SPIDER ISLAND
***
Directed by Christopher Smith.
Starring Rose Williams, Tim McInnerny, Andy Nyman.
Horror Comedy, UK, 98 Minutes.
Reviewed as part of Tubi FrightFest 2026
It feels like an age since we had our heckles raised by a good old killer spider feature. Certainly nothing as memorable as 1990’s ARACHNOPHOBIA, Frank Marshall’s horror comedy which still remains the benchmark for its crowd pleasing mix of horror and comedy, still impressing with its mix of real spiders and animatronics. Now, close to forty years later, Christ!, we can add Christopher Smith’s SPIDER ISLAND, a fun and breezy genre mixer that occasionally manages to get the skin crawling when it comes to watching a cast of young hunks and hotties fall prey to hundreds of our eight legged friends.
The action takes place on a remote tropical island, home to a brand new hotel resort managed by the two-faced, slimy David, (Andy Nyman). Desperate to get the resort on the map, David has invited a bunch of influencers to experience the luxurious hotel with all it has to offer among its beautiful picturesque location. Among the usual gang of vapid, self-obsessed online celebrities, are a few wrinkles mainly the environmentally minded Ed (played by Justin Daniels Anene, most recently seen in Smith’s BBC series VIDEO NASTY) and the drug addled, chemical experimentalist Mongoose, or Mong to his many followers, played by DETECTORISTS Divian Ladwa, who steals the film with his hilarious performance. Chief among these outliers is Rose WIlliams heroine Clara, an environmental journalist whose concerns for the island run deep due to her family history, where her father, one time thespian Curtis (McInnerny) remains, blissed out in an alcoholic haze running his small time boat hire company.
There are a whole host of other characters here packed into this ninety-five minute film and Smith (along with screenwriters Ben Jacques, Christopher Jolley and comedy writer/horror novelist David Quantick) make a fine job of fleshing them out beyond the usual stereotypes. Taking its time in setting them in place of the spider's murderous path, the film stands out as Smith’s funniest film since 2006’s SEVERANCE. When the insect mayhem kicks in however, the film feels slightly toothless and in more than one instance plays its cards far too safely.
This can be forgiven, when the film is as funny as it is. Nyman has a ball as the treacherous, angry little manager while McInnerney also shines with his own hilarious turn, which becomes more affecting as the film goes on. Williams as the protagonist has a hard time matching up to these more showy turns with her slim, underwritten part but is appealing enough. Perhaps the film's biggest drawback are the spiders themselves. Mainly because the vast majority of them are digital creations, the threat never feels immediate or scary at any time. Even the most easily shaken arachnophobes may have a hard time getting scared here, but at the least they can laugh along just as much as the rest of us with this fun, breezy creature feature.
Iain MacLeod