A friend showed me his copy of "Spider Baby" a couple of years ago, and to tell the truth, in spite of my bent for odd ball fringe cinema, I wasn't sure what to make of it...although I had to admit, it had its moments. However, the second time around when I saw it on one of those free streaming channels on Roku, I was much more impressed with everything.I was especially impressed with Lon Chaney's demented sad sack performance, with the air of lunacy and degeneracy that surrounded the family, and yet the real affection and bonding they seemed to have with each other. And I could see that most of the scenery and props and lighting was very effective in getting what the director wanted to convey to the audience. Part "Fall of the House Of Usher", part "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", part "House of 1000 Corpses", and yet sustaining a more delicate balance of mood and sadness and menace than any of those worthy entries...this is quite the treat if you are into weird, old movies. Go see it if you like this sort of thing.

I stumbled on this movie a few years back knowing almost nothing about it, save for it starring the awesome Sid Haig. Somehow, in all of my wanderings through the horror graveyards, this movie had escaped my attention as it had not been the sort of movie frequently discussed in horror boards or history books. It was a wonderful surprise, then, to discover what an amazing, eerie treat this movie was to behold.The reason for its' hidden place in the horror archives has to do, mainly, with its' distribution history. The movie was filmed in 1964 but lost in limbo for several years when the producers went bankrupt. It finally saw the light of day in 68, though it was packaged in subpar drive-in double bills under several titles and never got the promotion that it so truly deserved. It wasn't until home video release in the 80s that it started to gather a real following and that has increased greatly over the last decade with a DVD release and inclusion in Netflix streaming, where I stumbled across it. As such, it's one of those rares movies that's probably more well-known to modern fans that it was to the horror geeks of its' time.Directed by Jack Hill, who had come from the Roger Corman family, working on movies like THE TERROR and DEMENTIA 13. He would go on to direct exploitation classics like FOXY BROWN. The movie stars Sid Haig, Beverly Washburn (from OLD YELLER) and Carol Ohmart (HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL), along with the legendary Lon Chaney Jr.The movie starts with a fun animated title scroll backed by a campy song sung by Chaney himself. Instantly, the viewer realizes that you are onto something different and fun. The opening scene sets the tone as character actor Mantan Moreland (KING OF THE ZOMBIES) is trying to deliver a letter to the Merrye House, only to be caught in the web of one of its' youngest, who sets to slicing him up. We are, then, introduced to a demented family that carries a strange malady causing them to digress to primordial monsters.While this is not the first example of a horror movie using a demented family as the villains (you can go back to THE OLD DARK HOUSE for that), you can certainly see the touchmarks that quite possibly influenced legions of horror movies to come. Lon Chaney's caretaker reminds me a lot of Jim Seidow's cook in Texas CHAINSAW. The presence of Sid Haig and the family dynamic certainly share a resemblance to HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES and the creatures in the basement remind me of PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS.The movie is decidedly low on gore, with very little bloodshed, beyond the initial killing of the postman. However, there is a strange, disturbed sexuality throughout the movie. Ohmart parades around her room in lingerie, arousing the lust of Haig's Ralph character. Her scenes, plus the partial disrobing of the secretary in the climax show a little more risqué flesh than most movies of its' time. There is also an implied rape and one of our young females attempts to seduce her uncle, all of which play to the theme that the cause of this strange malady is forbidden desire, namely incest.The movie looks absolutely gorgeous, especially when put into the context of its' budget. If you can, avoid the free streams on sites like YouTube and rent a copy of the DVD, which looks striking and shows a clear attention to cinematography that belies the independent nature and relative inexperience of its' cast and crew.You''ll certainly find some who don't "get" the love of this movie and that's probably got more to do with over-hyped expectations than the actual results, as this movie has started to gain a devoted cult following. If you're a fan of dirty, creepy horror films and looking for something new, this will not disappoint.

Spider Baby or The Maddest Story Ever Told is a movie geared for older teens and those adults who are under 40. To me, Spider Baby is just another version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Spider Baby is a good movie to watch at a teen get-together or alone. A good time to watch the movie would be late at night as this is a horror film. Lon Chaney plays a caregiver for a family of crazed killers. The family lives out in the middle of nowhere. They kill those who happen by. Money hungry relatives come to put the so-called orphan children away, never knowing the children are serial killers; and administer/steal the wealth of their so-called deceased relatives. It is sort of laughable when they get into their gruesome routine of killing -- however, it is also horrifying. You want your own bowl of popcorn once the killing starts. Enjoy.

Despite it's 1968 release date, Jack Hill's full directorial debut (he had uncredited directing duties on The Wasp Woman (1959) and The Terror (1963)) was shot in 1964, but was delayed due to the financiers bankruptcy. The film sits perfectly in the '60's macabre horror aesthetics of Psycho (1960) and Night of the Living Dead (1968), which gave a more cerebral, and arguably realistic approach to conventions of the uncanny. Within the context of this familial genre piece, there are many references to the "old" horror traits - not least the inclusion of horror icon Lon Chaney Jr. - and makes direct connections with the 1941 Wolfman (which incidentally was one of Chaney's key characters). And it is this reference to the inner beast of humanity that gives the film its horrific and pseudo-tragic narrative.Bruno (Chaney), a janitor of the "old dark house" has stayed behind after the death of it's owner, to take care of the children. The Merrye family, however, have a dark and demented secret. A genetic abnormality handed down in the family due to decades of inbreeding, has left the children with a severely debilitating illness that sets in towards the end of the teenage years. The illness, referred by Bruno as simply rotting of the brain, leaves these family members with increasingly depraved mental states - and they apparently regress to catatonic states. The above-grounds inhabitants are made up of two sisters, Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn) and Virginia (Jill Banner - who was tragically killed in a car accident at the age of 35), along with there deeply "retarded" (to use the film's term - not mine) brother, Ralph (an early role for exploitation regular Sid Haig). When exterior family members (not subject to the "Merrye Syndrome"), Emily (Carol Ohmart) and Peter (Quinn Redeker) arrive to take possession of the property, a series of events unfold, revealing the true extent of the macabre "house of horrors".The titular character is displayed in the first scene of this interesting film, when a mail man pokes his head into an open window. Virginia (the spider baby - as she loves insects and often crawls around the grounds in a peculiar manner) enters the room, a rope "web" in her hands, throws it over the postman and then approaches with two knives in her hands and moves in to sting the man, and eventually slicing off an ear. No doubt for budgetary reasons, the film was shot in black and white, and it's eccentric characters fill the screen with both horror and an awkwardly horrific humour. It could be argued that it bares similarities (if not genre specific) with Russ Meyer's idiosyncratic and oddball comedy, Mudhoney (1965) - despite them having no direct relation, and could also be seen as an influence on Tobe Hooper's seminal Texas Chain-Saw Massacre (1974) - particularly in its production design, and wildly gross-out family table dinner. It's well paced, and climaxes excellently, with a crescendo of absurdist terror. With a brilliant late role for Chaney, he also sings the opening credits song, which parodies the classic 'Monster Mash'.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com