Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely Fantastic

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

What else stupid thing they think make? The best films not made anymore! Why we bother watch them?

I watched this movie, and at first thought...OK Steve Gutenberg has made a movie..then I watched Lavalantula 2....then went back and started from the beginning.....total fun. The references to the Police Academy and Jurassic Park and various other movies was great. Big budget it is not, top notch effects it has not...but good clean fun...plenty of. Story line is as you might imagine a total flop...the acting was not taken seriously...the actors knew this was a TV movie and had fun with it. The plot center's around earthquakes, lava, and of course monsters...here they are lava breathing spiders. Special effects were..well cheesy and if you don't smile or chuckle with this movie...then you are not a movie fan. I gave it a high rating because it entertained the hell out of me. That's the whole point though right?

A made for TV shlock by Syfy about giant lava spiders. You know what you're in for and you get exactly what you expect.Steve Guttenberg (yes, he's still alive! He was unfrozen from the 80's) is an ex-famous actor, that somehow keeps getting into the TV news every 10 minutes. He encounters giant lava spiders, bad actors and terrible script and has to face them all - will he succeed?The wooden direction and bad effects make the phrase "disaster movie" get more than one meaning. Terrible dialog, bad acting by the entire cast and awful direction - from staring into the wrong direction of the next effect shot, news anchor that is taken straight from a 70's students class of acting, car driving with exaggerated steering motions of the wheel which you haven't seen since the 60's, and up to a cop that stands behind a news reporter and keeps null signaling people who walk on the street. You simply have to watch this one.This movie is wonderfully terrible and it goes straight into the "so bad it's good" list. Watch it with your friends, watch it when you're drunk, watch it when you're unconscious - you'll get a good time. Great stuff!To its credit, the movie is self-aware (there is a hilarious cameo that I won't spoil for you) and it's not a "San Andreas" blockbuster-budget movie that takes itself seriously.Conveniently, the movie is just 79 minutes long, but the last third changes from "so bad it's good" to just "bad" and finally to jumping the shark (or the spider).Believe it or not, there is already a planned sequel.

OK, we've endured SHARKTOPUS vs WHALEWOLF, SHARKNADO and DINOCROC vs SUPERGATOR...so I know we can handle LAVALANTULA. All joking aside, SyFy standards have been raised a little. The Santa Monica Mountains start rockin', rollin' and shaking' as a configuration of ancient volcanoes erupt and spew out from deep underground giant tarantulas. Fire breathing and lava spitting tarantulas. I do find this more awesome than sharks falling from the sky. Humongous tarantulas running amok in Los Angeles disintegrating, maiming and burning people alive.Coming to the rescue is an action star past his prime, Colton West(Steve Guttenberg), who just so happened to have walked off a possible comeback project. On his way home he realizes earthquakes are not the sole reason for all hell breaking loose. Lava fires and rapid moving angry tarantulas are not part of a movie. Colton steps up to be an actual hero and is all over the news channels that remain on the air. Thought to be a has been, West teams with some former co-stars to fight off this strange attack.Have to admit that the special effects are really worth watching and may even leave a better impression than some of the stars: Ralph Garman, Danny Woodburn, Patrick Renna, Noah Hunt, Michael Winslow, Marion Ramsey, Diana Hopper, Jon Edwin Wright and Leslie Easterbrook. The still gorgeous Nia Peeples plays West's wife.