Sent to check on a colleague, a writer travels to Hungary to investigate his whereabouts finds that he's become involved in a mysterious, spider-worshipping cult intent on making him part of the cult's legacy forcing him to find a way of stopping their activities.This here was quite the enjoyable Italian horror effort. One of the film's better qualities is the fact that there's quite a lot of really engaging work being done here that sets up the overall mystery of the first half. Starting with the frantic and bizarre behavior about his secretive meeting with the doctor and how he gets paranoid and flighty during their time alone together, this one manages quite an effective and eerie atmosphere detailing the slowly unraveling mystery he's fallen into that includes the discovery of his body, as well as the various tactics the cult attempted to keep him from the truth as he searches around the city. That leaves this with a highly enjoyable mystery that needs to be discovered here which comes off rather nicely as there's plenty to like about the way it manages to tell the rather complex storyline about the deadly cult and their followers which are introduced more in the second half. The manner of how they come back knowing the group is around is where this one really manages to work nicely, with the stalking scenes of the groups' figurehead coming around chasing after the other victims who have caught onto their plans offers some truly chilling and engaging work here going through the apartment complex chasing after the one lone victim there or the second attack in the library which really manages quite a lot of incredibly chilling sequences of the demon coming after them in an unearthly flying manner which makes them all the creepier. The other big sequences, from the hobo ambush down in the underground catacombs to the encounter with the creature in the bedroom all interject some solid action into the proceedings and really enhance the creepiness of the cult as a whole that's further aided by the finale which is what really makes this one absolutely enjoyable. Finally able to grasp the true intentions of the cult and their meanings, it features the truly phenomenal sequence of the cult taking possession of him and bringing about the resurrection of the massive spider-creature that comes off incredibly well here by going for all sorts of bizarre and terrifying imagery throughout with a fantastic look to them that's really impressive and finishes this one off on a high-note. Coupled with the fine nudity and some stellar gore throughout here, there's plenty to like even if it does stumble a few times. The biggest issue is that the obviously ongoing mystery angle in the first half makes this one feel somewhat languid and dragging in the first half with him going through the investigation rather than actually engaging in any kind of action-based variations in the storyline which is enough to really make for a troubling beginning half that comes through here. As well, there's a nice amount of gore and creature effects in the second half that showcases some goofy and somewhat silly monster work that does take out the viewer somewhat slightly with this one being so out-of-place with the vibrant, athletic creature contrasting to the on-set effects sued elsewhere. These here are the only real flaws here.Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, Language and a mild sex scene.

In the late eighties, it seemed like the Italian film industry went full out to create an interest in their horror movies, resulting in cheeseball films like The Red Monks, Ghosthouse and Witchery. Fulci gave us House of Clocks (good), Aenigma (okay), Demonia and Sweethouse of Horrors (painful), and Lenzi had House of Lost Souls (good) and House of Witchcraft. You've Lamberto Bava's Graveyard Disturbance and Demons 3 The Ogre out there too, not to mention those Zombi sequels and Marcello Avalone's Spectres and Maya and etc etc. None of those are as effective or genuinely scary as Spider Labyrinth. Why, I'm not quite sure, but this film lacks the cheese factor of any of those films and seems to go all out for creating a surreal, creepy atmosphere.In America, a company who are working on an international project have lost touch with a Professor Roth in Budapest, so they send one of their own, Professor Whitmore, out to Hungary to find out what's going on. He's driven to Roth's house by Roth's beautiful assistant, only to be warned by Roth's wife that he's been acting strangely. Roth himself does appear to be freaked out by something, and when alone with Whitmore, gives him some notes and Polaroid photographs and tells him to meet him later that evening.Whitmore then goes to his hotel, run by a creepy lady and apparently full of strange residents who continually stare at Whitmore. He also discovers that Roth's assistant lives across the road and isn't shy about showing of her assets, if you know what I mean. Once he goes back to Roth he finds the man murdered (hanging from the ceiling by cobwebs), and that he never had a wife in the first place. That's bad enough, but the local policeman takes Whitmore's passport, so now he's stuck in a strange land.He decides to do a bit of investigating and this leads to people (including William Berger) trying to warn him off, him getting lost in Budapest itself (where the city seems to deliberately get him lost), and a strange creature with a nerve shattering shriek going around killing people. I'll go no further than that plot wise.What works here is the great music, cinematography, and the ending, which took me by surprise. There's no attempts here to connect with the youth eighties style by having youngsters in the film (like Ghosthouse or House of Lost Souls), no cheese (as in Witchouse), and some serious time has been spent making every shot creepy, to give you the feeling that every single person Whitmore encounters has something to hide. I see similarities with Argento in some respects, but this film unfolds a lot more slowly and there's not a drop of blood until 40 minutes in.I'd never even heard of this film until last week, and I've been actively seeking out Italian horror for over fifteen years! It's available on Youtube in a blurry, Japanese subtitled version, so you can watch it for free, but this needs to be released on DVD. It's brilliant.

A professor sent to Italy to check on a reclusive colleague finds himself in a world whose reality seems less and less certain. That's about all one needs to know about the plot. Most Italian horror is mood driven not plot focused. The Spider Labyrinth certainly owes a debt to Dario Argento. We have a mystery, a sect, a hotel with strange residents, and the unsettling feeling that the protagonist left reality behind the moment he stepped off the airplane. The world of the film is one of magic, just like in Suspiria or Inferno, yet the film does not fall into the trap of being a rip-off of those films. Only one scene, the murder of a maid in a room with hanging sheets, suffers from being overly familiar. Otherwise, the film has the feel of an Argento film without coming across as theft. While The Spider Labyrinth is not without problems (some hokey FX; an at times easy to predict plot), it seems more daring and evocative than Mother of Tears, Argento's last Three Mothers film. I am surprised by how little attention the film has gotten in the U.S. even with horror film fans like myself.

This one starts off pretty slow. After a brief scene involving two boys playing, a man is sent to Budapest to investigate what is going on with a professor there who was supposed to have sent something. It starts to pick up once he gets there and meets the professor. The professor is a nervous man who slips him something once his wife leaves. The investigator says he'll come back later that night to talk more. When he does, the police are there, and it seems some of the people he met may not have been who he thought.Clearly the movie had a budget. It has lots of locations, some nice special effects, and camera-work that involves cranes.What seems initially to be a giallo movie (and arguably still is) becomes a bit more supernatural than is usual for that subgenre. There's a woman with enormous strength, an exhibitionist research assistant, an old man with a warning, spider-shaped scars, heavy rolling balls, and it just keeps getting stranger. Some good murder set pieces, and a totally bizarre climax. The ending was pretty satisfying.