Anyone who dislikes this film has paid no attention to the marketing that's gone with it. A classic example of a film giving exactly what it promises, and nothing more. It promises a campy retelling of the old-mutated-giant-insects-take-over-small-town story from the 1950's with the aid of 21st century CGI effects. And that's exactly what it gives, laughing at itself all the way.

The town is going broke because the mines have given up all they have. There's the town shyster (Rippy) with his get rich schemes when he's the one who's allowed the toxic dumping. The hero with a past (Arquette),whose father owned the mines but who moved away because of heartbreak. The heroine (Wuhrer) he desperately wants who also happens to be the sheriff. And the smart kid who nobody believes until it's too late (a dig is even taken at all those old movie as the hero quietens everybody and says 'For once, lets listen to the kid.')

The local eccentric and spider collector has been feeding his pets insects from the lake polluted with toxic waste. Over the course of the next few weeks, they grow enormous and take over the town.

The desperate townspeople have to hole themselves up in the failed shopping mall on the fateful night to fight them off, the zany lead characters' personalities all coming into comic play until the methane gas the hero warns them all about in the beginning (like we didn't know that wasn't going to solve the problem with a huge explosion) has to save the day.

Everyone has a good time, and the audience should too. Don't expect hard science, or even mild terror. Not played as an all-out comedy, but by nature something to laugh at first and foremost.