The Spider

In the small town of River Falls, teenager Carol Flynn becomes concerned when her father Jack fails to return home the night before her birthday. Fearful that her father may have had an accident, Carol convinces her boyfriend, Mike Simpson, to drive her around the back roads to look for him. Some miles from town, Carol and Mike find a strange, heavy rope stretched across the highway, and nearby, Jack's empty, crashed pickup. Near the truck, Carol finds a small gift box with a bracelet inside and a birthday note from her father. Hoping to calm Carol, Mike suggests that if her father were injured he may have decided to spend the cold night in the nearby caverns, and Carol agrees to try looking there. Inside the caverns, Carol and Mike come across several skeletons and, deeply disturbed, give up their search. On their way back outside, Carol falls off a ledge onto an enormous rope-like web. As Mike pulls Carol to saftey, they hear a strange high-pitched shriek and to their horror, a gigantic spider appears at the top of the web. Panic-stricken, the teenagers flee the cavern and return to town to report their experience to Sheriff Cagle and their science teacher, Mr. Kingman. Although Kingman identifies the rope as heavy spun silk, Cagle remains skeptical about Carol and Mike's story. Under pressure from Kingman, Cagle takes several deputies to examine the site of Jack's accident and, at Kingman's request, orders a local pesticide company to send a tanker filled with DDT to the caverns. Cagle remains doubtful until the group comes across the numerous skeletons inside the cavern. Carol then becomes hysterical when they find a fresh skeleton with remnants of clothing that she recognizes as her father's. When Cagle nearly falls onto the rope-web, he hastily orders the pest control workers to enter the cavern. Attracted by the vibrations of the web, the giant spider appears and attacks one of the deputies. After Cagle and the others fire their guns, which prove useless, the pest control men douse the creature with streams of DDT until it collapses. Later, outside the cave, Carol realizes that she has lost the bracelet from her father, but Kingman refuses to allow her to return inside because of the lingering, lethal fumes. When Cagle recommends sealing the cavern entrance, Kingman requests that the spider's carcass be taken to the high school to be exhibited as an item of great scientific interest. Kingman has the spider's body moved to the high school gymnasium for a brief display, after which it will be transferred to a local university. The next day, Carol remains despondent over the loss of the bracelet and telephones Mike to plead with him to take her to search for it. Although reluctant, Mike asks to borrow his friend Joe's car and takes Carol back to the caverns. Meanwhile, Joe and a small group of his friends, who are part of a rock and roll band, press high school janitor Hugo to allow them inside the gym to rehearse for an upcoming dance. Hugo agrees, and the group's playing attracts several students, who begin dancing. Unknown to everyone, the spider has only been stunned by the pesticide and now, stirred by the music's vibrations, revives and breaks out of the gym, killing Hugo as it flees. The spider goes on a rampage through the streets of River Falls, destroying buildings and attacking people. Kingman warns Cagle, who after discovering that the long distance telephone lines have been damaged by the spider, orders his deputy Dave to drive to the neighboring town of Springdale to request National Guard assistance. Learning that the spider is headed to his own neighborhood, Kingman drives to his home and finds it under attack by the creature. Kingman distracts the spider by ramming it with his car, then drives out of town, prompting the creature to follow. When he returns to town, Kingman finds Dave's body in the street and reports to Cagle that his deputy was unable to summon help. A short time later, a local man fleeing River Falls sees the giant spider going back inside the caverns and returns to inform Cagle. Kingman recommends that they dynamite the cavern entrance shut with the assistance of road foreman Sam Haskel. Unaware of the sipder's rampage, Carol and Mike find the bracelet while wandering through the cavern, then realize that they are lost. Meanwhile in town, Mike's father worries about his son's long absence and telephones Mrs. Flynn, who speculates that Carol may have returned to the caverns. As night falls, Haskel detonates explosives around the mouth of cavern, thus sealing the entrance with rocks. The impacts of the explosions knocks Carol and Mike unconscious. Upon arriving at the cavern, Mr. Simpson and Mrs. Flynn spot Joe's car and hasten to inform Cagle and Kingman that they believe the teenagers are trapped inside the cavern. When Kingman suggests that they dig straight into the top of the mountain to get inside, Haskel agrees. After Mr. Simpson asks Kingman how he plans to eliminate the giant spider, Kingman notices several power lines nearby and suggests that they rig a connection to them to electrocute the creature. As Carol and Mike revive inside the cave, they hear Haskel's hammering and blasting, begin shouting for help, and are terrified when the giant spider appears. In an attempt to escape, Mike leads Carol onto a narrow ledge, but a portion of the ledge collapses, trapping the couple against the wall. Moments later, Haskel and his men finally break through the mountain top, after which Kingman leads the men carrying the electrical lines into the cavern. As the giant spider attempts to lower itself near the ledge on which Carol and Mike are trapped, Kingman finds them and throws Mike one end of the wiring, creating an arc with the wires around the giant spider. Powerful electrical voltage then passes through the creature which finally crumples, falling from its web onto the sharp stalagmites below. After Carol and Mike are rescued, the cavern is sealed shut permanently.