Spider Baby (1967)

Wonderful character development!

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

There are bad movies, there are really bad movies and then there is "Spider Baby", Lon Chaney and a house straight out of "Psycho" notwithstanding. This is the kind of cult movie that makes you realize that cults can be a bad thing. The director was Jack Hill who made his reputation in exploitation cinema, (he made the incredible "Switchblade Sisters" as well as the more mainstream blaxploitation picture "Foxy Brown"), but this is probably what he's best remembered for though God knows why. By today's standards there is no gore and fewer frights. Chaney was obviously cast to 'sell' the movie and he 'acts' as if he believed every ridiculous word. If there is anyone here to keep you watching it's Carol Ohmart, an actress who always deserved better than she ended up with.

Spider Baby (1968) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Jack Hill's cult favorite about a loving caretaker (Lon Chaney, Jr.) who takes care of three mentally disturbed kids who just happen to enjoy killing. Over the past decade or so, SPIDER BABY has become one of the biggest cult films out there and it's easy to see why because it's just so strange and contains such a bizarre atmosphere that you can't help but get involved in its weirdness. I'm not going to sit here and say this is a great film or even a good one. I think there are all sorts of problems with the picture including a pacing issue but there's still enough here to make it worth viewing. For starters, people must remember that this was shot long before NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD so there's some fairly graphic moments here. Another thing that really works well are the performances, which I'd say are the greatest thing going. Chaney gives an extremely good performance and he really makes you feel as if his character loves this kids and would do anything for them. Visually you can tell the actor is in the middle of his alcoholic days and this tough look really just adds to the softness of the character in a strange way. Beverly Washburn, Jill Banner and Sid Haig are all terrific as the three mental cases and all of them really do a fantastic job with their performances. They're not Oscar-worthy performances but they certainly nail the weirdness. Mantan Moreland appears briefly and is very memorable as well. What really separates this film from many other "B" movies that were made during this era is its atmosphere. There's no question that the ultra low-budget helps but there's just something rather creepy about the entire atmosphere. SPIDER BABY isn't a masterpiece but there's certainly not another film out there like it.

Made in 1964 but not released until 1968. This is significant since Movies and attitudes about Movies changed considerably in those four Years. If this was unleashed to Theatres in 1964 it probably would have caused seizures among League of Decency types and would have been along with H.G. Lewis' Blood Feast (1963) another example of the decline of Western Civilization.This Ultra-Low-Budget Quickie is remarkable in the way it looks so Professionally done. The Actors all perform like seasoned Pros. Given the Bizarre Script, subject matter, and overall depravity it wasn't a given that this was at all nothing more than the lowest common denominator types that would later become known as "Nasties". Words like retarded, incest and brain rot are delivered in a stark explanation.But apparently it was the Dark Humor that made it palatable for the Filmmakers and Audiences to endure this dementia as some kind of Fun. As it turned out, it was and still is to this Day. If You looked up Cult Movie in the Dictionary there just might be a reference to this seminal Film.A hoot and a holler, this is simply one of the best B-Movies ever made and is disturbingly Entertaining and a must see for Fans of Cult Movies, B-Movies, Horror, Black Comedy, and Primitive Art lovers. This is Writer/Director Jack Hill's first and most Personal Film and it is a must see.

Debuting writer / director Jack Hills' gleefully macabre tale of an insane family instantly calls to mind 'The Addams Family', and works as a forerunner to films like "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" and "House of 1000 Corpses". Give full credit to Hill and crew for their Old Dark House, midnight movie feel, complete with right-on-the-nose cinematography and production design, and to the whole cast for their utterly convincing and ghoulishly fun performances.Ever lovable Lon Chaney, Jr. plays Bruno, chauffeur and guardian to a trio of children with the surname Merrye. For generations, Merryes have suffered from a disease so rare it's actually named after them: they start mentally regressing at the age of 10 until they end up in an utterly primitive, pre-natal, cannibalistic condition. Trouble brews for Bruno and the kids - Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn), Virginia (Jill Banner), and Ralph (Sid Haig) - when a greedy relative and an equally scummy lawyer - hilariously named Schlocker - come to stay, intending to get their hands on the family fortune.Things get off to a fairly amusing start with a title ditty sung by none other than Lon himself. Soon after, there's a cameo role for old pro Mantan Moreland, playing an ill-fated messenger, who becomes an unwilling participant in Virginias' beloved game of "spider". And speaking of spiders, there's no shortage of eight legged critters dotting the landscape of this film, which features a highly memorable mansion with its fair share of atmosphere and surprises. It's especially a joy to see something such as Ralph crawling about on the outside on the mansion, doing a priceless Spider-Man impression.Haig and lovely young ladies Washburn and Banner do a wonderful job of portraying people with very young minds and whose playfulness has such a morbid quality. Carol Ohmart ("House on Haunted Hill" '59) is good as the bitchy cousin Emily, Quinn Redeker (who would go on to co-write "The Deer Hunter" years later) appealing as the goofy cousin Peter who mostly takes everything he sees in stride, Mary Mitchel ("Dementia 13") is fine as the comely young secretary, and Karl Schanzer, complete with Hitler-style moustache, is a hoot as the stereotypically slimy lawyer.With very appropriate schlock movie music by the great Ronald Stein, "Spider Baby" proves to be very hard to resist, taking its viewers on a tour through a wild and wacky funhouse. The humour is delicious, and there's a nice little in-joke when Redeker and Mitchel begin discussing horror films and reference Lons' most famous role, after which he quips, "There's going to be a full moon tonight.".The pacing could have used a bit of tightening, but the running time is still pretty reasonable at about 80 minutes (85 minutes in the directors' cut). Recommended to anybody who loves a movie with a true "late show" sort of ambiance.Eight out of 10.