Itsy Bitsy


Itsy Bitsy is a 2019 American horror film directed by Micah Gallo, starring Bruce Davison, Elizabeth Roberts, Arman Darbo, and Chloe Perrin, and featuring Denise Crosby, Eileen Dietz, and Matty Cardarople. It centers on a family, who moves into an old, secluded mansion where they are stalked by an ancient entity that takes the form of a giant spider. The film itself was inspired by the poem The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and was released in the United States on August 30, 2019, by Shout! Studios, and it has received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Treasure hunter Ahkeeba slaughters a tribe of natives in order to steal the fabled ‘Black Egg of Maa-Kalaratri.’ Ahkeeba presents the relic to ailing artifact collector Walter Clark, explaining that he took revenge against the tribe for killing Walter’s wife Maggie, who raised Ahkeeba like a son. Walter counters that Maggie died from malaria and disappointedly dismisses Ahkeeba due to his murderous action.
Struggling single mother Kara Spencer moves her two children into a back house on Walter’s property to become Walter’s live-in nurse. Kara’s young son Jesse expresses his displeasure over leaving New York. Jesse’s little sister Cambria befriends a stray cat she names Mister Whiskers.
Returning to the house, Ahkeeba sneaks into Walter’s office and smashes the relic out of spite. A large prehistoric spider emerges from the remains of the egg and bites Ahkeeba, who flees the house and scares Kara in the process. Soon after, Ahkeeba succumbs to venom infection and dies after crashing his van. Later, Jesse sneaks into Walter’s house and takes a carved figurine from Walter’s collection before Walter asks the boy to leave.
Kara remains haunted by visions of her son Stevie, who died in a car accident where she was the driver. Kara steals Walter’s oxycontin and begins taking it to cope with her anxiety. Meanwhile, the spider hides away in Kara's attic, eventually killing the stray cat, and begins to stalk Cambria. Kara has a nervous breakdown in a diner after suffering another hallucination of her dead son, and is comforted by Sheriff Jane Dunne. Kara confides in Jane that she blames herself for Stevie's death, resulting in a failed marriage, while Jane realises that Kara is taking drugs.
Jesse returns the stolen figurine to Walter and apologizes. Jesse admits that he hoped to get his mother fired because he is angry about the family’s move. Walter forgives Jesse, and invites him to help repair the smashed relic. While working, he tells Jesse the legend of Maa-Kalaratri, an ancient spider goddess who became vengeful when people stopped worshipping her. Walter explains Maa-Kalaratri destroyed a village and stole the chief’s child; to appease her, the tribe began sacrificing their babies as blood offerings. Up in the attic, the spider sheds its exoskeleton and hides its egg sac inside a suitcase.
Left alone in the back house, Cambria searches the attic for the stray cat. The spider catches Cambria by surprise by jumping on the attic hatch and knocking her off the ladder to the floor. Kara scolds Jesse for failing to watch his sister, leading to an argument about responsibility in which Jesse blames his mother for being neglectful. Walter discovers that Kara stole his medication, and angrily kicks her out of his house. Over a monitor, Jesse hears his mother arguing with Walter about her burden raising two children alone.
That night, the spider returns to Walter’s house where it attacks and kills him. Jesse storms out of the back house after learning his mother plans to move their family once again. Jesse goes to the main house and discovers Walter’s body. Sheriff Jane arrives to investigate, and questions Kara about Walter’s death. Kara mentions seeing Ahkeeba acting suspiciously when he was there previously. Jesse tells Jane that an evil spirit inside a spider killed Walter as a sacrifice. Jane doesn’t take Jesse’s claim seriously, but invites him to help her solve the case.
Jesse repeats the legend of Maa-Kalaratri to his mother while insisting a giant spider killed Walter. Kara admonishes Jesse for frightening Cambria with his story. Kara slaps Jesse when he mentions Stevie in retaliation, but regrets her actions afterwards.
During the night, Kara goes up to the attic to investigate, finding Jesse quietly freeing Cambria from thick spider webs, all the while keeping an eye on the sleeping silhouette of the spider, which is revealed to be its empty exoskeleton. After the children get out of the attic, the giant spider leaps out from its hiding-place and bites Kara. Jesse calls Jane for help, while Kara is incapacitated by the effects of the venom.
The spider jumps at Cambria and pierces her hand with its fangs, before Jesse rescues his sister and smacks the spider into the wall, rendering it unconscious on the floor. Kara comes to and examines Cambria's bite, realising the fangs went clean through her hand and no venom has entered Cambria's bloodstream. She tells Jesse to look after his sister, and administers an epinephrine shot on herself to recover from the spider’s venom, and briefly passes out.
Upon waking up, Kara discovers that the spider has gone. Jesse hides Cambria in the wardrobe before he is attacked by the spider, before Kara arrives in time to tear off two of the spider's legs and crush its body, killing it. As Jane arrives with an ambulance, Kara collapses from exhaustion and sees a vision of Stevie, finally forgiving herself for his death by saving Jesse and Cambria.
After recovering, Kara and the two children move out, reaffirming their love for each other and promising to stay together no matter what. In the abandoned house, the spider's egg sac is hidden inside a doll's house, as several spiderlings emerge from inside.
After the family moved out of the house, two men start cleaning up the attic. They discover spiders in the chest, showcasing that the spiders from the second eggsack also emerged.

Cast

On April 8, 2019, it was announced that Shout! Studios acquired the North American distribution rights to the film. The film was released in select theatres, digital and on VOD on August 30, 2019.

Critical response

Itsy Bitsy received mixed reviews from critics upon its release, with many praising the special effects, cinematography, and atmosphere while criticizing the film's uninteresting characters, and story.
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 56% based on reviews from 9 critics, with an average rating of 5.71/10.
Matthew Roe of Film Threat gave the film a negative review, writing "Itsy Bitsy has some fantastic human moments inside its bland monster facade and is the only real reason I can recommend the film – however, for some it won’t be enough to redeem the played-out and wonky elements." Culture Crypt rated the film a score of 55 out of 100, criticizing its underwritten characters, script, and finale. The reviewer concluded, "Itsy Bitsy isn’t going to win any awards or become anyone’s favorite film. It’s too grim to grab the gusto it needs to stand out without edging into over-the-top outrageousness. But it is professionally produced, features a few intriguing pops, and makes for a decent diversion during a weekend’s entertainment." Veronique Englebert from The Review Geek scored the film a mixed 5.5 out of 10, writing, "Itsy Bitsy is not a bad spider movie but it’s not a particularly great one either. It fails to reach the same creepiness found in movies like Arachnophobia and takes a while to get into the swing of things. However, the welcome practical effects and empathetic characters help but can’t quite save the day for this average creature feature."
Meagan Navarro from Bloody Disgusting commended the film's special effects and camerawork; but criticized the sparse appearance of its antagonist, unresolved ending, and unlikable characters. Concluding her review, Navarro recommended the film based on the special effect, in spite of its faults, calling it "a big step in the right direction". Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review, praising the film's gothic atmosphere, special effects, and "existential dread".