Spider Baby

1h 20m 1968

Brief Synopsis

Greedy relatives try to repossess the decaying mansion of an inbred Southern family.

Cast & Crew

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Jack Hill

Lon Chaney Jr.

Carol Ohmart

Quinn Redeker

Mantan Moreland

Beverly Washburn

Elizabeth Merrye

Photos & Videos

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Film Details

Also Known As

Cannibal Orgy, or The Maddest Story Ever Told, The Liver Eaters, The Maddest Story Ever Told

MPAA Rating

Genre

Horror/Science-Fiction

Comedy

Horror

Release Date

Jan 1968

Premiere Information

New Orleans opening: 18 Jan 1968

Production Company

Lasky-Monka Productions

Distribution Company

American General Pictures; Distributors International

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 20m

Color

Black and White

Synopsis

A caretaker devotes himself to three demented adults after their father's death. When a telegram announces the arrival of heirs, the guardian suspects that his wards are to be confined in an asylum and detonates the paternal estate, destroying himself and his charges.

Director

Jack Hill

Cast

Lon Chaney Jr.

Carol Ohmart

Quinn Redeker

Mantan Moreland

Beverly Washburn

Elizabeth Merrye

Mary Mitchell

Karl Schanzer

Sid Haig

Jill Banner

Virginia "Spider Baby" Merrye

Carolyn Cooper

Joan Keller

Crew

Elliot Fayad

David L. Hewitt

Jack Hill

Joan Keller

Gil Lasky

Austin Mckinney

Paul Monka

Bart Patton

Production Manager

Camille Pollock

Ronald Stein

Ray Storey

Alfred Taylor

Director of Photography

Photo Collections

Film Details

Also Known As

Cannibal Orgy, or The Maddest Story Ever Told, The Liver Eaters, The Maddest Story Ever Told

MPAA Rating

Genre

Horror/Science-Fiction

Comedy

Horror

Release Date

Jan 1968

Premiere Information

New Orleans opening: 18 Jan 1968

Production Company

Lasky-Monka Productions

Distribution Company

American General Pictures; Distributors International

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 20m

Color

Black and White

Articles

The Gist (Spider Baby) - THE GIST

February 26, 2007

Jack Hill has remained steadfastly closed-mouthed about any possible inspirations for Spider Baby (shot in 1964, released in 1968), telling interviewers in the decade since its rediscovery that the spark just came to him. Still, it's intriguing to speculate as to what works of art might have suggested, even if subconsciously, the particulars of "the maddest story ever told." Certainly the central casting of Lon Chaney, Jr. suggests at least a childhood familiarity on Hill's part with the Universal Studios monster classics, while the film's Gothic blandishments hearken back to James Whale's The Old Dark House (1932). William Castle went back to J. B. Priestley's source novel for his remake of The Old Dark House (1963), released a year before Spider Baby went into production. The isolated Merrye Mansion and the misdeeds of its inhabitants also echo the morbid humor of cartoonist Charles Addams and Shirley Jackson's like-minded 1962 novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, in which a weird family's legacy is pursued by an avaricious cousin. As a protégé of Roger Corman, Hill also would likely have seen Corman's House of Usher (1960), with its Freudian spin on one family's troubled bloodline, and The Haunted Palace (1963), with its misty town square full of malformed evolutionary throwbacks.

The moldering Merrye household shares some similarities with the dilapidated Hudson Mansion, setting of Robert Aldrich's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). The Merrye Kids and the Hudson Sisters both evince a singular dying-on-the-vine atavism aggravated by the unkindness of strangers. (Distributor David Hewitt sold Hill's film with the advertising tag "Whatever happened to...Spider Baby?") Some of Spider Baby's action seems lifted directly from Dracula, with credit due more to Bram Stoker than to Tod Browning. Mantan Moreland's journey to Merrye House comes complete with frightened locals yanking their children indoors at the mere mention of the Merrye name, while Jill Banner subsists on the Renfield Diet of bugs and sundry "little lives." Later in the film, Sid Haig's retardate Ralph spies on acquisitive cousin Carol Ohmart by crawling upside down along the façade of the crumbling mansion, as had the Undying Count in Stoker's original novel-a stunt that no movie version of the book attempted until Scars of Dracula in 1970.

In pinning its narrative to a weird family's desperation to keep its own shadow from touching the outside world, Spider Baby anticipated a score of disparate works, including Jack Clayton's masterfully eerie Our Mother's House (1967), Mario Bava's Lisa and the Devil (1973), Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (1977) - hell, even the Maysles Brothers documentary Grey Gardens (1975). Due to the common denominator of actor Sid Haig, some online critics have identified Spider Baby as a progenitor of Rob Zombie's House of 1,000 Corpses (2003) and its sequel, The Devil's Rejects (2005). Yet despite the glut of in-your-face outrages committed by the Firefly Family (including the humiliation and murder of the members of a country-and-western family band), Zombie's films come off like so much pandering to the black tee-shirt and serial killer trading card set; Hill had mined the veins of incest, necrophilia and gleeful mass murder forty years earlier and in a much more repressive and censorious milieu, making Spider Baby the more daring and dangerous work despite its lack of graphic violence. Imagine how Haig's below frame canoodling with onscreen cousin Ohmart late in the film must have curled toes back in 1964, and dig how Ohmart's grim fate at the hands (and teeth) of the far-gone, cellar-dwelling Merryes predicts the consumption of Night of the Living Dead's (1968) Judith O'Dea in the clacking jaws of the zombie hoard.

Regardless of what may have inspired it or what subsequent films it may have influenced, Spider Baby remains very much its own animal. Set as it is off to one side of the real world, there's a timelessness to the film, whose freshness remained sealed in during its decades languishing in obscurity. Hill's script is a canny send-up of its time, the Spic-n-Span post-Camelot years in which modernity and science were employed as a bulwark against superstition, neurosis, complexity and ring around the collar. The Merrye children suffer an obsession with correct behavior, a code of ethics to which they hew with steadily diminishing degrees of success. In his role as the family caretaker, Lon Chaney is part Igor, part Synanon councilor, sternly rebuking his charges about their lapses while keeping them hopeful with the wisdom that "nothing is very bad." Spider Baby's sole seat of normalcy is Quinn Redeker's affable, buttoned-down hero, a doughy JFK surrogate who struggles to keep his Bryl-creamed head while all about him are losing theirs. Outwardly shrugging off the idiosyncrasies of his nonconformist relations with a nervous chuckle, this stuffed Arrow shirt proves to be the most dangerous of them all...immune to the familial madness, he is nonetheless a carrier, whose survival of the film's explosive denouement ensures that the Merrye madness will be carried forward into the next millennium through his own offspring.

Blackly comic, mercilessly savage and light years ahead of its time, Spider Baby definitely has legs.

