Arachnophobia 1990

Janet Maslin, New York Times: That sound you hear in the background is the ''ugh!'' heard round the world. Luckily, ''Arachnophobia'' will also be generating its share of boisterous, nervous laughter. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: It gives you the willies in a cheery, presentable way. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: First-time director Frank Marshall has long been Steven Spielberg's producer, and he's learned the master's lessons well. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: This is the kind of movie where you squirm out of enjoyment, not terror, and it's probably going to be popular with younger audiences - it doesn't pound you over the head with violence. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: Designed to reduce the audience to a squirming mass, the film yields plenty of grisly pleasures. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: Frank Marshall's sophisticated feature directing debut never indulges in ultimate gross-out effects and carefully chooses both its victims and its means of depicting their dispatch. Read more

Joe Brown, Washington Post: It's a one-joke movie, a funhouse ride, the cinematic equivalent of having a rubber spider thrown in your lap. But it doesn't matter if you reject the wispy script or the plot, which has as much substance as a spider's web; you'll jump every time. Read more

Rita Kempley, Washington Post: Frank Marshall, a constant Spielberg collaborator, makes his directorial debut in this genial horror movie, a sweet infestation that creeps and crawls but wouldn't scare anybody. Read more