Big Ass Spider! (2013) Worth Watching?

A giant alien mutated spider escapes from a military lab and rampages across the city of Los Angeles. It is up to one clever exterminator and a security guard sidekick to kill the creature before the entire city is destroyed.

Big Ass Spider! was directed by Mike Mendez (known for Don’t Kill It, The Gravedancers, Lavalantula) and stars Greg Grunberg (from Hollow Man), Lombardo Boyar, Clare Kramer (from The Gravedancers), Ray Wise (bio is too big, this guy is a legend), and there is also a cameo from the President & Co-Founder of Troma Entertainment Lloyd Kaufman.

10 stories high and very hungry.

First, let us start with explaining the plot of the movie. There is a Big Ass Spider running rampage in the city of Los Angeles. Good, now that we covered the basics we will talk what makes this B-Horror Comedy better than the rest.

Our main character Alex (Greg Grunberg) is a charismatic pest exterminator. After an intervention at his frequent client (played by Lin Shaye), Alex gets bit by a Brown recluse spider and has to go to the Emergency room and this is where all the fun starts.

A security guard meets up with Alex and together they are going to try and stop the 8 legged menace. Not going to spoil anything but we could say that the security guard is for Alex what Robin is to the Batman. The acting is good, the lines are funny and all the scenes feel fluid and not forced. This really surprised me because most of the time all the lines in cheesy B-Horror films feel forced and actors are trying too hard. If I had to compare the style, I would say Big Ass Spider is similar to Zombeavers and this is the main reason these films get big attention.

CGI is another big plus in the Big Ass Spider. Sure, it is not on par with the big budget films but it is pretty decent and sometimes I could not really tell if it was CGI or a real giant spider (lol, just kidding on this one), but trust me when I say that the effect were good and you will be pleasantly surprised.

There are hundreds of over the top horror comedies out there but the chemistry between the actors is what it makes them enjoyable and worth watching (a good monster is also important). To make this statement a bit clearer let us look at Lavalantula (2015) also directed by Mike Mendez. It has a good cast, there are good special effects and we also have giant fire spitting tarantulas AKA Lavalantulas, but for me there was no great interactions between the cast and the film failed at what it was supposed to achieve which is why Big Ass Spider is still the reigning champion when it comes to spider horror.