Producer: Gil Lasky, Paul Monka
Director: Jack Hill
Screenplay: Jack Hill
Cinematography: Alfred Taylor
Film Editing: Jack Hill
Production Manager: Bart Patton
Production Design: Ray Storey
Music: Ronald Stein
Make-up: Elliott Fayad
Cast: Lon Chaney, Jr. (Bruno), Carol Ohmart (Emily Howe), Quinn K. Redeker (Peter Howe), Beverly Washburn (Elizabeth), Jill Banner (Virginia), Sid Haig (Ralph), Mary Mitchel (Ann), Karl Schanzer (Schlocker), Mantan Moreland (Messenger).
BW-81m.

by Richard Harland Smith

The Gist (Spider Baby) - The Gist

The Gist (Spider Baby) - THE GIST

Jack Hill has remained steadfastly closed-mouthed about any possible inspirations for Spider Baby (shot in 1964, released in 1968), telling interviewers in the decade since its rediscovery that the spark just came to him. Still, it's intriguing to speculate as to what works of art might have suggested, even if subconsciously, the particulars of "the maddest story ever told." Certainly the central casting of Lon Chaney, Jr. suggests at least a childhood familiarity on Hill's part with the Universal Studios monster classics, while the film's Gothic blandishments hearken back to James Whale's The Old Dark House (1932). William Castle went back to J. B. Priestley's source novel for his remake of The Old Dark House (1963), released a year before Spider Baby went into production. The isolated Merrye Mansion and the misdeeds of its inhabitants also echo the morbid humor of cartoonist Charles Addams and Shirley Jackson's like-minded 1962 novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, in which a weird family's legacy is pursued by an avaricious cousin. As a protégé of Roger Corman, Hill also would likely have seen Corman's House of Usher (1960), with its Freudian spin on one family's troubled bloodline, and The Haunted Palace (1963), with its misty town square full of malformed evolutionary throwbacks. The moldering Merrye household shares some similarities with the dilapidated Hudson Mansion, setting of Robert Aldrich's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). The Merrye Kids and the Hudson Sisters both evince a singular dying-on-the-vine atavism aggravated by the unkindness of strangers. (Distributor David Hewitt sold Hill's film with the advertising tag "Whatever happened to...Spider Baby?") Some of Spider Baby's action seems lifted directly from Dracula, with credit due more to Bram Stoker than to Tod Browning. Mantan Moreland's journey to Merrye House comes complete with frightened locals yanking their children indoors at the mere mention of the Merrye name, while Jill Banner subsists on the Renfield Diet of bugs and sundry "little lives." Later in the film, Sid Haig's retardate Ralph spies on acquisitive cousin Carol Ohmart by crawling upside down along the façade of the crumbling mansion, as had the Undying Count in Stoker's original novel-a stunt that no movie version of the book attempted until Scars of Dracula in 1970. In pinning its narrative to a weird family's desperation to keep its own shadow from touching the outside world, Spider Baby anticipated a score of disparate works, including Jack Clayton's masterfully eerie Our Mother's House (1967), Mario Bava's Lisa and the Devil (1973), Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (1977) - hell, even the Maysles Brothers documentary Grey Gardens (1975). Due to the common denominator of actor Sid Haig, some online critics have identified Spider Baby as a progenitor of Rob Zombie's House of 1,000 Corpses (2003) and its sequel, The Devil's Rejects (2005). Yet despite the glut of in-your-face outrages committed by the Firefly Family (including the humiliation and murder of the members of a country-and-western family band), Zombie's films come off like so much pandering to the black tee-shirt and serial killer trading card set; Hill had mined the veins of incest, necrophilia and gleeful mass murder forty years earlier and in a much more repressive and censorious milieu, making Spider Baby the more daring and dangerous work despite its lack of graphic violence. Imagine how Haig's below frame canoodling with onscreen cousin Ohmart late in the film must have curled toes back in 1964, and dig how Ohmart's grim fate at the hands (and teeth) of the far-gone, cellar-dwelling Merryes predicts the consumption of Night of the Living Dead's (1968) Judith O'Dea in the clacking jaws of the zombie hoard. Regardless of what may have inspired it or what subsequent films it may have influenced, Spider Baby remains very much its own animal. Set as it is off to one side of the real world, there's a timelessness to the film, whose freshness remained sealed in during its decades languishing in obscurity. Hill's script is a canny send-up of its time, the Spic-n-Span post-Camelot years in which modernity and science were employed as a bulwark against superstition, neurosis, complexity and ring around the collar. The Merrye children suffer an obsession with correct behavior, a code of ethics to which they hew with steadily diminishing degrees of success. In his role as the family caretaker, Lon Chaney is part Igor, part Synanon councilor, sternly rebuking his charges about their lapses while keeping them hopeful with the wisdom that "nothing is very bad." Spider Baby's sole seat of normalcy is Quinn Redeker's affable, buttoned-down hero, a doughy JFK surrogate who struggles to keep his Bryl-creamed head while all about him are losing theirs. Outwardly shrugging off the idiosyncrasies of his nonconformist relations with a nervous chuckle, this stuffed Arrow shirt proves to be the most dangerous of them all...immune to the familial madness, he is nonetheless a carrier, whose survival of the film's explosive denouement ensures that the Merrye madness will be carried forward into the next millennium through his own offspring. Blackly comic, mercilessly savage and light years ahead of its time, Spider Baby definitely has legs. Producer: Gil Lasky, Paul Monka Director: Jack Hill Screenplay: Jack Hill Cinematography: Alfred Taylor Film Editing: Jack Hill Production Manager: Bart Patton Production Design: Ray Storey Music: Ronald Stein Make-up: Elliott Fayad Cast: Lon Chaney, Jr. (Bruno), Carol Ohmart (Emily Howe), Quinn K. Redeker (Peter Howe), Beverly Washburn (Elizabeth), Jill Banner (Virginia), Sid Haig (Ralph), Mary Mitchel (Ann), Karl Schanzer (Schlocker), Mantan Moreland (Messenger). BW-81m. by Richard Harland Smith

Insider Info (Spider Baby) - BEHIND THE SCENES

February 26, 2007

Jack Hill's original title for Spider Baby was Cannibal Orgy, or the Maddest Story Ever Told. The film's ultimate distributor, David L. Hewitt, insisted on the retitling.

Spider Baby was shot in 12 days for a total budget of $65,000.

Producers Gil Lasky and Paul Monka parlayed their earnings from a real estate venture to finance the film.

Exteriors for Spider Baby were filmed on the Paramount Ranch in the San Fernando Valley.

The Victorian-era house that stood in for the Merrye mansion was located in the Highland Park section of Los Angeles and had been built in 1887 for California Superior Court Judge Paul Hatch.

Interiors for the film were shot at Alpha Omega Studio at 821 Glendale Avenue. The space had once been an automobile repair shop and its mechanic's pit would serve as Spider Baby's cannibal hold.

An Enterprise Car Rental office now stands where the Alpha Omega Studio once was.

Lon Chaney, Jr. loved the script for Spider Baby so much and so valued the chance to play comedy for a change that he abstained from alcohol during production.

Chaney received a total of $2,500 for his appearance in Spider Baby.

Sid Haig prepared for the role of Ralph Merrye by observing the movements of animals at the Los Angeles County Zoo.

In response to an article that appeared on this page, Sid Haig has informed us that his audition for "Spider Baby" was not inspired by James Caan's performance in "Lady In A Cage.

It was Haig's choice to shave his head for the film, and the look became the actor's trademark.

In an early scene in the film, actor Quinn Redeker unexpectedly rolled up the window of the automobile in which he was performing, revealing the reflection of the crew in the window glass.

Redeker also destroyed a prop rocking chair that was actually an antique belonging to Jack Hill's grandmother.

Jack Hill approximated the sound of a knife stabbing flesh by ripping adhesive tape off of a film canister.

The severed ear seen in the film was a prosthetic ear worn by art director Ray Storey's assistant, Mike McClusky.

During filming, Lon Chaney nicknamed Jill Banner "Cracker Ass" and Beverly Washburn "Bubble Butt."

Litigation related to the bankruptcy of the film's producers kept Spider Baby out of distribution until January of 1968.

Because it was shot in black and white, Spider Baby was placed on the bottom of a double bill with the full color biker flick Hell's Chosen Few (1968).

Distributor Dave Hewitt later released Spider Baby as The Liver Eaters for a Lon Chaney, Jr. double feature with his own Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horrors (1967), retitled The Blood Suckers.

