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Li Bingbing and Kelsey Grammer take on a horde of flesh-eating spiders
Guardians Of The Tomb
Dir: Kimble Rendall. Australia-China. 2018. 90 mins
Considering that fear of spiders is so common, it’s surprising that few movies have utilized these panic-inducing creepy crawlies effectively. Frank Marshall’s fondly remembered comic thriller Arachnophobia (1990) arguably remains the king of spider features, with other efforts ranging from the straight-to-video schlock of Spiders (2000) and its sequel to the madcap parody of Eight Legged Freaks (2002). Arachnids now take a central role in Guardians Of The Tomb; a title change from its initial sinister moniker of The Nest signals how Kimble Rendall’s creature feature seeks to ape the balance between action-adventure tropes and mild terror that made the Brendan Fraser iteration of The Mummy (1999) so popular.
Li who maintains a sense of steadfast determination throughout
Assembled in a cut-price, homogenized manner with obvious concessions to various markets, this Chinese-Australian co-production may struggle to lure any particular audience into its web theatrically. Insatiable genre aficionados could, however, help it to spin a moderate profit on VOD.
The hurried set-up finds Jia (Li Bingbing), an Australia-based expert in venomous animals, being approached by biotech corporation CEO Mason (Kelsey Grammer)...