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Pop Culture Flashback:‘Arachnophobia’ Crawls into Theaters (July 18)

“Jaws” scared audiences making them afraid to go back into the water. Years later, Hollywood did it again with spiders. One of the charms of “Arachnophobia” is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s creepy fun.

July 18, 2026

Just like Jaws made people fear going back into the water – any water – Arachnophobia freaked us all out about spiders. The comedic horror film was silly fun and yet it kept us looking over our shoulders for days.

1990: ‘Arachnophobia’ is Creepy Fun

A spider hangs in front of a giant moon — *Arachnophobia (Hollywood Pictures via TVDB)*

Just when you thought it was safe to go…anywhere, Arachnophobia opened in theaters. Although spiders have been the subject of many movies before it, (1955’s Tarantula, 1958’s Earth vs. The Spider, and 1977’s Kingdom of the Spiders), the fear of spiders got its own movie in 1990.

Released as Hollywood Pictures’ first movie, Arachnophobia is a black comedy/horror film directed by Frank Marshall. He had intended the film to be similar in tone to Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. He once said, “People like to be scared but laughing, like a roller coaster. No one wants to be terrified.” What the film ended up as was difficult to describe. Do you market this movie as a comedy or a thriller?

The movie starred Jeff Daniels as a young doctor who moves his family to a small town to set up shop. Ironically, at the same time, a deadly spider hitches a ride into the same town and begins mating with the local spiders. Soon, all hell breaks loose when it is discovered that a huge spider’s nest hangs in his barn. John Goodman provides a lot of laughs as one badass exterminator. The movie continues to make viewers squirm.

Arachnophobia was made before the widespread use of CGI. It is believed that over 300 Avondale spiders from New Zealand received starring roles in the movie. In real life, these critters are huge but are basically pretty harmless.

The movie was a modest hit and still has a 94% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was nominated for five Saturn Awards and won for Best Horror Film and Best Actor (Daniels).

1980: Throwing Stones

Billy Joel‘s Glass Houses, containing “You May Be Right,” “Don’t Ask Me Why” and “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me ”tops US charts.

1976: A Perfect Ten

Nadia Comăneci becomes the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 score at the Olympic Games.

1950: Treasure Island

Disney’s live action film, Treasure Island, which starred Bobby Driscoll and Robert Newton, premiered on this day.

1960 – Brenda Lee is Sorry, Not Sorry

Images of singer Brenda Lee — *(Wikimedia Commons)*

Brenda Lee was only 10 years old when she started her music career. Five years later, on this day in 1960, she earned a #1 hit with the song “I’m Sorry.”

Known as “Little Miss Dynamite,” Lee had her big break at the age of 11 when she met country star Red Foley shortly before a concert and was invited onstage by him to perform Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya.” Four years later Lee had a #4 hit, “Sweet Nothin’s” followed by “I’m Sorry.” Amazingly, Lee earned 27 more top 40 hits during the ‘60’s. After her voice matured, Lee’s popularity dwindled, but the country star still makes appearances and people celebrate her during the holidays with her hit, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”