Compiled by Richard Harland Smith

Sources:

Jack Hill audio commentary, Spider Baby DVD
Sid Haig interview, Psychotronic Video No. 3, by Gary Hertz, 1989
Jack Hill interview, Psychotronic Video No. 13 by Sean Axmaker, 1992
Spider Baby surviving cast interview, Filmfax No. 63-64, 1998

Insider Info (Spider Baby) - BEHIND THE SCENES

Jack Hill's original title for Spider Baby was Cannibal Orgy, or the Maddest Story Ever Told. The film's ultimate distributor, David L. Hewitt, insisted on the retitling. Spider Baby was shot in 12 days for a total budget of $65,000. Producers Gil Lasky and Paul Monka parlayed their earnings from a real estate venture to finance the film. Exteriors for Spider Baby were filmed on the Paramount Ranch in the San Fernando Valley. The Victorian-era house that stood in for the Merrye mansion was located in the Highland Park section of Los Angeles and had been built in 1887 for California Superior Court Judge Paul Hatch. Interiors for the film were shot at Alpha Omega Studio at 821 Glendale Avenue. The space had once been an automobile repair shop and its mechanic's pit would serve as Spider Baby's cannibal hold. An Enterprise Car Rental office now stands where the Alpha Omega Studio once was. Lon Chaney, Jr. loved the script for Spider Baby so much and so valued the chance to play comedy for a change that he abstained from alcohol during production. Chaney received a total of $2,500 for his appearance in Spider Baby. Sid Haig prepared for the role of Ralph Merrye by observing the movements of animals at the Los Angeles County Zoo. In response to an article that appeared on this page, Sid Haig has informed us that his audition for "Spider Baby" was not inspired by James Caan's performance in "Lady In A Cage. It was Haig's choice to shave his head for the film, and the look became the actor's trademark. In an early scene in the film, actor Quinn Redeker unexpectedly rolled up the window of the automobile in which he was performing, revealing the reflection of the crew in the window glass. Redeker also destroyed a prop rocking chair that was actually an antique belonging to Jack Hill's grandmother. Jack Hill approximated the sound of a knife stabbing flesh by ripping adhesive tape off of a film canister. The severed ear seen in the film was a prosthetic ear worn by art director Ray Storey's assistant, Mike McClusky. During filming, Lon Chaney nicknamed Jill Banner "Cracker Ass" and Beverly Washburn "Bubble Butt." Litigation related to the bankruptcy of the film's producers kept Spider Baby out of distribution until January of 1968. Because it was shot in black and white, Spider Baby was placed on the bottom of a double bill with the full color biker flick Hell's Chosen Few (1968). Distributor Dave Hewitt later released Spider Baby as The Liver Eaters for a Lon Chaney, Jr. double feature with his own Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horrors (1967), retitled The Blood Suckers. Compiled by Richard Harland Smith Sources: Jack Hill audio commentary, Spider Baby DVD Sid Haig interview, Psychotronic Video No. 3, by Gary Hertz, 1989 Jack Hill interview, Psychotronic Video No. 13 by Sean Axmaker, 1992 Spider Baby surviving cast interview, Filmfax No. 63-64, 1998

In the Know (Spider Baby) - TRIVIA

February 26, 2007

The son of a Hollywood set designer and a music teacher, Jack Hill was a musical prodigy whose first career choice was to score motion pictures rather than direct them.

As a young musician, Hill earned rent money playing gypsy music at a Hungarian restaurant on the Sunset Strip.

Hill was a classmate of Francis Ford Coppola at UCLA and followed Coppola into work for Roger Corman.

Hill's first screen credit was as a production assistant on Battle Beyond the Sun (1963), a Russian science fiction film originally titled Nebo Zovyot (1960) that producer Roger Corman had reedited and dubbed into English for distribution in the U.S.

Lon Chaney, Jr. was born Creighton Chaney, son of silent film actor Lon Chaney. After his father's death in 1930, Creighton gave up a job in his father-in-law's plumbing company to pursue an acting career.

At the insistence of RKO Studios, with whom Chaney was under contract, the actor legally changed his name to Lon Chaney, Jr.

Chaney, Jr. is most often associated with playing The Wolf Man (1941) for Universal Studios, a role he reprised in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).

For the rest of his life, Lon Chaney, Jr. would regret the professional use of his father's name. He died of a heart attack while undergoing treatment for throat cancer on July 12, 1973, at the age of 67.

At age 19 and known by her real first name of Armelia, Spider Baby costar Carol Ohmart won the crown of Miss Utah 1946.

Ohmart served as the model for villainess Copper Calhoun in Milton Caniff's popular comic strip Steve Canyon.

In 1955, Ohmart was signed by Paramount Pictures, who hoped to groom the young hopeful as a successor to problematic bombshell Marilyn Monroe.

Ohmart also starred in House on Haunted Hill (1959) and The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe (1974), her last film.

Jill Banner was born Mary Kathryn Molumby in Bremerton, Washington, in 1946.

Banner studied acting at the Hollywood Professional School, where one of her classmates was future Mod Squad star Peggy Lipton.

Banner was writing a script for Marlon Brando when she sustained mortal injuries in a motor vehicle accident on August 7, 1982, and died shortly thereafter.

Quinn Redeker is credited with writing the original story that became Michael Cimino's celebrated The Deer Hunter (1978).

Los Angeles native Beverly Washburn got her start in show business as a child performer in such films as The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), Shane (1953) and Old Yeller (1957).

At the age of 12, Mantan Moreland ran away from his Monroe, Louisiana home to make a career as a dancer and comic on the so-called "chitlin circuit."

A popular player in Monogram's Charlie Chan mysteries, Moreland also featured prominently in such horror cheapies as King of the Zombies (1941) and Revenge of the Zombies (1943).

Mantan Moreland died on September 28, 1973, scarcely two months after Spider Baby co-star Lon Chaney, Jr.

Although Karl Schanzer had been an actor in films and in theatre, he was working as a private investigator prior to shooting Spider Baby.

Mary Mitchel had previously appeared in the films Panic in Year Zero! (1962) and Dementia 13 (1963).

Mitchel and husband Bart Patton were UCLA classmates of Jack Hill and Francis Ford Coppola.

Compiled by Richard Harland Smith

Sources:

Jack Hill interview, Psychotronic Video No. 13, by Sean Axmaker, 1992
Jack Hill audio commentary, Spider Baby DVD
Lon Chaney, The Man Behind the Thousand Faces, by Michael F. Blake
Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films by Donald Bogle
Milton Caniff: Conversations by Milton C. Caniff & Robert C. Harvey
Spider Baby surviving cast interview, Filmfax No. 63-64, 1998
Internet Movie Database

