'Eight-Legged Jaws' comes off the list

I scratched another Saturn Award winner for Best Horror Film off my list of movies to watch earlier today when I re-watched the 1989-1990 winner, “Arachnophobia.” (I’ve yet to figure out why there was a combined award for ’89 and ’90.)
“Arachnophobia,” or as I like to call it “The Eight-Legged Jaws Movie,” is about a small California town that becomes infested by a newly discovered and highly venomous spider from the Amazon. The movie stars Jeff Daniels and John Goodman. Daniels plays a big city doctor who has moved to the small town of Canaima, and Goodman plays a dimwitted exterminator who could pass for the brother of Bill Murray’s groundskeeper character in “Caddy Shack.”
This movie is interesting for a number of reasons. It was released in July 1990 and was the first movie released by Hollywood Pictures. Hollywood Pictures is a division of Disney that was created, so that Disney could release more adult-oriented movies.
The movie is also memorable for the hundreds of ugly, fierce looking spiders that appeared in the film. According to the Internet Movie Database, “the small spiders used in the film were Avondale spiders, a harmless species from New Zealand that were provided by Landcare Research in Auckland. Despite their fierce appearance, this spider is docile member of the crab-spider family and are, in fact, harmless to humans. They were not allowed back in New Zealand for quarantine reasons. The giant "spider" used in the film was a species of a bird-eating tarantula, which attains an 8-inch legspan or more. Those types of tarantula are not easy to handle and can give a nasty bite. The spiders in the film were managed and handled by famed entomologist, Steven R. Kutcher."
The movie’s title, “Arachnophobia,” is a reference to the fear of spiders, which is one of the most common phobias. While my wife may claim that I’m an arachnophobe, I say in my defense that I’m not afraid of them, I just have a healthy respect for them. I dislike them with a passion, but have no qualms about approaching them and “retiring” them with the quickness.
From here, it’s on to 1991 winner, “The Silence of the Lambs.” I’ve seen this movie before, but I’ll re-watch it just for the sake of this little project. I also have a copy of the book (written by Thomas Harris), so maybe this will inspire me to finally take the time to read the famous novel.