It sounds like a horror film: giant prehistoric spiders that lurk in caves and spin huge webs to catch prey.
But in reality Niall Doran's nature documentary about the dinner plate-sized Tasmanian cave spider is meant to tell an arachnid love story.
Under the biologist's direction, a film crew has spent months in dark, musty caves in central northern Tasmania trying to capture for the first time the habits of the world's oldest species of spider.
The result will be Sixteen Legs, a documentary which has already drawn international attention.
On November 9 a short (25-minute) production - Sixteen Legs: Spider Love - showing the making of the documentary will concurrently premiere at Launceston's Breath of Fresh Air Festival and as a finalist in the Canadian Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival.
For Doran, the productions are the result of a fascination which has lasted more than two decades.
"They are an intriguing creature with a leg-span of up to 18cm, which date back to the first age of the dinosaurs," Doran told AAP.
Unlike common garden spiders which have a life span of one or two years, the Tasmanian cave spider lives for decades and takes nine months to hatch from an egg.
Describing the creatures, Doran said they're much larger than a classic huntsman, and similar in structure to a redback, but without the distinctive colour and many times bigger.
"They are very elegantly built with an arched back and slender legs," he said of the creature which is found exclusively on the island state but rarely if ever seen because of its sensitivity to light.
And yes, they bite.
The Tasmanian cave spider is equipped with fangs and venom.
But while a bite would be painful for a human, based on the small number of recorded incidents, the venom doesn't seem to be problematic.
The spider typically eats cave crickets and spins an intricate horizontal web stretching several metres to catch the prey as they fall from the rock ceiling.
But life isn't all good for the male of the species.
"They have to perform this fascinating courtship dance to attract the female, who are often taken by such surprise that they lash out and eat their hopeful partner."
All these habits and more will be captured by the documentary, for which Doran is in discussions over broadcast rights.
Joe Shemesh, Doug Thost and Piers Johnson spent up to 19 hours a day filming in the caves, coming out only to sleep and recharge equipment.
British science fiction author Neil Gaiman, who has worked on shows including Dr Who, is collaborating with the Tasmanian film makers who hope the documentary will be ready for release in 2015.
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