reason?

Seizing other's misfortunes, a thieving farmer helps himself to a bag of Halloween candy and is bitten in return.

The lead singer from Abba is having a picnic by herself, just waiting to be a Zodiac victim, when also bitten. (That stunt double fare whacked her head on that tree stump.) A school kid plays racquetball with a tarantula, literally, much to the chagrin of her teacher, who looks like George McFly. Guy with a hairy carpet chest denies murdering Abba singer. Spiders continue to roam the countryside in search of a lift to nowhere.

BANANA SPIDERS? Banana Spiders nothing! Then why is it not called Banana Spiders: The Deadly Cargo? They're tarantulas, not Banana Spiders!

The town in this movie looks like where they filmed Dark Night of the Scarecrow.

Their solution to beat the tarantulas is to hold a rock concert fronted by wasps. So they conduct a seance inside a railroad fruit factory hoping to induce mass murder by orange juice; tongs, alcohol, and wasp opera cassette loops. Why go to this extreme? Just use some bugspray.

The guy with the hairy chest falls on a powerline and compromises the whole wasp rock concert cutting the power off.

The ending's a bit of a letdown with not much of a climax.

There weren't that many kills but considering it's a TV movie I guess it was passable.... back in the 80's.

Spiders From A Plane

[AaronCapenBanner · 5/10 · 29 June 2014]

Tom Atkins(Horror film veteran) and Howard Hesseman play two rogue cargo plane pilots who are transporting coffee beans and three illegals from South America to the U.S., who also unknowingly carry stowaways: a group of Ecuadorian killer tarantulas hidden among the coffee bean sacks, who infest a town in California after the plane then crash lands following a storm. The local inhabitants(led by Claude Akins, Pat Hingle, among others) try to kill these spiders before more deaths occur, and prevent them from infecting their Orange crop at the processing plant... TV movie isn't bad, but is still far too contrived and predictable.

Taratulas: The Deadly Movie

[Poseidon-3 · 6 June 2008]

Yet another in the well-worn genre of the man vs nature flick. Here, a couple of ne'er do well smugglers (Hesseman and Atkins) decide to fly several thousand pounds of aged coffee beans out of Ecuador so that they can sell them for a profit in San Francisco. Sadly, the beans are infested with an army of big, furry spiders (which none of the dazed laborers seem to notice as they are shoveling the beans into bags!) When the spiders affect the plane, forcing it to crash into the outskirts of a small California town, the locals find themselves battling for their lives and livelihoods as the spiders kill off anyone who's in the path of their trek to a nearby orange packaging plant. All of the town's officials, including fire chief Akins, mayor Remson, sheriff McPeak and doctor Hingle convene to find out how best to combat them. Leading the way is local airstrip owner Frank who, with his pilot girlfriend Winters, does the most to figure out what is wrong and how best to deal with it. This film follows a tried and true formula, utilized in "It Happened at Lakewood Manor" and many other feature and television films. The plot is sketchy at best and the acting is weak. However, what really makes this one ridiculous is the fact that HUGE spiders seem to crawl around unnoticed (not to mention travel great distances in a short amount of time) and also that virtually every action sequence is handled in the most inept way possible. Rescuers take as long as they can to do anything with the plane and then a speed-freaking buffoon careens into the scene, causing mass chaos. Later, when the people have begun to figure out a way to deal with the little creepers, they go about it in such a needlessly slow and methodical way (while idiotic local extras look on) that it's instantaneously laughable! The tarantulas are definitely creepy for those who dislike that sort of thing, but the presentation here is mostly so banal and ridiculous that it becomes unintentionally funny. A rather staggering assortment of familiar television character actors fills out the cast list, many of who are still finding work today. Frank is cute as a button and approaches his role in this turkey with sincerity, as does Akins. "Trapper John M.D.'s" Seibert turns up as the town rotter, carrying on an affair with McPeak's wife and trying to thwart the extermination effort at the climax. Windust, as McPeak's adulterous wife has one roll down a hill that is screamingly hilarious. Nonetheless, the film tries to be quite serious, even exposing ubiquitous 70's child star Laborteaux to considerable danger. Another young 70's actress North, shows up in a really reprehensibly bad performance as a tarty teenager. The movie is no good, but it remains entertaining on a humorous level. It also features inexplicably jazzy (and ear-splitting) credits music by Mundell Lowe. Stay tuned for the bizarre ending in which the surviving participants' lives are shown carrying on while the closing credits pop up over them.