In the Know (Spider Baby) - TRIVIA

The son of a Hollywood set designer and a music teacher, Jack Hill was a musical prodigy whose first career choice was to score motion pictures rather than direct them. As a young musician, Hill earned rent money playing gypsy music at a Hungarian restaurant on the Sunset Strip. Hill was a classmate of Francis Ford Coppola at UCLA and followed Coppola into work for Roger Corman. Hill's first screen credit was as a production assistant on Battle Beyond the Sun (1963), a Russian science fiction film originally titled Nebo Zovyot (1960) that producer Roger Corman had reedited and dubbed into English for distribution in the U.S. Lon Chaney, Jr. was born Creighton Chaney, son of silent film actor Lon Chaney. After his father's death in 1930, Creighton gave up a job in his father-in-law's plumbing company to pursue an acting career. At the insistence of RKO Studios, with whom Chaney was under contract, the actor legally changed his name to Lon Chaney, Jr. Chaney, Jr. is most often associated with playing The Wolf Man (1941) for Universal Studios, a role he reprised in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). For the rest of his life, Lon Chaney, Jr. would regret the professional use of his father's name. He died of a heart attack while undergoing treatment for throat cancer on July 12, 1973, at the age of 67. At age 19 and known by her real first name of Armelia, Spider Baby costar Carol Ohmart won the crown of Miss Utah 1946. Ohmart served as the model for villainess Copper Calhoun in Milton Caniff's popular comic strip Steve Canyon. In 1955, Ohmart was signed by Paramount Pictures, who hoped to groom the young hopeful as a successor to problematic bombshell Marilyn Monroe. Ohmart also starred in House on Haunted Hill (1959) and The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe (1974), her last film. Jill Banner was born Mary Kathryn Molumby in Bremerton, Washington, in 1946. Banner studied acting at the Hollywood Professional School, where one of her classmates was future Mod Squad star Peggy Lipton. Banner was writing a script for Marlon Brando when she sustained mortal injuries in a motor vehicle accident on August 7, 1982, and died shortly thereafter. Quinn Redeker is credited with writing the original story that became Michael Cimino's celebrated The Deer Hunter (1978). Los Angeles native Beverly Washburn got her start in show business as a child performer in such films as The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), Shane (1953) and Old Yeller (1957). At the age of 12, Mantan Moreland ran away from his Monroe, Louisiana home to make a career as a dancer and comic on the so-called "chitlin circuit." A popular player in Monogram's Charlie Chan mysteries, Moreland also featured prominently in such horror cheapies as King of the Zombies (1941) and Revenge of the Zombies (1943). Mantan Moreland died on September 28, 1973, scarcely two months after Spider Baby co-star Lon Chaney, Jr. Although Karl Schanzer had been an actor in films and in theatre, he was working as a private investigator prior to shooting Spider Baby. Mary Mitchel had previously appeared in the films Panic in Year Zero! (1962) and Dementia 13 (1963). Mitchel and husband Bart Patton were UCLA classmates of Jack Hill and Francis Ford Coppola. Compiled by Richard Harland Smith Sources: Jack Hill interview, Psychotronic Video No. 13, by Sean Axmaker, 1992 Jack Hill audio commentary, Spider Baby DVD Lon Chaney, The Man Behind the Thousand Faces, by Michael F. Blake Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films by Donald Bogle Milton Caniff: Conversations by Milton C. Caniff & Robert C. Harvey Spider Baby surviving cast interview, Filmfax No. 63-64, 1998 Internet Movie Database

Yea or Nay (Spider Baby) - CRITIC REVIEWS OF "SPIDER BABY"

February 26, 2007

"What a cast!"
Michael Weldon, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film

"At times, Spider Baby is like a television sitcom directed by Luis Buñuel... Categorizing this oddity is no easy task. Spider Baby is a horror-comedy, but lacks the buffoonery and dumb jokes that most comedies rely on. It has been referred to as a black comedy, but as such it lacks the cynicism and sophistication of typical humour noir. It is macabre and grotesque, but in an offbeat, fun-loving way. In offering bizarre situations and weird ethical dilemmas, the film rebuffs the simplistic response. Contradictory emotions abound."
Jim Morton, RE/Search: Incredibly Strange Films

"Made shortly after Hill's aborted Blood Bath project for Roger Corman, this inspired black comedy shows what a gleeful, sharp-toothed satire that film could have been. Al Taylor's cinematography cloaks the makeshift sets in credibly decrepit atmosphere, and the art director's eye for detail is merciless (note the Raggedy Ann doll crucified on the wall of Virginia's room - in the center of a Crayola spider web!). The performances are surprisingly vivid, even loveable, with Chaney delivering an expert comic performance that never wanders too far astray from his trademark brand of tragic pathos. Haig, vamping about like a mute Jerry Lewis, is a scene-stealer, and the Tweedledum-Tweedledee duologues between Washburn and Banner are delicious."
Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog

"Hill is well served by his cast, especially Jill Banner with her unnervingly wide staring eyes and little girl act. Lon Chaney, Jr. conducts his part with a sad dignity and gives probably the best performance he ever gave in the latter years of his life... Also good is second-billed Carol Ohmart who comes across with an effectively snooty middle-class moral superiority. The film is on the tame side today, but certainly it would have been quite outré stuff for the 1960s.
Richard Scheib, The SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review

"Not bad little chiller about the antics of a very unusual---and very sick ----family."
Leonard Maltin Movie Guide

"Though the graphic violence is only intimated, the constant creepiness of the proceedings go far beyond the boundaries of good taste (especially for the sixties)... Add a bit of cannibalism, a hint of dismemberment, and a healthy serving of grim humour, and Spider Baby becomes an overlooked cult classic for shock junkies... Jack Hill should be commended for creating a true vision of madness. Alternately hilarious, touching and very nasty, it's easily his most original movie."
Steve Puchalski, Slimetime

"Spider Baby has no nudity, no blood, is cheaply shot in black and white, and directed with a meager hand. However, the characterizations and actors will hold your attention. Maybe not as fun as, but certainly reminiscent of, later films such as Basket Case [1982], The Hills Have Eyes [1977], Mother's Day [1980] and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre [1974], Spider Baby is creepy-crawly fun."
Staci Layne Wilson, Horrorwood.com

"Though superficially similar to some of Charles Addams' drawings, Spider Baby truly resembles nothing else in film... Filmed for virtually no money in atmospheric black and white over a period of twelve days, Spider Baby... continuously surprises thanks to its sharp script and enthusiastic performances. Ohmart does a funny turn on her blonde bitch routine from House on Haunted Hill [1959], albeit with less clothing here, and Chaney's emotional post-dinner scene with the two girls proves once and for all that he was a fine actor in and out of makeup. The script includes a number of marvelous in-jokes for fans, particularly some funny riffs on The Wolf Man [1941], and really isn't as depraved as a simple plot description might sound."
Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

"... just about the coolest movie ever."
Scott Phillips, Albuquerque Alibi

"Ghastly trowel-made horror film featuring crestfallen Lon Chaney, Jr. in one of his last film roles before being struck down with illness. Best forgotten."
Ed Naha, Horrors: From Screen to Scream

"...for all of the strong and unique points, the film doesn't work. As anything. Certainly not as a children's film, not as a horror movie (nothing resembling a vampire even shows up, although there is a juvenile voyeur hanging upside down outside a window), not even as something simply defying categorization. Still, as the works of John Waters enjoy a following, there are probably people out there who would enjoy this. Bevare awf zem! Bevare, bevare!"
Clayton Trapp, Brilliant Observations on 1173 Films

compiled by Richard Harland Smith

Yea or Nay (Spider Baby) - CRITIC REVIEWS OF "SPIDER BABY"

