The beauty of nature run amok films from yesteryear was in their true sincerity to an apparent realproblem or threat that society was supposedly blind to. These films attempted to inform us of a legitimate threat that could possibly strike at any moment, and if we weren't careful it most certainly would. From The Swarm to Kingdom of the Spiders, these films were designed as wake up calls to humanity and if we didn't act on them, then we could (and probably would) ultimately be in store for a rude awakening.

Kingdom of the Spiders stars William Shatner as "Rack" a small town veterinarian with a huge town problem. Well, actually about a million little eight legged problems to be exact. Apparently the local spiders are pissed because the use of pesticides have killed off their only food supply. It starts out innocent enough as the spiders just attack cattle, devastating local farmer Walter Colby (Woody Strode). Soon enough though the cattle aren't enough as the spiders exact their revenge on the entire town and no one is safe including Rack's sister in law, daughter and a visiting entomologist played by Tiffany Bolling. These spiders are no dummies as they miraculously trap towns people in a local cabin and meticulously take down small planes. If this movie doesn't give you the creepy- crawly-hebbie-jeebies, then you must be already dead. And who could ever forget the final shocking frames of Kingdom? It's pure genius (well, almost) and quite simply unforgettable.

I probably haven't seen Kingdom of the Spiders in about 20 years, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the film holds up just as well today as it did when I was just a kid looking for a good scare. There are no computer effects here folks, just lots of spiders and mostly real spiders at that. Yes there are many moments that play off as pure camp, and today's jaded audience could possibly find the film a bit slow and tedious at times, but I say nuts to them! The final 40-minutes of this incredible spider invasion had me scratching and itching so much I could have sworn that something was actually crawling on me. I found the film to be paced relatively well with fine performances all around. There was a serious amount of character development that I just hadn't remembered existing, and it turns out that we truly do care about these characters while we whole heatedly despise the evil spiders.

There are a few solid elements that help to make Kingdom of the Spiders such a blazing success. Real people, real problems (well sorta) and most importantly, real spiders! What kills me about other films of this ilk (Arachnophobia anyone?) is that there aren't enough real spiders to pose a real threat to the viewer. In laymen's terms, these films usually just ain't creepy enough! Well, there is certainly no shortage of the creepy-crawlies in Kingdom, they are everywhere! When I see a spider invasion flick I wanna see lots of hairy-nasty-spiders, and Kingdom does not disappoint in this department. These bastards crawl on automobiles, cows, planes (as mentioned previously), People (kids and adults), you name it and they're there!

I don't remember if Kingdom ever actually received a theatrical exhibition (many claim it did). I always thought of the film as made for TV fare. Upon closer inspection, there are quite a few gruesome bits and a brief glimpse of a female breast that may have made this film a bit strong (even for 70's TV). The only reason I bring this up is because of the debate over the films original aspect ratio, which brings us to a new and relative paragraph.

Kingdom of the Spiders is presented as a budget priced full frame DVD from Goodtimes so you pretty much get exactly what you pay for. The image looks relatively sharp, with healthy doses of grain, film dirt, scratches and other forms of print damage that seems to creep up from time to time. Some scenes do much better than others and I have to admit that considering the price of the DVD, it wasn't too much of a disappointment. Colors are a bit faded in some scenes and pretty lively in others. Luckily, there was really no evidence of artifacting. Yeah, the film could have looked better, but I feel comfortable in saying that this is probably the best the film has ever looked. Framing looked fairly comfortable, I have no idea what the original aspect ratio of the film is. There was plenty of headroom, so if Kingdom did indeed receive theatrical exhibition, I'd be willing to wager that it was projected with a matte to achieve a 1.85:1 ratio. Bottom line, I seriously doubt we're missing any information in this full frame transfer.

Audio is presented in a mono mix, and what can I say except that it's certainly mono (70's mono to boot). Audio is fine with fairly clear dialogue and minimal to no distortion.

Once again, this is a budget priced DVD and in this instance budget priced = bare bones. Do you consider chapter selections and/or a GoodTimes logo before the film an extra? Well, there you have it then.

In my humble opinion, Kingdom of the Spiders kicks the ass of any other spider invasion film ever made. Most retailers are selling this disc for about 7 or 8 bucks, so if you're a fan you'd be stupid to not pick it up at that price. If you haven't had the pleasure of Kingdom yet, do yourself a favor and give it a once over. Kingdom is a classic of mammoth proportions, and I'm pleased to finally have it on DVD. Until someone gets off of their ass and delivers us a full blown special edition, well, this one will have to do. From what I've seen, it'll do just fine for the time being.