Updated: Oct 12, 2019
Itsy Bitsy (2019) Movie Review
Director Micah Gallo breaks out the creepy crawly madness with his arachnid induced web of horror, Itsy Bitsy.
Kara, a single mother and caretaker uproots her two children Jesse (13) and Cambria (8) from the city to a quiet place in the country. They move in with an elderly man who has health problems and for Kara to care for the ailing man. At first, things appear normal until Jesse finds a strange artifact in the residence, opening up a nightmare of creepy spider evilness amongst the human occupants.
Gallo is to be praised here for going with practical FX for the spider instead of opting for CGI. The decision most likely was a no-brainer considering the Director's previous work in the horror movie special effects field.
Itsy Bitsy is a fun movie that doesn't rely on comic relief or meaningless jump scares to move the plot forward. The gooey grossness of spider eggs is one of the movie's FX highlight's.
Elizabeth Roberts brings a wonderful performance as Kara, and that also goes for the top notch performances for Arman Darbo and Chloe Perrin as the two children. It was also nice to see two horror veterans for nostalgic reasons mostly, Denise Crosby (Pet Semetary) as the local sheriff and Bruce Davison (Willard) as the elderly gentleman that Kara's brought on to provide care for. Davidson brings a bit of calmess and eeriness to his role. Bonus.
There is a bit of duality going on in the film as the director attempts to flesh out a realistic drama, while Kara is also a drug addict in addition to caring for two children, an elderly man, while battling a giant spider. Perhaps a bit overkill? Check it out for yourself and see how it all scans to you.
Production: Strange Vision, Throughline Films
Cast: Elizabeth Roberts, Bruce Davison, Denise Crosby, Arman Darbo, Chloe Perrin, Treva Etienne
Director-producer: Micah Gallo
Screenwriters: Micah Gallo, J. Bryan Dick, Jason Alvino
Executive producers: Cory Neal, Geno Tazioli, Adam W. Rosen, Brandon K. Hogan, Jonathan Helmuth, Tyler A. Hawes
Director of photography: Marcos Durian
Production designers: Brittany Gutheim, John Torres
Editor: Matt Latham
Composers: Garry Schyman, Frederik Wiedmann
Costume designer: Rosalyn Isidro
94 minutes