Kingdom of the Spiders

Kingdom of the Spiders

Year: 1977

Runtime: 97 mins

Language: English

Director: John "Bud" Cardos

HorrorHorror

Veterinarian Rack Hansen investigates a string of mysterious farm animal deaths, only to discover that his town sits directly in the path of massive migrating tarantula hordes. Before he can respond, killer spiders flood the streets, forcing a handful of terrified townspeople to shelter in a secluded hotel as the infestation spreads.

Kingdom of the Spiders (1977) – Spoiler-Free Movie Summary & Plot Overview

Get a spoiler-free look at Kingdom of the Spiders (1977) with a clear plot overview that covers the setting, main characters, and story premise—without revealing key twists or the ending. Perfect for deciding if this film is your next watch.

In the remote stretches of Arizona’s Verde Valley, a quiet farming community lives under endless skies, vast horizons, and an uneasy stillness that hints at something lurking just beyond sight. The landscape, with its sun‑baked mesas and wind‑whipped scrub, feels both open and claustrophobic, a place where nature’s rhythms are normally predictable—until they aren’t.

When a prized calf collapses and dies on a local ranch, the unsettling mystery lands on the desk of Dr. Robert “Rack” Hansen, a pragmatic veterinarian whose daily routine revolves around diagnosing the ordinary ailments of livestock. The strange circumstances of the animal’s demise pull him into a web of questions that quickly outgrow the usual farmyard concerns, hinting at a deeper, unseen threat hovering over the valley.

Enter Diane Ashley, an arachnologist whose arrival brings a stark contrast of scientific curiosity and urgent alarm. She challenges Hansen’s skepticism with evidence that the deaths are linked to spider venom, forcing the two professionals to bridge their disparate worlds—medicine and entomology—while the town’s ordinary pace begins to sputter under an invisible pressure. Their uneasy partnership is set against the backdrop of a close‑knit community that is both skeptical of outsiders and terrified at the prospect of an unknown menace.

As whispers of migrating tarantula hordes spread, the atmosphere shifts from rural calm to mounting dread. The townspeople, aware of an impending onslaught, find themselves scrambling for safety, their familiar landmarks turning into potential refuges. The film balances a tense, almost palpable suspense with moments of dry humor and human resilience, painting a portrait of ordinary people confronting an extraordinary natural horror. The stage is set for a showdown between science, survival instinct, and the relentless march of creatures that have long lived in the shadows of the desert.

Last Updated: December 04, 2025 at 18:04

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Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Claustrophobic creature siege movies like Kingdom of the Spiders

Stories of desperate survivors trapped by a relentless natural threat.If you liked the tense, confined horror of Kingdom of the Spiders, you'll find more movies here with similar stories. This collection features films about small groups under siege by monstrous forces, where the dwindling safety of a barricaded location creates intense, claustrophobic dread.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative typically begins with an isolated community facing a mysterious threat that quickly escalates. Survivors barricade themselves in a stronghold, but the creatures are relentless, breaching defenses and picking people off one by one. The story focuses on the psychological strain of confinement under constant threat of attack.

Why These Movies?

Movies in this thread share a core structure of a small-scale siege against a natural or monstrous antagonist. They prioritize a tense, anxious mood and a steady pace that escalates the threat, culminating in stories where human ingenuity often fails against primal, overwhelming force.

Bleak eco-horror and nature revenge movies like Kingdom of the Spiders

Bleak tales where the natural world violently reclaims its dominance.For viewers who enjoyed the ecological disaster and bleak ending of Kingdom of the Spiders, this list features similar movies. Discover films where nature runs amok, presenting an unstoppable threat that leads to a downbeat conclusion, emphasizing the power of the natural world.

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Narrative Summary

These narratives often start with a scientific investigation into strange phenomena, revealing a large-scale ecological threat. Conventional solutions fail as the threat multiplies, leading to widespread chaos and a finale where nature achieves a decisive, often total, victory over human civilization.

Why These Movies?

These films are united by their central theme of nature as an antagonist and their consistently bleak outlook. They share a heavy emotional weight, a tense tone, and an ending that underscores the insignificance of human efforts against planetary-scale forces.

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Kingdom of the Spiders Summary

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Kingdom of the Spiders Summary

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Kingdom of the Spiders Timeline

Characters, Settings & Themes in Kingdom of the Spiders

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Characters, Settings & Themes in Kingdom of the Spiders

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