"What a cast!" Michael Weldon, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film "At times, Spider Baby is like a television sitcom directed by Luis Buñuel... Categorizing this oddity is no easy task. Spider Baby is a horror-comedy, but lacks the buffoonery and dumb jokes that most comedies rely on. It has been referred to as a black comedy, but as such it lacks the cynicism and sophistication of typical humour noir. It is macabre and grotesque, but in an offbeat, fun-loving way. In offering bizarre situations and weird ethical dilemmas, the film rebuffs the simplistic response. Contradictory emotions abound." Jim Morton, RE/Search: Incredibly Strange Films "Made shortly after Hill's aborted Blood Bath project for Roger Corman, this inspired black comedy shows what a gleeful, sharp-toothed satire that film could have been. Al Taylor's cinematography cloaks the makeshift sets in credibly decrepit atmosphere, and the art director's eye for detail is merciless (note the Raggedy Ann doll crucified on the wall of Virginia's room - in the center of a Crayola spider web!). The performances are surprisingly vivid, even loveable, with Chaney delivering an expert comic performance that never wanders too far astray from his trademark brand of tragic pathos. Haig, vamping about like a mute Jerry Lewis, is a scene-stealer, and the Tweedledum-Tweedledee duologues between Washburn and Banner are delicious." Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog "Hill is well served by his cast, especially Jill Banner with her unnervingly wide staring eyes and little girl act. Lon Chaney, Jr. conducts his part with a sad dignity and gives probably the best performance he ever gave in the latter years of his life... Also good is second-billed Carol Ohmart who comes across with an effectively snooty middle-class moral superiority. The film is on the tame side today, but certainly it would have been quite outré stuff for the 1960s. Richard Scheib, The SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review "Not bad little chiller about the antics of a very unusual---and very sick ----family." Leonard Maltin Movie Guide "Though the graphic violence is only intimated, the constant creepiness of the proceedings go far beyond the boundaries of good taste (especially for the sixties)... Add a bit of cannibalism, a hint of dismemberment, and a healthy serving of grim humour, and Spider Baby becomes an overlooked cult classic for shock junkies... Jack Hill should be commended for creating a true vision of madness. Alternately hilarious, touching and very nasty, it's easily his most original movie." Steve Puchalski, Slimetime "Spider Baby has no nudity, no blood, is cheaply shot in black and white, and directed with a meager hand. However, the characterizations and actors will hold your attention. Maybe not as fun as, but certainly reminiscent of, later films such as Basket Case [1982], The Hills Have Eyes [1977], Mother's Day [1980] and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre [1974], Spider Baby is creepy-crawly fun." Staci Layne Wilson, Horrorwood.com "Though superficially similar to some of Charles Addams' drawings, Spider Baby truly resembles nothing else in film... Filmed for virtually no money in atmospheric black and white over a period of twelve days, Spider Baby... continuously surprises thanks to its sharp script and enthusiastic performances. Ohmart does a funny turn on her blonde bitch routine from House on Haunted Hill [1959], albeit with less clothing here, and Chaney's emotional post-dinner scene with the two girls proves once and for all that he was a fine actor in and out of makeup. The script includes a number of marvelous in-jokes for fans, particularly some funny riffs on The Wolf Man [1941], and really isn't as depraved as a simple plot description might sound." Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital "... just about the coolest movie ever." Scott Phillips, Albuquerque Alibi "Ghastly trowel-made horror film featuring crestfallen Lon Chaney, Jr. in one of his last film roles before being struck down with illness. Best forgotten." Ed Naha, Horrors: From Screen to Scream "...for all of the strong and unique points, the film doesn't work. As anything. Certainly not as a children's film, not as a horror movie (nothing resembling a vampire even shows up, although there is a juvenile voyeur hanging upside down outside a window), not even as something simply defying categorization. Still, as the works of John Waters enjoy a following, there are probably people out there who would enjoy this. Bevare awf zem! Bevare, bevare!" Clayton Trapp, Brilliant Observations on 1173 Films compiled by Richard Harland Smith

Quote It! (Spider Baby) - QUOTES FROM "SPIDER BABY"

February 26, 2007

Peter: "The Merrye Syndrome, so-called because it's only known occurrence is among the descendents of one Ebenezer Merrye. A progressive age regression beginning about the tenth year and continuing steadily throughout the victim's lifetime. It is believed that eventually the victim of the Merrye Syndrome may even regress beyond the prenatal level, revering to a pre-human condition of savagery and cannibalism. Many authorities do not accept the existence of the Merrye syndrome"

Peter: "Incredible but true nevertheless. I know only too well. Of course, there's no Merrye Syndrome anymore. It was extinguished forever from the human race that fateful day ten years ago."

Virginia: "I caught you, I caught you. I caught a big fat bug right in my spider web. And now the spider gets to give the bug a big sting. Sting... sting... sting... sting... sting... sting... sting... sting..."

Elizabeth: "Bruno, Virginia hurt somebody real bad. You ought to hate her."

Bruno: "The one time I leave them alone, and now this..."

Bruno: "You were not supposed to play Spider anymore. Now you never, never can play Spider again."

Bruno: "Now children, we've got to keep some secrets today."

Bruno: "If I may ask a favor, please. Please treat the children tactfully. You see, they're not accustomed to strangers. They might act wild, if encouraged."

Bruno: "It's more than retardation. It's a sort of regression. A progressive deterioration of the mental faculties. Uh, a rotting of the brain, so to speak. It, uh, begins in late childhood and progresses rapidly, ultimately resulting in physical deformity."

Peter: "Emily, look at Ralph. He's getting all dressed up for us."

Bruno: "We're not very formal here at Merrye House."

Emily: "What... is that?"
Peter: "Well, that's rabbit. Obviously. Not bad, Bruno. Looks done to a turn."
Bruno: "Thank you, sir. I hope you enjoy it. You know, we're very fortunate to have meat for our guests. You see, uh, we're vegetarians."
Schlocker: "Vegetarians?"
Elizabeth: "It's dead. We don't eat dead things."

Bruno: "The Master believed-and he should know-that the eating of flesh would hasten their condition."

Bruno: "Ralph's allowed to eat anything that he catches."

Bruno: "This is an old building. The, the wood is rotten. Uh, you'd, you'd have to know your way about in the dark."
Emily: "Nonsense. Next thing you'll tell us the house is haunted."
Bruno: "Oh, no-nothing like that."
Peter: "He means they're vampires."
Ann: "Oh yes-and werewolves."
Peter: "Are you a horror film fan, Miss Morris?"
Ann: "Oh, yes. I love it. Dracula... Frankenstein..."
Peter: "And the Mummy?"
Ann: "Oh, the Mummy. I love the Mummy. The way he walks... step, scrape... step, scrape... Oh, and the Wolfman... grrrrr.
Bruno: "There's going to be a full moon tonight."

Virginia: "That little man looks just like a big fat bug, doesn't he?"
Elizabeth: "Yes he does."
Virginia: "You know what I'd like to do?"
Elizabeth: "Is it really lots of fun to play Spider, Virginia?"
Virginia: "You bet."

Virginia: "Nighty-night, Daddy."

Schlocker: "Now, now, see here. This won't do. This has gone quite far enough. Ladies. Beyond the bounds of prudence and good taste. I don't know what you people are up to here but I'm going to have to call in the authorities. Now there are laws, criminal laws..."
Elizabeth: "KILL HIM... KILL HIM!"
Schlocker: "No, this isn't right. There are proper procedures..."

Bruno: "I know where there's a nice new toy that'll do a wonderful thing."

Peter: "Hey, are you really a Wolf Fan Ma-a Wolfman fan, Ann?"
Ann: "Oh yes. I think that's how every man should be... like a wild beast."

Elizabeth: "Ugh, spiders aren't supposed to eat other spiders."
Virginia: "Cannibal spiders do."

Peter: "Emily's very easy to get along with. When she's asleep."

Virginia: "Now the spider does a little dance for the bug. She likes to tease him... torment him... and make him wriggle so that his juice will taste better."

Virginia: "We mustn't hurt her-just make her quiet. Now Spider's very clever. She very cleanly drains the vital juice from the bug's body. And that makes the bug stop squiggling."
Elizabeth: "Would that make her stop squiggling?"
Virginia: "Help me find something sharp."

Bruno: "Ralph will be all well... very soon."

