Sharknado 3 may be the big buzzed-about Syfy movie premiere this week, but sharks aren’t the only scary creatures hitting that network’s airwaves. That other go-to standard for animal horror movies — spiders — also make an appearance with the debut of the original film Lavalantula on July 25. As you can tell from its name, the film — directed by apparent spider-movie expert Mike Mendez, who also helmed Big Ass Spider! — is about tarantulas that spit lava, naturally.
“It’s based on a true story,” deadpans star Steve Guttenberg during our interview. “A volcano erupts in the Santa Monica Mountains, and lo and behold, these spiders erupt and start terrorizing law-abiding citizens. I play an action star who has been out of work and has a family [Nia Peeples plays his wife]. … We have to actually fight these spiders, beat the hell out of them and at the same time, rescue my son. It really is a lot of fun; you know, it’s a creature feature, so like so many movies that are being made today, they really rely on visual effects and that sort of thing. It’s a cartoon come to life.”
It turns out that, if fate had worked differently, we may have seen Guttenberg headlining both creature features Lavalantula and Sharknado 3.
“They originally offered me Sharknado three years ago,” Guttenberg tells us, “and I turned it down. So when [Syfy] came back to me, I was smart enough to say yes to this one.”
Guttenberg may have missed out on being part of the Sharknado pop-culture phenomenon, but he is certain Lavalantula will also take off on Twitter. He hopes to be tweeting during the movie’s premiere. “I think that’s going to be a lot of fun,” he says. “You know, people really get into it.”
Also fun for Guttenberg was reuniting with some of his former costars of the Police Academy movies for Lavalantula, including Michael Winslow and Leslie Easterbrook.
“It was just terrific,” Guttenberg says. “You know, old friends, there’s nothing like them. I was just so lucky that Syfy was so gracious in allowing me to reach out to these people and find out if they wanted to work together again.”
When I asked if there would be any winking Police Academy references in Lavalantula, Guttenberg replies, “I don’t think so. There might be some hidden ones, but I think if there was, I erased them from my mind, but we do have some … But it’s a lot of fun; just a great exploration into … for me … into the new technique that is moviemaking today. You know, Sally Field did Spiderman. Tony Hopkins did Thor, and Liam Neeson did Clash of the Titans. Robert Downey did Iron Man and Paul Rudd is doing Ant-Man, so it just literally said to me, ‘Get on the train.’ That’s what the audience wants to see now.”
Besides Lavalantula, Guttenberg is working on a film called The Pride of San Quentin, which he says is about Clinton Duffy, “probably the greatest prison warden of all time, who took the tracks of the penal system from corporal punishment and literally lifted them to another track, of rehabilitation.”
Guttenberg also just completed a run in the Shakespeare adaptation Henry 4.1 in New York’s Riverside Park, and he says fans continue to talk with him about his famous roles.
“I’ve been pretty lucky with that,” he says. “You know, they go from Boys From Brazil, which was years ago, with Gregory Peck, and then there is Short Circuit, people love. Then there’s people who talk about Cocoon, people talk about Bedroom Window. People talk about the Police Academies; you know, there’s something for everybody. I’ve been really lucky in my career.”
Amazingly, though, Guttenberg has never been approached to do a voiceover on The Simpsons, even though his name and image famously made it into the Stonecutters’ song in a memorable episode. “I sure would love to, though,” Guttenberg says, about possibly doing a Simpsons voice at some point.
In the meantime, he has Lavalantula about to debut. And would he do another Lavalantula if it turns into a Sharknado-sized hit franchise?
“Yeah, of course. That’s part of being a working actor today. You know, Johnny Depp is doing, I think Pirates of the Caribbean 5, and Robert Downey has done three Iron Mans and two Avengers. Mark Ruffalo has done two Avengers; some of the greatest actors around are doing sequels. They’re doing another Now You See Me with Ruffalo and Woody Harrelson, so I think that doing sequels is a smart thing.”
Lavalantula premieres July 25 at 9pm ET/PT on Syfy.
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Jason Lester/Valiant Days Distribution/Syfy
Watched this movie last night. It’s so bad that it’s good. It was very comical and Steve
Guttenberg made it even more enjoyable….I like anything he is in.
Good to Mr. Guttenberg again. It’s been too long. These tongue-in-cheek films are a lot of fun. You laugh along with the cast. I’m sure they are having a lot of fun.