Horror Movie Review: Spidarlings (2016)

A two-hour British punk rock horror musical distributed by Troma, Spidarlings is one of the more unique & fun ideas to come out of the genre in quite a while. It’s ambitious & extremely creative resulting in a well put together movie.

Spidarlings is the story of lesbian lovers Eden (Sophia Disgrace) and Matilda (Rahel Kapsaski). A couple who are struggling to make ends meet. Matilda works at a local strip joint/gentleman’s club (Juicy Girls) while Eden looks after the house they live in All while trying to avoid their landlord who wants his rent. Two years worth of rent!

We follow their journey as they try & drag themselves out of the mess they are in alongside a wacky cast of characters. Cue musical mayhem & a certain level of grittiness. One that gets even weirder with the arrival of the pet spider, Rainer.

Blending several genres to create an eye-opening & memorable watch. Spidarlings’ on the nose view of modern broken Britain with the added unique flavour of many of its inhabitants is very smart. It’s lengthy run-time flies by in blur of grimy glamour. That will see you humming the songs long after it has finished.

Spidarlings does a great job of bringing the punk rock scene to life & making it relevant to what we’re watching. The real-life social issues have impact but still have plenty of tongue in cheek humour to make them not bog down the entertainment. References to housing, job issues & commercialisation is made more palatable thanks to pithy musical numbers. Songs that always raise a smile & the occasional chuckle.

Visually the film has a rough & raw feel but it fits the tone of the movie. The added surreal imagery that makes up certain scenes & the use of fun animation to tell some of the more ‘complicated’ plot points adds layers to an already satisfying watch.

The cast are mostly great. The two leads (Disgrace & Kapsaski) are both believable & endearing to watch. Their relationship is what drives the movie towards it’s shocking & uncomfortable (especially if you’re not a fan of spiders) conclusion.

The rest are an eclectic bunch that light up the screen whenever they show up. Some of the cheesy dialogue & performances are expected as this is a low-budget offering but it doesn’t harm the movie.

Spidarlings embodies the Troma spirit, it feels like a Troma movie but one with a more effort put it. The wackiness of the plot, the unique characters & trashiness of the production results in a very entertaining movie.