Compiled by Richard Harland Smith

Quote It! (Spider Baby) - QUOTES FROM "SPIDER BABY"

Peter: "The Merrye Syndrome, so-called because it's only known occurrence is among the descendents of one Ebenezer Merrye. A progressive age regression beginning about the tenth year and continuing steadily throughout the victim's lifetime. It is believed that eventually the victim of the Merrye Syndrome may even regress beyond the prenatal level, revering to a pre-human condition of savagery and cannibalism. Many authorities do not accept the existence of the Merrye syndrome" Peter: "Incredible but true nevertheless. I know only too well. Of course, there's no Merrye Syndrome anymore. It was extinguished forever from the human race that fateful day ten years ago." Virginia: "I caught you, I caught you. I caught a big fat bug right in my spider web. And now the spider gets to give the bug a big sting. Sting... sting... sting... sting... sting... sting... sting... sting..." Elizabeth: "Bruno, Virginia hurt somebody real bad. You ought to hate her." Bruno: "The one time I leave them alone, and now this..." Bruno: "You were not supposed to play Spider anymore. Now you never, never can play Spider again." Bruno: "Now children, we've got to keep some secrets today." Bruno: "If I may ask a favor, please. Please treat the children tactfully. You see, they're not accustomed to strangers. They might act wild, if encouraged." Bruno: "It's more than retardation. It's a sort of regression. A progressive deterioration of the mental faculties. Uh, a rotting of the brain, so to speak. It, uh, begins in late childhood and progresses rapidly, ultimately resulting in physical deformity." Peter: "Emily, look at Ralph. He's getting all dressed up for us." Bruno: "We're not very formal here at Merrye House." Emily: "What... is that?" Peter: "Well, that's rabbit. Obviously. Not bad, Bruno. Looks done to a turn." Bruno: "Thank you, sir. I hope you enjoy it. You know, we're very fortunate to have meat for our guests. You see, uh, we're vegetarians." Schlocker: "Vegetarians?" Elizabeth: "It's dead. We don't eat dead things." Bruno: "The Master believed-and he should know-that the eating of flesh would hasten their condition." Bruno: "Ralph's allowed to eat anything that he catches." Bruno: "This is an old building. The, the wood is rotten. Uh, you'd, you'd have to know your way about in the dark." Emily: "Nonsense. Next thing you'll tell us the house is haunted." Bruno: "Oh, no-nothing like that." Peter: "He means they're vampires." Ann: "Oh yes-and werewolves." Peter: "Are you a horror film fan, Miss Morris?" Ann: "Oh, yes. I love it. Dracula... Frankenstein..." Peter: "And the Mummy?" Ann: "Oh, the Mummy. I love the Mummy. The way he walks... step, scrape... step, scrape... Oh, and the Wolfman... grrrrr. Bruno: "There's going to be a full moon tonight." Virginia: "That little man looks just like a big fat bug, doesn't he?" Elizabeth: "Yes he does." Virginia: "You know what I'd like to do?" Elizabeth: "Is it really lots of fun to play Spider, Virginia?" Virginia: "You bet." Virginia: "Nighty-night, Daddy." Schlocker: "Now, now, see here. This won't do. This has gone quite far enough. Ladies. Beyond the bounds of prudence and good taste. I don't know what you people are up to here but I'm going to have to call in the authorities. Now there are laws, criminal laws..." Elizabeth: "KILL HIM... KILL HIM!" Schlocker: "No, this isn't right. There are proper procedures..." Bruno: "I know where there's a nice new toy that'll do a wonderful thing." Peter: "Hey, are you really a Wolf Fan Ma-a Wolfman fan, Ann?" Ann: "Oh yes. I think that's how every man should be... like a wild beast." Elizabeth: "Ugh, spiders aren't supposed to eat other spiders." Virginia: "Cannibal spiders do." Peter: "Emily's very easy to get along with. When she's asleep." Virginia: "Now the spider does a little dance for the bug. She likes to tease him... torment him... and make him wriggle so that his juice will taste better." Virginia: "We mustn't hurt her-just make her quiet. Now Spider's very clever. She very cleanly drains the vital juice from the bug's body. And that makes the bug stop squiggling." Elizabeth: "Would that make her stop squiggling?" Virginia: "Help me find something sharp." Bruno: "Ralph will be all well... very soon." Compiled by Richard Harland Smith

Spider Baby

December 27, 2013

Jack Hill has remained steadfastly closed-mouthed about any possible inspirations for Spider Baby (shot in 1964, released in 1968), telling interviewers in the decade since its rediscovery that the spark just came to him. Still, it's intriguing to speculate as to what works of art might have suggested, even if subconsciously, the particulars of "the maddest story ever told." Certainly the central casting of Lon Chaney, Jr. suggests at least a childhood familiarity on Hill's part with the Universal Studios monster classics, while the film's Gothic blandishments hearken back to James Whale's The Old Dark House (1932). William Castle went back to J. B. Priestley's source novel for his remake of The Old Dark House (1963), released a year before Spider Baby went into production. The isolated Merrye Mansion and the misdeeds of its inhabitants also echo the morbid humor of cartoonist Charles Addams and Shirley Jackson's like-minded 1962 novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, in which a weird family's legacy is pursued by an avaricious cousin. As a protégé of Roger Corman, Hill also would likely have seen Corman's House of Usher (1960), with its Freudian spin on one family's troubled bloodline, and The Haunted Palace (1963), with its misty town square full of malformed evolutionary throwbacks.

The moldering Merrye household shares some similarities with the dilapidated Hudson Mansion, setting of Robert Aldrich's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). The Merrye Kids and the Hudson Sisters both evince a singular dying-on-the-vine atavism aggravated by the unkindness of strangers. (Distributor David Hewitt sold Hill's film with the advertising tag "Whatever happened to...Spider Baby?") Some of Spider Baby's action seems lifted directly from Dracula, with credit due more to Bram Stoker than to Tod Browning. Mantan Moreland's journey to Merrye House comes complete with frightened locals yanking their children indoors at the mere mention of the Merrye name, while Jill Banner subsists on the Renfield Diet of bugs and sundry "little lives." Later in the film, Sid Haig's retardate Ralph spies on acquisitive cousin Carol Ohmart by crawling upside down along the façade of the crumbling mansion, as had the Undying Count in Stoker's original novel-a stunt that no movie version of the book attempted until Scars of Dracula in 1970.

In pinning its narrative to a weird family's desperation to keep its own shadow from touching the outside world, Spider Baby anticipated a score of disparate works, including Jack Clayton's masterfully eerie Our Mother's House (1967), Mario Bava's Lisa and the Devil (1973), Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (1977) - hell, even the Maysles Brothers documentary Grey Gardens (1975). Due to the common denominator of actor Sid Haig, some online critics have identified Spider Baby as a progenitor of Rob Zombie's House of 1,000 Corpses (2003) and its sequel, The Devil's Rejects (2005). Yet despite the glut of in-your-face outrages committed by the Firefly Family (including the humiliation and murder of the members of a country-and-western family band), Zombie's films come off like so much pandering to the black tee-shirt and serial killer trading card set; Hill had mined the veins of incest, necrophilia and gleeful mass murder forty years earlier and in a much more repressive and censorious milieu, making Spider Baby the more daring and dangerous work despite its lack of graphic violence. Imagine how Haig's below frame canoodling with onscreen cousin Ohmart late in the film must have curled toes back in 1964, and dig how Ohmart's grim fate at the hands (and teeth) of the far-gone, cellar-dwelling Merryes predicts the consumption of Night of the Living Dead's (1968) Judith O'Dea in the clacking jaws of the zombie hoard.

Regardless of what may have inspired it or what subsequent films it may have influenced, Spider Baby remains very much its own animal. Set as it is off to one side of the real world, there's a timelessness to the film, whose freshness remained sealed in during its decades languishing in obscurity. Hill's script is a canny send-up of its time, the Spic-n-Span post-Camelot years in which modernity and science were employed as a bulwark against superstition, neurosis, complexity and ring around the collar. The Merrye children suffer an obsession with correct behavior, a code of ethics to which they hew with steadily diminishing degrees of success. In his role as the family caretaker, Lon Chaney is part Igor, part Synanon councilor, sternly rebuking his charges about their lapses while keeping them hopeful with the wisdom that "nothing is very bad." Spider Baby's sole seat of normalcy is Quinn Redeker's affable, buttoned-down hero, a doughy JFK surrogate who struggles to keep his Bryl-creamed head while all about him are losing theirs. Outwardly shrugging off the idiosyncrasies of his nonconformist relations with a nervous chuckle, this stuffed Arrow shirt proves to be the most dangerous of them all...immune to the familial madness, he is nonetheless a carrier, whose survival of the film's explosive denouement ensures that the Merrye madness will be carried forward into the next millennium through his own offspring.

