History Film / Arachnophobia

* AllForNothing: Minor example with the much-prized bottle of Château Margaux. After making a RunningGag of keeping it safe at all costs (even having Ross refuse to toss it when he's flinging bottles at The General in a desperate attempt to keep it away from him), neither Ross nor his wife manage to sip a single drop before an earthquake in San Francisco makes them go check if their kids are safe... and then an aftershock spills all of it.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/affiche2_9566.jpg]]

** Also, insects and other bugs breathe through their skin. Only in the distant past was there sufficient oxygen for giant insects to exist.
*** The General is only about the size of a Goliath bird eater, one of the largest known tarantula species, only beat by the huntsman in leg span.

* FamousLastWords:
-> [[spoiler:'''Atherton''']]: Supper time. Come and get it.

* AerosolFlamethrower: Towards the end of the film, Ross uses an aerosol can and a lighter in an attempt to burn down The General. It doesn't work.

** It was very unlucky for Ross that two of patients were bitten by one of deadly spiders shortly after being examined by him.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The county coroner, Milt Briggs. While he's also skeptical about Ross' claims about the spiders, unlike Metcalf and Sheriff Parsons, he does not dismiss him and entirely, and gives the go ahead to give Metcalf an autopsy. When said autopsy DOES reveal that Metcalf was killed by an unknown poison, Briggs immediately gives the go ahead to exhume the bodies of the other victims to further prove Ross' suspicions.

* LovableJock: Coach Beecher and has older children, who welcome Ross and his family, and help him out with fitting into the community and getting patients both before and after Margaret dies.

A previously unknown species of spider is discovered living in an isolated sinkhole within the Venezuelan jungle by entomologist James Atherton (Creator/JulianSands). These spiders operate with a hive mentality and carry an extremely potent venom which kills in seconds. When one of the spiders is accidentally transported to a sleepy California town in the coffin of its first victim and later mates with a common house spider, the hybrid descendants terrorize the town for weeks while the newly-arrived city-mouse family physician Ross Jennings (Creator/JeffDaniels) struggles to make sense of the mysterious deaths. Aiding him is the EccentricExterminator Delbert [=McClintock=], played by Creator/JohnGoodman in one of his more memorable roles. The film was a financial and critical success thanks to its mix of horror and humor.

* BloodFromTheMouth: All victims of the killer spiders are characterized by having a stream of blood from one side of the mouth. This is [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Ross that, upon investigating [[spoiler: Margaret's]] death, he tells Metcalf that one 'does not bite their tongue off' from a mere heart attack.

** A couple watches ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' before being killed by spiders.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Dr. Sam Metcalf is a contrarian, pompous jerkass who screws over Ross, so his death by one of the spiders is a bit karmic.]]

* BodyHorror: The condition of Jerry's corpse after the General drains it of all it’s blood.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: James Atherton's discovery of the Venezuelan spiders leads to Jerry's PlotTriggeringDeath and one of the spiders gets inadvertently transported to California, setting the whole plot in motion.

There was also an MS-DOS game released that was vaguely related to the movie, in which the player took the role of the exterminator.

--> '''Ross:''' Not the Château!

* BrickJoke: A RunningGag of the movie is Ross keeping his bottle of Château Margaux safe. It manages to survive the entire movie... only to get it all spilled by a random earthquake after he moves back to San Francisco at the end of the movie.

** A couple watch ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' before being killed by spiders.

** A couple watch ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' when they are killed by spiders.

* ShoutOut: Delbert's attire is largely inspired by ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}''. The ''MAD Magazine'' parody, ''A Knack For Phobias'', makes the connection explicit.

* GonnaNeedMoreX: Once they discover the Queen's nest, Delbert realizes his homemade insecticide isn't going to be strong enough.