Okay, I’ll admit it. I used to be an anti-Original Movie snob. Then one day I was lucky enough to be on a conference call with Jewel Staite (Firefly), who basically said that the Syfy Original Movies are meant to be enjoyed on a couch with a giant bowl of popcorn. I’ve been enjoying them ever since. Two new movies will be coming our way this year that continue in that great tradition. The first is a disaster-in-a-paradise movie; the second is a near-unbeatable monster/disaster combo.

SWAMP VOLCANO, starring Rachel Hunter (The Benchwarmers) and Brad Dourif (Lord of the Rings): In Swamp Volcano, premiering Saturday, January 28 at 9PM (ET/PT), oil rig drillers in the Gulf of Mexico accidentally hit an underground lava flow, causing a massive volcano to form in Miami. Now a volcanologist and her sister attempt to blow the whistle on an illegal oil drilling scheme before it sets off the eruption that will destroy civilization. Swamp Volcano is a production of Bullet Films.

ARACHNOQUAKE – Tracey Gold (Growing Pains) will star in the new Syfy Saturday Original Movie Arachnoquake, scheduled to premiere on Syfy in 2012. Joining Gold will be Bug Hall (The Little Rascals), Ethan Phillips (Star Trek: Voyager) and Edward Furlong (Terminator 2: Judgment Day). In Arachnoquake, massive earthquakes unleash giant albino spiders. Freed from their ancient subterranean prison, the spiders go on a murderous rampage through New Orleans. Currently in production in Louisiana, the movie is a production of Active Entertainment. Arachnoquake is directed by Griff Furst, who also directed Swamp Shark, one of the highest-rated Syfy Saturday Original Movies of 2011.

COME ON. Massive earthquakes. Giant. Albino. Spiders. IN NEW ORLEANS. I defy you to come up with a better combination.

Swamp Volcano premieres January 28 at 9/8c on Syfy.

Arachnoquake is anticipated to premiere in 2012 on Syfy.