Blackly comic, mercilessly savage and light years ahead of its time, Spider Baby definitely has legs.

Producer: Gil Lasky, Paul Monka
Director: Jack Hill
Screenplay: Jack Hill
Cinematography: Alfred Taylor
Film Editing: Jack Hill
Production Manager: Bart Patton
Production Design: Ray Storey
Music: Ronald Stein
Make-up: Elliott Fayad
Cast: Lon Chaney, Jr. (Bruno), Carol Ohmart (Emily Howe), Quinn K. Redeker (Peter Howe), Beverly Washburn (Elizabeth), Jill Banner (Virginia), Sid Haig (Ralph), Mary Mitchel (Ann), Karl Schanzer (Schlocker), Mantan Moreland (Messenger).
BW-81m.

by Richard Harland Smith

Spider Baby

Jack Hill has remained steadfastly closed-mouthed about any possible inspirations for Spider Baby (shot in 1964, released in 1968), telling interviewers in the decade since its rediscovery that the spark just came to him. Still, it's intriguing to speculate as to what works of art might have suggested, even if subconsciously, the particulars of "the maddest story ever told." Certainly the central casting of Lon Chaney, Jr. suggests at least a childhood familiarity on Hill's part with the Universal Studios monster classics, while the film's Gothic blandishments hearken back to James Whale's The Old Dark House (1932). William Castle went back to J. B. Priestley's source novel for his remake of The Old Dark House (1963), released a year before Spider Baby went into production. The isolated Merrye Mansion and the misdeeds of its inhabitants also echo the morbid humor of cartoonist Charles Addams and Shirley Jackson's like-minded 1962 novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, in which a weird family's legacy is pursued by an avaricious cousin. As a protégé of Roger Corman, Hill also would likely have seen Corman's House of Usher (1960), with its Freudian spin on one family's troubled bloodline, and The Haunted Palace (1963), with its misty town square full of malformed evolutionary throwbacks. The moldering Merrye household shares some similarities with the dilapidated Hudson Mansion, setting of Robert Aldrich's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). The Merrye Kids and the Hudson Sisters both evince a singular dying-on-the-vine atavism aggravated by the unkindness of strangers. (Distributor David Hewitt sold Hill's film with the advertising tag "Whatever happened to...Spider Baby?") Some of Spider Baby's action seems lifted directly from Dracula, with credit due more to Bram Stoker than to Tod Browning. Mantan Moreland's journey to Merrye House comes complete with frightened locals yanking their children indoors at the mere mention of the Merrye name, while Jill Banner subsists on the Renfield Diet of bugs and sundry "little lives." Later in the film, Sid Haig's retardate Ralph spies on acquisitive cousin Carol Ohmart by crawling upside down along the façade of the crumbling mansion, as had the Undying Count in Stoker's original novel-a stunt that no movie version of the book attempted until Scars of Dracula in 1970. In pinning its narrative to a weird family's desperation to keep its own shadow from touching the outside world, Spider Baby anticipated a score of disparate works, including Jack Clayton's masterfully eerie Our Mother's House (1967), Mario Bava's Lisa and the Devil (1973), Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (1977) - hell, even the Maysles Brothers documentary Grey Gardens (1975). Due to the common denominator of actor Sid Haig, some online critics have identified Spider Baby as a progenitor of Rob Zombie's House of 1,000 Corpses (2003) and its sequel, The Devil's Rejects (2005). Yet despite the glut of in-your-face outrages committed by the Firefly Family (including the humiliation and murder of the members of a country-and-western family band), Zombie's films come off like so much pandering to the black tee-shirt and serial killer trading card set; Hill had mined the veins of incest, necrophilia and gleeful mass murder forty years earlier and in a much more repressive and censorious milieu, making Spider Baby the more daring and dangerous work despite its lack of graphic violence. Imagine how Haig's below frame canoodling with onscreen cousin Ohmart late in the film must have curled toes back in 1964, and dig how Ohmart's grim fate at the hands (and teeth) of the far-gone, cellar-dwelling Merryes predicts the consumption of Night of the Living Dead's (1968) Judith O'Dea in the clacking jaws of the zombie hoard. Regardless of what may have inspired it or what subsequent films it may have influenced, Spider Baby remains very much its own animal. Set as it is off to one side of the real world, there's a timelessness to the film, whose freshness remained sealed in during its decades languishing in obscurity. Hill's script is a canny send-up of its time, the Spic-n-Span post-Camelot years in which modernity and science were employed as a bulwark against superstition, neurosis, complexity and ring around the collar. The Merrye children suffer an obsession with correct behavior, a code of ethics to which they hew with steadily diminishing degrees of success. In his role as the family caretaker, Lon Chaney is part Igor, part Synanon councilor, sternly rebuking his charges about their lapses while keeping them hopeful with the wisdom that "nothing is very bad." Spider Baby's sole seat of normalcy is Quinn Redeker's affable, buttoned-down hero, a doughy JFK surrogate who struggles to keep his Bryl-creamed head while all about him are losing theirs. Outwardly shrugging off the idiosyncrasies of his nonconformist relations with a nervous chuckle, this stuffed Arrow shirt proves to be the most dangerous of them all...immune to the familial madness, he is nonetheless a carrier, whose survival of the film's explosive denouement ensures that the Merrye madness will be carried forward into the next millennium through his own offspring. Blackly comic, mercilessly savage and light years ahead of its time, Spider Baby definitely has legs. Producer: Gil Lasky, Paul Monka Director: Jack Hill Screenplay: Jack Hill Cinematography: Alfred Taylor Film Editing: Jack Hill Production Manager: Bart Patton Production Design: Ray Storey Music: Ronald Stein Make-up: Elliott Fayad Cast: Lon Chaney, Jr. (Bruno), Carol Ohmart (Emily Howe), Quinn K. Redeker (Peter Howe), Beverly Washburn (Elizabeth), Jill Banner (Virginia), Sid Haig (Ralph), Mary Mitchel (Ann), Karl Schanzer (Schlocker), Mantan Moreland (Messenger). BW-81m. by Richard Harland Smith

Spider Baby (Special Edition) - SPIDER BABY - The Special Edition DVD of Jack Hill's Oddball 1964 Black Comedy

September 18, 2007

The year was 1964, and the agent representing Lon Chaney Jr. wasn't used to getting calls for his services. By this late point in his storied career, the actor was no longer much in demand. However, the call that came in was not something Chaney felt inclined to leap at: a low-budget horror comedy with the unpromising title Cannibal Orgy to be written and directed by ex-Roger Corman acolyte Jack Hill, a man whose experience in filmmaking had not yet rated an actual onscreen credit. "Um... Cannibal Orgy you say?" inquired the wary agent. Hill explained that he had wanted to call the thing The Maddest Story Ever Told but the producers overruled him.

The offer was for a mere $25,000, an embarrassing comedown for a former Hollywood headliner. But Hill had no room to negotiate-he was already offering almost half his film's budget, and the rest of the cast would be paid wages no greater than what was being spent to rent a prop car. If Chaney wasn't interested, said Hill, he'd just go see if maybe John Carradine was available. And just like that, Chaney changed his mind and took the role after all.

It was an inauspicious beginning. What would follow from this rather shaky start would be a career high point for all involved. Perhaps most remarkable of all, Cannibal Orgy (eventually rechristened Spider Baby) would be an anomaly in the grindhouse world. The numberless films of its kind being cranked out in those days were designed to turn a quick buck, to fan out across the drive-ins of the land and wind up on the junkheap. Spider Baby would instead sit unscreened for years, only to find-decades later!-adoring fans and an enduring cult popularity.

