Passes the Bechdel test
Eight Legged Freaks
2002. Directed by Ellory Elkayem, written by Ellory Elkayem and Randy Kornfield and Jesse Alexander.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
4 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 11 scenes out of 196. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
After a long absence, Chris McCormick returns to his quiet hometown of Prosperity, Arizona, to reopen his late father's mines. However, a chemical spill and lethal toxic waste have created an unstoppable army of giant spiders who prey on the unsuspecting locals, turning Prosperity into an endless buffet. Now, it's up to Chris; Sheriff Sam Parker; her son Mike; Sam's plucky daughter, Ashley; the conspiracy theorist, Harlan, and a handful of survivors to stop the hairy menace, and save the town. But, who can stand in the way of the disgusting eight-legged freaks?
- Released
- 17 Jul 2002
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Comedy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 5.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 53 / 100
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Sam 136 lines, woman
- Chris 127 lines, man
- Mike 99 lines, man
- Ashley 66 lines, woman
- Wade 60 lines, man
- Gladys 32 lines, woman
- Bret 31 lines, man
- Harlan 24 lines, man
- Joshua 23 lines, man
- Norman 18 lines, man
Full cast, 25 people
- David Arquette as Chris McCormick
- Kari Wührer as Samantha Parker
- Doug E. Doug as Harlan Griffith
- Scarlett Johansson as Ashley Parker
- Rick Overton as Pete Willis
- Matt Czuchry as Bret
- Riley Smith as Randy
- Leon Rippy as Wade
- Randi Klein as Waitress #1
- Terey Summers as Waitress #2
- Scott Terra as Mike Parker
- Eileen Ryan as Gladys
- Jane Edith Wilson as Emma
- Jack Moore as Amos
- Roy Gaintner as Floyd
- Jay Arlen Jones as Leon
- Matt Holwick as Larry
- John Storey as Mark
- Don Champlin as Leroy
- David Earl Waterman as Norman
- John Ennis as Cop #1
- Ryan C. Benson as Cop #2
- Bruiser as Self
- Tom Noonan as Joshua Taft (uncredited)
- Debbie Overbey as Girl in Window (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 196
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 to 10 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 to 15 | 0 | 33 |
| 16 to 20 | 9 | 9 |
| 21 to 25 | 25 | 16 |
| 26 to 30 | 0 | 8 |
| 31 to 35 | 0 | 7 |
| 36 to 40 | 1 | 5 |
| 41 to 45 | 11 | 20 |
| 46 to 50 | 9 | 17 |
| 51 to 55 | 5 | 2 |
| 56 to 60 | 8 | 7 |
| 61 to 65 | 1 | 16 |
| 66 to 70 | 0 | 4 |
| 71 to 75 | 9 | 7 |
| 76 to 80 | 6 | 10 |
| 81 to 85 | 1 | 1 |
| 86 to 90 | 4 | 7 |
| 91 to 95 | 14 | 19 |
| 96 to 100 | 0 | 2 |
| 101 to 105 | 16 | 12 |
| 106 to 110 | 10 | 16 |
| 111 to 115 | 16 | 20 |
| 116 to 120 | 2 | 3 |
| 121 to 125 | 10 | 12 |
| 126 to 130 | 4 | 4 |
| 131 to 135 | 3 | 0 |
| 136 to 140 | 7 | 14 |
| 141 to 145 | 7 | 12 |
| 146 to 150 | 11 | 21 |
| 151 to 155 | 4 | 5 |
| 156 to 160 | 3 | 15 |
| 161 to 165 | 5 | 12 |
| 166 to 170 | 13 | 28 |
| 171 to 175 | 21 | 38 |
| 176 to 180 | 5 | 2 |
| 181 to 185 | 3 | 3 |
| 186 to 190 | 2 | 0 |
| 191 to 195 | 2 | 6 |
| 196 to 196 | 0 | 0 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
SAM: You just bought yourself a reckless. ASHLEY: Can't you give 'em a break? SAM: Get in the car, Ashley. Now. ASHLEY: But, Mom!
SAM: It's all yours. ASHLEY: Ladies first.
SAM: I'm sorry I didn't believe you. SAM: Calm down, baby. ASHLEY: There aren't enough wine coolers in the world to calm me down! SAM: I won't let anything happen to you.
SAM: The walls are concrete and the exits have steel gates. We could hold an entire army of giant spiders from inside. ASHLEY: You just said giant spider on the air.
SAM: The gates! Close the gates! ASHLEY: Mom!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 37 are women's.
247 lines from women, 416 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
4 women and 13 men in the cast. 4 women and 8 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 41 of 675.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 40 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 34% of the words (1,669), men 66% (3,267). Women have 37% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
21
Two men
54
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 27% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ellory Elkayem (man)
- Written by
- Jesse Alexander (man), Ellory Elkayem (man)
- Story by
- Ellory Elkayem (man), Randy Kornfield (man)
- Produced by
- Bruce Berman (man), Dean Devlin (man)
- Shot by
- John S. Bartley (man)
- Edited by
- David Siegel (man)
- Music by
- John Ottman (man)
- Production design by
- Charles William Breen (man)
- Costumes by
- Alix Friedberg (woman)
- Cast by
- Paula Rosenberg (woman), April Webster (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
3 women, 11 men, 21 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 14 men, 10 not listed
-
Production
7 women, 6 men, 6 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 4 men, 9 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 4 men, 7 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 3 men, 9 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 2 men, 6 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 26 on average. Men: 35 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Scarlett Johansson 17, Kari Wührer 35
Men
Riley Smith 24, Matt Czuchry 25, David Arquette 30, Doug E. Doug 32, Rick Overton 47, Leon Rippy 52
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $30 million
- Box office
- $45.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 196 scenes and 675 lines of dialogue. How the test works
