‘The city is crawling’
Spiders 3D is a 2013 sci-fi horror film about a Soviet space station that crashes into a New York City subway tunnel. A species of venomous spiders is unleashed and soon the arachnids mutate to gigantic proportions and wreak havoc in the city. Also released as just Spiders
The movie was directed by Tibor Takács (My Babysitter’s a Vampire; Killer Rats; Mansquito; Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep; Mega Snake; Ice Spiders; The Gate II: Trespassers; I, Madman; The Gate) from a screenplay co-written with Joseph Farruggia and Dustin Warburton.
The Nu Image production stars Patrick Muldoon (Ice Spiders), Christa Campbell, Pete Lee-Wilson, Sydney Sweeney, Shelly Varod, Jesse Steele and William Hope.
Plot [contains spoilers]:
Debris from a destroyed Soviet space station—where experiments on genetically altered giant spiders were conducted—crashes into a New York City Subway tunnel where Jason Cole works.
During the investigation, Jason’s coworker Jimmy is bitten by something in the dark and dies, and doctors later discover strange insect‑like eggs inside his body.
Authorities reopen the station despite concerns from health official Rachel Cole (Jason Cole’s wife), but soon rats, webs, and bodies are found in the tunnels, prompting a full quarantine and a cover story about a viral outbreak.
A Russian‑aligned scientist, Dr Darnoff, reveals that the spiders originate from alien genes recovered decades earlier, and that Jimmy carried the queen egg. The queen’s webbing could be militarily valuable, and US Army Colonel Jenkins—secretly cooperating with the Russians—plans to secure it at any cost, even killing civilians. Rachel’s report draws attention, and she and her daughter Emily are targeted when the queen egg sample ends up in her possession.
As the spiders grow to enormous size and emerge onto the streets, Jason and Rachel navigate the tunnels to rescue Emily, fighting off attacks while evading the conspirators. Jenkins attempts to capture the queen despite warnings, and she kills Darnoff before pursuing Jason’s family.
Jason distracts the queen, lures her into a subway train, and engineers a fiery crash that destroys her and the nest. He reunites with Rachel and Emily as authorities clean up the aftermath. However a final shot reveals a surviving mutant spider.
Film facts:
The movie was shot in Bulgaria and director Takács had to recreate Manhattan “on a studio backlot that includes several blocks of what looks like Greenwich Village”. In order to make some parts of the film more closely resemble Manhattan, particularly the subway scenes, the director brought in some extra set pieces to help enhance the scenes. The spiders were predominantly created using CGI although Takács also used a three-foot-long soldier-spider claw for some shots.
Choice dialogue:
Jason [Patrick Muldoon]: “This is bullsh*t.”
“Hey ugly! [squashes a spider with forked lift truck] “Oh, that’s nasty.”
Cast and characters:
Patrick Muldoon … Jason
Christa Campbell … Rachel
William Hope … Colonel Jenkins
Sydney Sweeney … Emily
Christian Contreras … Pete
Pete Lee-Wilson … Doctor Darnoff
Jon Mack … Doctor Stella
Atanas Srebrev … Jimmy
Vincenzo Nicoli … Caz
Shelly Varod … Phoebe
Filming locations:
Boyana Film Studios, Sofia, Bulgaria
Trailer:
Free to watch online on YouTube:
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