Integral to its lasting appeal was Lon Chaney Jr., a performer then considered by the rest of the industry to be washed up. Compared to his fellow horror star alums, Chaney was always the most warm, the most real, the most human. Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and the afore-mentioned Mr. Carradine-those guys were creepy, otherworldly. At his best, Chaney grounded even the craziest of roles in something genuine and recognizable. He could ennoble the crummiest of material. Problem was, poor Lon ended up having to ennoble a lot of crumbs. Then he went and squandered what goodwill he still had with drink. By the 1960s, no serious casting director would give him the time of day.

Regardless of how many vodka-soaked oranges he consumed during the late summer of 1964, Chaney imbued a potentially ludicrous role with sincerity and charm. The premise, later played straight in such grisly flicks as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes, was simple: generations of in-breeding have produced a family of infantilized degenerates. Unable to distinguish right from wrong, these feral children commit murder as part of their make-believe game of "spider." They are only barely held in check by the family's caretaker (Chaney), who finds the situation spiraling out of his control when a distant branch of the family shows up to take over the estate.

What distinguishes the film from its predecessors is the sense that the true villains of the piece are the ordinary people who intrude into this isolated ruin looking for private gain. The only sympathetic figures among the "normals" are those played by Quinn Redeker and Mary Mitchel who show loving tolerance towards their weirdo cousins, and then admit their fandom for the classics of Universal Horror (especially those starring Lon Chaney Jr., natch). The film has nothing but sympathy and love for the children, despite their many brutal killings. For generations of misfit teens and social outcasts, this would be the hook guaranteeing Spider Baby's immortality.

Producers Paul Monka and Gil Lasky had financed Cannibal Orgy on real estate speculation. When the market collapsed, so did their phantom monies. Bankrupt, Monka and Lasky had no choice but to let their film wither on a shelf indefinitely. A few years passed until a buyer came along. David Hewit bought the rights in 1968, gave it a new title, and shuffled it out across theaters to appreciative crowds-but he failed to pursue the booming home video market in the 1980s. By the mid-1990s, rock-n-roller Johnny Legend decided he'd had enough of poor-quality bootlegs and put his own money into a Spider Baby revival and video release. The success of that 1994 edition set the stage for this more lavish DVD upgrade from Dark Sky Films. The anamorphic transfer of the longer "director's cut" is flawless, and accompanied by bountiful extras including an informative audio commentary, documentary, and bonus footage.

For more information about Spider Baby, visit Dark Sky Films.

by David Kalat

Spider Baby (Special Edition) - SPIDER BABY - The Special Edition DVD of Jack Hill's Oddball 1964 Black Comedy

The year was 1964, and the agent representing Lon Chaney Jr. wasn't used to getting calls for his services. By this late point in his storied career, the actor was no longer much in demand. However, the call that came in was not something Chaney felt inclined to leap at: a low-budget horror comedy with the unpromising title Cannibal Orgy to be written and directed by ex-Roger Corman acolyte Jack Hill, a man whose experience in filmmaking had not yet rated an actual onscreen credit. "Um... Cannibal Orgy you say?" inquired the wary agent. Hill explained that he had wanted to call the thing The Maddest Story Ever Told but the producers overruled him. The offer was for a mere $25,000, an embarrassing comedown for a former Hollywood headliner. But Hill had no room to negotiate-he was already offering almost half his film's budget, and the rest of the cast would be paid wages no greater than what was being spent to rent a prop car. If Chaney wasn't interested, said Hill, he'd just go see if maybe John Carradine was available. And just like that, Chaney changed his mind and took the role after all. It was an inauspicious beginning. What would follow from this rather shaky start would be a career high point for all involved. Perhaps most remarkable of all, Cannibal Orgy (eventually rechristened Spider Baby) would be an anomaly in the grindhouse world. The numberless films of its kind being cranked out in those days were designed to turn a quick buck, to fan out across the drive-ins of the land and wind up on the junkheap. Spider Baby would instead sit unscreened for years, only to find-decades later!-adoring fans and an enduring cult popularity. Integral to its lasting appeal was Lon Chaney Jr., a performer then considered by the rest of the industry to be washed up. Compared to his fellow horror star alums, Chaney was always the most warm, the most real, the most human. Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and the afore-mentioned Mr. Carradine-those guys were creepy, otherworldly. At his best, Chaney grounded even the craziest of roles in something genuine and recognizable. He could ennoble the crummiest of material. Problem was, poor Lon ended up having to ennoble a lot of crumbs. Then he went and squandered what goodwill he still had with drink. By the 1960s, no serious casting director would give him the time of day. Regardless of how many vodka-soaked oranges he consumed during the late summer of 1964, Chaney imbued a potentially ludicrous role with sincerity and charm. The premise, later played straight in such grisly flicks as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes, was simple: generations of in-breeding have produced a family of infantilized degenerates. Unable to distinguish right from wrong, these feral children commit murder as part of their make-believe game of "spider." They are only barely held in check by the family's caretaker (Chaney), who finds the situation spiraling out of his control when a distant branch of the family shows up to take over the estate. What distinguishes the film from its predecessors is the sense that the true villains of the piece are the ordinary people who intrude into this isolated ruin looking for private gain. The only sympathetic figures among the "normals" are those played by Quinn Redeker and Mary Mitchel who show loving tolerance towards their weirdo cousins, and then admit their fandom for the classics of Universal Horror (especially those starring Lon Chaney Jr., natch). The film has nothing but sympathy and love for the children, despite their many brutal killings. For generations of misfit teens and social outcasts, this would be the hook guaranteeing Spider Baby's immortality. Producers Paul Monka and Gil Lasky had financed Cannibal Orgy on real estate speculation. When the market collapsed, so did their phantom monies. Bankrupt, Monka and Lasky had no choice but to let their film wither on a shelf indefinitely. A few years passed until a buyer came along. David Hewit bought the rights in 1968, gave it a new title, and shuffled it out across theaters to appreciative crowds-but he failed to pursue the booming home video market in the 1980s. By the mid-1990s, rock-n-roller Johnny Legend decided he'd had enough of poor-quality bootlegs and put his own money into a Spider Baby revival and video release. The success of that 1994 edition set the stage for this more lavish DVD upgrade from Dark Sky Films. The anamorphic transfer of the longer "director's cut" is flawless, and accompanied by bountiful extras including an informative audio commentary, documentary, and bonus footage. For more information about Spider Baby, visit Dark Sky Films. by David Kalat

Quotes

I caught a big fat bug right in my spider web and now the spider gets to give the bug a big sting. Sting! Sting! Sting! Sting! Sting!
- Virginia

Just because something isn't good doesn't mean it's bad!
- Bruno, The Chauffeur

Trivia

Notes

Location scenes filmed in and around Los Angeles. Produced in 1964 as Cannibal Orgy, or The Maddest Story Ever Told. Also known as Spider Baby, or The Maddest Story Ever Told and The Liver Eaters.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States August 1997

Released in United States July 1996

Re-released in United States April 1, 1994

Re-released in United States September 30, 1994

Shown at Locarno International Film Festival (50 Years of American Film) August 6-16, 1997.

In 1997, "Spider Baby" earned its first release ever in the United Kingdom, some 33 years after it was shot.

Re-released in United States April 1, 1994 (Los Angeles)

Released in United States July 1996 (Shown in New York City (American Museum of the Moving Image) as part of program "Thrills and Chills with Jack Hill" July 13 - 14, 1996.)

Released in United States August 1997 (Shown at Locarno International Film Festival (50 Years of American Film) August 6-16, 1997.)

Re-released in United States September 30, 1994 (New York City)

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