BIG ASS SPIDER! Crawling To U.S. Theaters In October

Creature feature Big Ass Spider! will be crawling into select U.S. theaters on October 18. Directed by Mike Mendez, the horror-comedy -- with the emphasis firmly on comedy -- had its world premiere at SXSW earlier this year.

I will admit: I had an adult beverage or two during the movie, and I believe many members of the audience at the midnight screening did, too. Still, it's a fun little b-movie, and a good one to enjoy with friends. From my review:

Big Ass Spider! has fun with the idea of a giant spider terrorizing Los Angeles, mostly by centering the film around the unlikely heroic duo of expert exterminator Alex Mathes (Greg Grunberg) and security guard Jose Ramos (Lombardo Boyar). ... What differentiates the movie from its cheap SyFy Channel, basic cable television counterparts is that director Mike Mendez, who also served as editor, keeps the action clipping along faster than the giant spider can munch its way through the beleagured citizens of Los Angeles. The visual effects, low-budget though they may be, are surprisingly effective, and the design of the spider itself is clever and distinctive. Gregory Gieras' script covers all the bases and inserts plenty of one-liners that are needed for this kind of self-aware, lighthearted horror picture.

The comic pairing of Grunberg and Boyar also works wonders. As an exterminator and a security guard, they mock themselves mercilessly, and their breezy style matches the tone of the movie as a whole, in which mirth and mayhem are equal partners.

Updated: Epic Pictures Releasing is handling distribution.