Spider Baby (1967)

SPIDER BABY (OR, THE MADDEST STORY EVER TOLD) goes where television shows like THE ADDAMS FAMILY and THE MUNSTERS could only (tastefully?)suggest- and does so unapologetically (see the scene where the messenger is trapped by a falling window and has his ear lopped off- and don't overlook the implied incest throughout). Lon Chaney, Jr. sings the tongue-in-cheek theme song, which is more than a little surprising (this is the only time I've ever heard him sing, and he does a decent enough job of it); he also hits all the right Dramatic notes throughout the movie, including in a scene in which he breaks down. The inbred Merryes are the direct lineal ancestors of the Sawyers (THE Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE) and the Peacock family (the "HOME" episode of THE X-FILES). Paved the way for many later (and often lesser) efforts.

Uncle Peter: "Do you like horror movies?"Spider Baby, also known as The Maddest Story Ever Told, is about a caretaker who lives in an old mansion with three siblings who suffer from Merry Syndrome. It's a rare disease caused by inbreeding, which causes them to mentally, socially, and physically regress backwards down the evolutionary ladder starting in early puberty. All of a sudden another branch of the family, without Merry Syndrome, appear out of nowhere to claim the house.What starts off as a black and white, gritty B-movie ends up as one of my favourite Horror movies. Well, in general to be completely honest. The combination of the cartoony, one-dimensional yet amusing characters and the bizarre atmosphere worked extremely well for me. The only minor downside was the sometimes overpowering audio but it was no deal breaker. Spider Baby may not be that scary but it's definitely creepy. It's a web of funny dialogue and witty scenes and I'm not afraid to tell you that I was caught in it.

Over the credits, star Lon Cheney Jr. sings (and howls) the film's theme song. Next, a host appears to explain how "Merrye's Syndrome" has afflicted the three children of Titus W. Merrye. The incredibly rare malady is a progressive deterioration of mental faculties, leading to deformity. Victims enter adulthood by regressing mentally. The informative host is Quinn Redeker (as Peter Howe), who will arrive at the Merrye estate with his wife Carol Ohmart (as Emily) to stake a claim. They want to take guardianship of the mentally challenged children from Mr. Chaney (as Bruno), the family's elderly chauffeur. The children are relatively sensible Beverly Washburn (as Elizabeth), spider-loving Jill Banner (as Virginia) and dog-like Sid Haig (as Ralph). Announcing the arrival of guests is messenger Mantan Moreland. He becomes the first player in the film's "Spider Baby" game. It is a most dangerous game...A Roger Corman film graduate, writer-director Jack Hill gets good impersonations with this cast and crew. The sets and setting, photographed by Alfred Taylor, are often stylish. A lack of suspense is offset by a lot of weirdness. We're not clear about what "Merrye's Syndrome" does to someone, even after being told – but this may be irrelevant. It does seem to alter a male's appearance more significantly than the female. Perhaps "Ralph" is farther along in the disease. His sisters are still quite attractive, but they receive some stiff competition when Ms. Ohmart sheds her conservative clothing to reveal underwear you usually see advertised in the back pages of sex magazines. A marvelous dinner scene is the film's "black comedy" highlight. This and other parts of "Spider Baby" may have influenced "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975), for which armchair degenerates from the next forty years and beyond must give thanks.******* Spider Baby (12/24/67) Jack Hill ~ Lon Chaney Jr., Quinn Redeker, Beverly Washburn, Sid Haig

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