Nerdly » ‘Spiders on a Plane’ VOD Review

25th Sep2025

‘Spiders on a Plane’ VOD Review

by Phil Wheat

Stars: Alexandra DeCaluwe, Lauren Budd, Lila Lasso, Gaston Alexander, Jase Rivers, Danielle Scott, Connor Powles, Wayne Dobson, Phillip Hockley, Jenna N. Wilson, Andrew Rolfe, Benjamin Schnau, Jamie Langlands, Nicola Fishwick | Written by Ben Daly | Directed by Ben J. Williams

Spiders on a Plane sees a group of four friends jetting off on holiday, taking on a plane full of deadly venomous spiders, which are being transported by a mad Russian scientist and accidentally released during turbulence, attacking all on board the 747 flight from the UK to Colombia.

As if penning Child’s Play knock-off Rag Doll wasn’t enough, screenwriter Ben Daly – who previously wrote such British genre fare as Toothfairy: Queen of Pain and its sequel Toothfairy 5, as well as Return of Krampus – is back for another film referencing another movie… Maybe Daly’s working through his favourite films and writing new scripts based on them? It feels like it. It also feels like we’ve travelled back in time to 2006, because Spiders on a Plane seems clearly inspired by that year’s Snakes on a Plane. It’s not like we haven’t seen similar “homages” before. Hell, 2006 saw the release of Snakes on a Train too – a mockbuster from The Asylum that feels like the blueprint for this film!

Unlike other films from Jagged Edge Productions, which sometimes purport to be more than “just” a horror movie (though don’t get me wrong, the company has put out some great genre fare with stunning subtext), it really feels like Daly and Williams were looking to make a ridiculous, goofy, horror film rather than anything truly horrific – in much the same way Snakes on a Plane was ridiculous. The premise doesn’t allow for seriousness, no matter how grotesque you try to make the film! Maybe that’s why the first twenty or so minutes focus on a character with diarrhoea?! Thankfully, the poop jokes soon disappear once the titular spiders start their plane-based rampage.

And that rampage comes rather quickly for a Jagged Edge film – their typical long set-up focusing on the characters is abandoned, and we essentially get straight into the action once the plane is in the air. Which I was grateful for, as the cast of characters we do have on board the flight are some of the most obnoxious people I would NEVER want to travel with. Yes, this is one of those movies where you want the cast to die, just so you don’t have to deal with their shitty attitudes and bad behaviour.

I’m not going to lie, once the titular spiders start attacking folk, Spiders on a Plane becomes a LOT of fun, even more so when one grows to ridiculous proportions and starts hacking and slashing passengers with its legs! Of course, the effects are mainly CGI, but that – for once – doesn’t stop the carnage from looking both gruesome and effective. And for those with a fear of spiders will undoubtedly be even more creeped out by the visions of cobweb-covered dead passengers covered in spiders, cause it even creeped me out and I’m not afraid of them!

Eventually, we’re left with a small cadre of survivors who battle through the spiders to get one of them, Corinne (Alexandra DeCaluwe), to the cockpit so she can land the plane! Good job her dad knows how to fly a plane and she can call him for help right? Right. Because that’s exactly what happens! Oh, and did I mention that Corinne is seemingly estranged from her father after her mother’s death? No? Well I should, because the filmmakers seem to think that’s an important part of the plot, given that we spend time, mid-action, mid-terror, mid-trying to land a plane, on a lengthy flashback to Corinne with her parents. It’s a bizarre choice, and one that – I think – was thrown in to try and generate sympathy for at least ONE person in this film!

Eventually we’re left with the four friends we started with, the only survivors of the infestation – including the now eye patch wearing, previously diarrhoea-suffering Zack (Gaston Alexander), who was one of the first victims of the spider attacks, having been bitten in the eye by a spider siting on his contact as he put it in… Those spiders damn sure grew fast given they weren’t visible when jammed into an eye at the start! I specifically mention Zack as what happens to him, shown in a “1 month later” epilogue, is – frankly (and pardon the language) – f*cking hilarious! Proving that Spiders on a Plane was ALWAYS not just another horror movie.