David Romig

Tarantulas and Other Conveniences (1999) is one of those flicks that just kinda sneaks up on you, you know? It’s set smack dab in the middle of small-town suburbia, where life’s just crawling along—until it isn’t. The story centers around a dude named Mark, who’s honestly just trying to get through his boring day job and dodge the endless parade of neighborhood drama. Of course, things take a seriously weird turn when a bunch of tarantulas suddenly show up, turning everyone’s perfectly ordinary lives upside-down. Mark’s got enough on his plate—his girlfriend is threatening to leave him, his boss keeps piling on the work, and now he’s got these eight-legged nightmares popping up in his laundry and coffee mug. It’s not just about the spiders, though. The movie uses all this chaos to dig into what people try to hide beneath the surface. Everyone’s got secrets, and those secrets are way more tangled than any spider web. Honestly, the vibe is a mix between dark comedy and low-key horror, with some moments that are just plain bizarre. The neighbors start acting weird, alliances form, and before you know it, the whole block’s at each other’s throats over the dumbest stuff. But under all the madness, it’s really about facing your own mess instead of blaming the world—or, you know, the spiders. By the end, you’re left wondering if the real monsters are the ones with eight legs, or the ones living right next door.