Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (1977)

Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (1977)

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The Deadly Cargo - Tarantulas
Tarantulas

Tagline(s):	Terror Has 8 Legs.
	Its Unknown Cargo: Hundreds of Deadly Tarantulas.

Nomination Year: 2025

SYNOPSIS:

A couple of shady operators smuggle tons of coffee beans (and some illegal aliens) from South America to California. They're forced to crash-land in a small orange-producing town. What they didn't know until too late: The beans were infested with tons and tons of deadly taran...okay, well, technically they're identified later as Brazlian Wandering Spiders, but I guess Brazilian Wandering Spiders: The Deadly Cargo doesn't roll off the tongue.

Of course the spiders descend upon the town and people start to die. Of course, the greedy mayor is more concerned about his lucrative orange crop than the safety of his citizens. And of course Sheriff Lobo *cough* I mean Fire Chief Bert Springer comes up with a cockamamie plan to save the town AND their stupid oranges!

It's one unlikely event after another, but in the end...somehow...every last spider is dispatched and the orange crop is saved. Which is the most unlikeliest event of all.

Bryan Cassidy

Smithee Award Nominations

Oblivious
Neuropathy? Or Stupidity? One of the teachers at the School for Autistic Youngsters must have something wrong with her own nervous system, since she asks her lover Rich to get the radio (and somehow doesn't notice him leave), then thinks the tickling in her feet is Rich being frisky. Nope. It's a spider. It bites her. She keels over dead, rolls down the hill, and SMACKS her head into a tree.

Acting Appropriately Stupid
Everyone in This Town Is a Danger to Himself and Others! Despite Bert's best efforts as the only person in town with an IQ over 75, people insist on smoking near the fuel leak from the downed plane. Or not caring to keep the civilians back. Or driving their motorcycles right into the gas-filled trench and blowing everything to hell!

Directors

Director	Claim to Fame
Stuart Hagmann	Directed The Strawberry Statement, which won an award. Other than that, helmed She Lives!, Believe in Me, and a few paltry TV episodes (e.g., "Mannix" and "Mission: Impossible").

Cast

Actor	Character	Claim to Fame
Claude Akins	Bert Springer	The famous Sheriff Lobo, this ubiquitous heavy-set, wavy-haired, deep-voiced actor's career started in an uncredited performance in 1953's From Here to Eternity until Det. Lucky Douglas in Twisted Fear in 1994, the year of his death. He was in Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Rio Bravo, The Caine Mutiny and so much more.
Charles Frank	Joe Harmon	Scott Carpenter in The Right Stuff; Stanley Beck on "Filthy Rich"; Dr. Jeff Martin on "All My Children"; and Jack Warren on "Emerald Point N.A.S."
Deborah Winters	Cindy Beck	Janice Henry on "The Winds of War"; Annie Strayton in Behind the Mask; Erica Herzenstiel in Kotch.
Bert Remsen	Mayor Douglas	Hefty guy who played in Maverick, Code of Silence, The Bodyguard, and Dick Tracy.
Sandy McPeak	Chief Beasley	Orion Hawk on "Days of Our Lives"; Captain Braddock on "Blue Thunder"; did a lot of small-to-medium parts on old TV, including as a henchman on "Batman."
Pat Hingle	Doc Hodgins	Real name is "Martin Patterson Hingle." Played Commissioner Gordon in 1989's Batman; Hendershot in Maximum Overdrive; Horace the Bartender in The Quick and the Dead; and Judge Fenton in Hang 'Em High. And General Luft in Muppets from Space. Long, prolific career.
Tom Atkins	Buddy	A horror/Smithee-film actor goldmine. He's been in Halloween III: Season of the Witch, The Fog, My Bloody Valentine, Maniac Cop, and many, many others.
Howard Hesseman	Fred	Best known for his role as Dr. Johnny Fever on "WKRP in Cincinnati," he's had a long and prolific career. Charlie Moore on "Head of the Class"; Pete Lassard in Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment; Dr. Louis Faraday in Flight of the Navigator. But to me, he will always be: High-class pimp "Smooth" Walker in Doctor Detroit.


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