Spitting spider Tiger Wolf spider Alternate credits Alternate beginning The alternate beginning is an extended version in which Harlan does a broadcast promoting the mall after which a worker at the mall sees Wade having the toxic waste put in the basement. Alternate ending In the alternate ending after the mines are blown up, the townsfolk walk down a road to get help. They meet up with Pete and Harlan who were walking through the desert. Pete trying to convince Harlan the spiders were not aliens. Afterward, Sam and Chris kiss as the scene ends. Release The teaser trailer debuted in October 2001 attached to Thirteen Ghosts, Scooby-Doo and Queen of the Damned. The film was originally going to be released on March 15, but the date was moved because of the competition of Fox’s family friendly film Ice Age. Reception On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 48% based on reviews from 145 critics, with an average rating of 5.44/10. The site's consensus states: "This homage to the B-movies of the '50s has a promising first half, but runs out of ideas in the second". On Metacritic the film has a score of 53% based on reviews from 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B−" on scale of A to F. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3 out of 4 and wrote: "Has laughs, thrills, wit and scary monsters, and is one of those goofy movies like Critters that kids itself and gets away with it." Video game A video game adaptation titled Eight Legged Freaks: Let the Squashing Begin was also released in 2002 for PC and Mac. Cancelled sequel On January 5, 2003, the movie news website Moviehole reported that Eight Legged Freaks 2 was in development, but no additional information has come forth since then. Home Media Eight Legged Freaks was released on VHS and on DVD in both widescreen and fullscreen edition formats in October 2002. Shout! Factory released the film on Blu-ray for the first time on July 20, 2021. References External links 2002 films 2002 comedy horror films 2002 science fiction films 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2000s monster movies 2000s science fiction comedy films 2000s science fiction horror films American comedy horror films American monster movies American natural horror films American science fiction comedy films