At 88 years old, Wisconsin screenwriter Bill Rebane has returned behind the camera to direct a reimagined version of “The Giant Spider Invasion,” the 1975 cult classic he originally shot decades ago in the Gleason area.
Filming is underway in the Hayward area. The director will preserve the original 80-minute movie and add 20 to 25 minutes of new footage shot with a 1975 aesthetic. The film will debut on Halloween in Wisconsin, with an extended release in 2026.
Dan Davies, an accomplished actor who grew up in Waupaca, is cast in the new material as Ted, a 1970s-era newscaster complete with a period-appropriate toupee. In a conversation on WPR’s “Morning Edition,” Davies said he first saw the original film as a child at the former Rosa Theatre in his hometown.
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Rebane built his filmmaking career in Wisconsin’s Northwoods and remains deeply tied to the region. Davies said the new version pays tribute to that connection, embedding Wisconsin culture, landscapes and sensibilities throughout while maintaining the original’s campy tone.
“We’re keeping with the thematic quality that the original film had and adding more humor, more campiness to it, more horror to it and maybe a little more shock,” he said.
Golden Icon Productions of Wausau began filming the new footage in July. Crew members are paying careful attention to period details — costumes, props and dialogue — so the added footage feels like it belongs in 1975. Rebane, who directed dozens of films throughout his career, is steering this project much like his original work.
The reimagined “The Giant Spider Invasion” is expected to draw both longtime fans and newcomers upon its release. With Rebane at the helm once again, the project is more than a reboot — it is a homegrown revival of Wisconsin’s film legacy.
The following interview was edited for brevity and clarity.
Shereen Siewert: What drew you back to this particular cult classic?
Dan Davies: Growing up in central Wisconsin, I was always a fan of cinema. I was able to see the original movie when I was just a little kid. Later, I found out that it was made by a Wisconsinite, Bill Rebane, and that blew me away because I realized you can actually make films and do these things right here in the cheese state.
That inspired me, and then 50 years later we connected with Bill, who had seen some of my other films. We talked about maybe reimagining the entire film from scratch, but as we talked, we came up with the idea of keeping the original 80 minutes and adding an additional 20 to 25 minutes of period-correct 1975 footage. I play a character named Ted, a newscaster who wears a toupee from 1975, to fill in some of the holes in the original plot. We started filing July 20, and it has been amazing so far.
SS: How do you honor the original film’s legacy while also reimagining it for a new audience?
DD: “The Giant Spider Invasion” was a Top 50 box office film in its day, right up there with “Jaws” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” People don’t realize how successful it was. Later, it became one of the most pirated films in the early stages of DVD and video releases, so it’s neat to take that legacy and add more to it. The film itself had a campy humor to it. Alan Hale Jr., who is well known as the Skipper on “Gilligan’s Island,” is in it, along with Barbara Hale from Perry Mason fame.
Keeping with the original theme is the whole idea. To shoot it in a way that makes it still look like 1975 has been a challenge and a lot of hard work. You have to be careful because you don’t want any anachronisms in there or to say something that wasn’t exactly peachy keen in 1975.
SS: Wisconsin is more than just a backdrop here. The movie is pitched as an homage to the state’s cultural landscape. How did filming here shape the atmosphere on set?
DD: Bill, the director, is from Latvia and moved to Chicago after World War II. He came up to the Northwoods to do a snowmobile video in 1969 or so and he fell in love with northern Wisconsin. He and his wife moved into the middle of nowhere and created a film studio.
It was important to Bill to make this film a love letter to Wisconsin, to show all the things we have that the nation loves about us, from our culture to our food, beverages, hospitality and hard-work attitude. He wanted to include that and incorporate all of that into the film, and that’s what we’re still doing with this new footage. Bill Rebane is directing this, too, and it’s the first time in Hollywood that a director, 50 years later, is redirecting a reimagined reboot of his original film.
SS: Bill Rebane is 88 years old. What has it meant to work with him on what could be his final dream project?
DD: Amazing. He’s a treasure trove of filmmaking knowledge. He started in the ’50s so he worked on films with Cary Grant and knew people like John Wayne and Hugh Hefner. It’s amazing to hear him tell these stories. But if you’ve been in the business for almost 70 years, you really know the business, and he understands narrative and storytelling. He just understands those key aspects of what makes a great film. The story has to be king, and it’s so fun listening to him and seeing him in action.
SS: Why do you think this film, of all things, has endured when so many others have faded away?
DD: Its campy humor, I’d say. It didn’t take itself too seriously. The film was shot for a very low budget and made about $24 million in the box office in 1979, which is about $145 million in today’s money. The film has a can-do attitude, the type of attitude where we pull ourselves up by the bootstraps. And that’s what’s beautiful about it.
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