Bloodwank Spiders was an unexpected delight, especially coming from Nu Image, producers of the dire Octopus movies. Nobody could have expected a sequel to bottle the same lightning, and Spiders 2 doesn't but it is still surprisingly fun stuff. It takes a serious minded approach to its shenanigans and even opts for a first half of mystery and paranoia before going for the straightforward creature feature route, an approach which is generally interesting if not entirely successful. The story centres on Alexandra and Jason, lost at sea after investigating an abandoned boat when a storm hits. They get picked up by a cargo ship wherein everybody seems friendly enough, but Jason has his suspicions and fair play to the guy, there are strange goings on afoot. The trouble with going down the suspense alleyway is that the film pretty much gives itself away with the title, and for anyone who couldn't guess the general impetus of the film an early scene shows it off. This means that for all the mystery we know what's going to happen and so instead of being caught in the same mystery as the protagonists we basically watch them play catch-up. Luckily the actors are up to the task of sustaining interest, Greg Cromer showing mounting fear and bewilderment as Jason, Stephanie Niznik sympathetic as the at first stolid and sceptical but ultimately tough and heroic Alexandra, while the best show is put on by a glowering, happily hammy Richard Moll as the nefarious Dr. Grbac. The crew are generally well realised as well, a salty, shifty bunch led by the able Daniel Quinn as their ostensible nice guy leader. The perfomers keep things ticking until the film explodes and fortunately things are worth the wait. A couple of rather nasty gore scenes satisfy the meaner urges, and when the CGI spiders get clustering their rampage is rather good fun, daft but lively. Director Sam Firstenberg is something of a low budget action regular and he handles things with a certain chintzy flair, conjuring excitement out of unpromising effects and the cramped location. Its a shame the film doesn't get moving earlier though, leaving the big excitement to the final half hour may work in a big budget film where the makers can really go wild but here I think some more sustained action would have been better. Also, the writing has its share of blips, gaps and contrivances that wouldn't usually bother me a whit, were it not for the serious minded approach. Still, by and large I liked this one, its pretty sound as its genre goes, has a few gnarly moments and some engaging craziness. Check it out if it sounds like your cup of tea is my advice.

BA_Harrison I really don't understand the low score Spiders 2 has here on IMDb: whilst an over-ambitious script combined with obvious budgetary limitations mean that the film suffers from some pretty awful CGI effects (particularly in its closing moments), it still proves to be very entertaining stuff.Part mad scientist flick and part big bug B-movie, this 'sequel' (in name only) to the surprisingly fun Spiders offers a pretty inventive (although logic-free) plot, plenty of gruesome effects, and lots of general silliness that fans of low-budget horror should lap up. And for a Nu-Image film made in Bulgaria, you can't really ask for much more than that, can you?Stephanie Niznik and Greg Cromer play Alexandra and Jason, a married couple who wind up being rescued by the crew of a dilapidated cargo ship after their yacht is capsized during a storm. However, they soon discover that they are not quite as lucky as they first think: the ship is being used as a floating laboratory for genetic experiments, and the ship's evil doctor has Jason lined up to be a host for one of his mutant spider eggs...With the director pacing his film carefully, obviously saving most of the film's budget for the FX-laden action at the climax, Spiders 2 may disappoint those looking for non-stop creepy-crawly horror. Fortunately, a great collection of well realised characters (Richard Moll as mad Dr. Grbac gives a wonderfully camp performance, and full marks go to the slimy looking bunch who play the ship's motley crew) and an enjoyably daft script ensure that the film holds one's attention until the arachnids finally go on the rampage.6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

theenoid Unless you are "brain-dead" and can't hold into account previous situations or statements, you will come to the conclusion that this movie wasn't thought out. In fact, it was played out as if it was filmed by a 6 year old. There are several errors and/or stupid planned out scenes. I'll just name a couple. They make it clear that it was an empty tanker just going around in circles, but when it sank it shows close to full number of containers sitting on the deck. Spiders that sound like elephants!? Umm, OK.. A HUGE spider, 1/4 th the size of the boat wasn't noticed until the ending. As the boat sank, nose first and rear last, yet the HUGE Spider now found an airtight container that was underwater, somehow managed to squeeze inside it and close the door. Just so that later the air inside it caused the container to rise to the surface right under the feet of the ones being rescued. Lame.

Mikew3001 OK, there are some mad scientists entering a ship and forcing the crew and some more good scientists to experiment with spiders until they become large, blown-up rubber monsters running amok and diminishing the crew one by one until the final showdown.What could have been a horror classic in 1931 and a trash pearl in 1961 is just a joke in 2001. You wonder how producers can do such a movie in this decade... I really like all kind of trash movies like this, but the story is to thin, the acting just wooden, with only non-screaming heroine Stephanie Niznik showing some acting abilities and sex appeal, and a really dull direction.The worst of this movie with the great title "Spiders 2" (where have been the first spiders?) is the lack of special effect. While it's rather easy to produce great special effect with today's computer technology, you can see very special effects that where found somewhere beyond the sea probably... a stupidly looking rubber spider that has already been fighting against your Action Man figures back in the seventies, enlarged and dubbed over some ocean pictures... nonsense explosions, unrealistic and really stupid stunts, and smaller or bigger plastic spiders being dragged and pushed all around the burning ship.You wonder if the actors and crew were on dope all the time, or if they had great fun and a big laugh doing this picture... this could be a logical explanation for this baddie that otherwise has no real reason to exist, except if you're looking for another cheap movie for a retro trash film night with your friends a some cans of lager beer, next to, let's say, Van Damme's "The Order" and "Maura's Sexual Fantasies"... in fact, all these three movies were running on German TV last weekend. Have fun!