[Inspector Abberline]

Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)

If the creepy crawly spiders do not get your hairs standing on end then Dorsey Burnette singing the theme tune Peaceful Verde Valley,will have you digging out that ear worm with a rusty trowel.John "Bud" Cardos gives what is probably his best directorial effort ( and lets be honest it hasn't much competition) about a town called Verde Valley,which is slowly being taking over by tarantulas or hairy pipe cleaners,depending on which you find the most horrifying.But never fear because Shatner is here as Dr. Robert "Rack" Hansen the local veterinarian who struts around town like an extra from Brokeback Mountain.Then there is poor old Walter Colby (Woody Strode) whose prize cow has been bitten to death by the feisty arachnoids,which means he will not be winning best of breed at the local fair this year,the cow that is not Woody Strode .But in comes the very nice Tiffany Bolling as Diane Ashley as an arachnologist who identifies the poison as spider venom and so has to convince the local towns folk that they are all in danger,of course that stick in the mud Mayor Connors (why is it always the Mayor that's never believes anything anyone tells them) does not believe it and will not cancel the towns festivities.Its all rather silly and frothy and the only thing more menacing than a a bunch of spiders is Shatners hair piece looming large.But I have to admit that the most of the spiders scenes are pretty effective and a couple of times when bodies pop up cocooned in the spiders web I did check under the chair and over my shoulder just in case I had some hairy visitors by my side.William Shatner while not the greatest of actors is never dull and does always put plenty of energy into his rolls,its also good seeing Woody Strode doing his thing also and Tiffany Bolling is if nothing else good on the eyes.I enjoy Kingdom of the Spiders its entertaining and fun and a good companion to The Giant Spider Invasion.