If you like to think you have a somewhat twisted sense of humour and appreciate black comedy and trashy horror, then you owe it to yourself to see Jack Hill’s kitsch rediscovered classic Spider Baby. It was shot in 1964 but swiftly disappeared after the producers went bankrupt; only to briefly resurface as a Drive-In treat in 1968. It then vanished again before pirate copies on VHS caused it to become a cult favourite in the 80s.
After director Jack Hill saw one of these copies and was appalled at the quality he spent years trying to track down the original negative. He succeeded and the film has now been digitally restored and is available on Blu-ray for the first time. High-definition really makes the most of Alfred Taylor’s deceptively classy monochrome cinematography and Ray Story’s theatrical art direction, both of which hark back to the Universal Horrors of the 30s and 40s.
As a result it’s appropriate that the star of the film is the Wolfman himself, the legendary Lon Chaney Jr. The actor’s star had waned considerably by the time he appeared in the film (and he was also reputedly an alcoholic) but he brings warmth and wit to the part of bumbling chauffeur Bruno, who promised his dying master that he would take care of his estate and his three children, despite the fact that they all suffer from a condition that causes them to slowly regress into a primitive, monstrous state.
The two girls Elizabeth (Beverley Washburn) and Virginia (Jill Banner) are already starting to display some slightly worrying tendencies, such as trapping postmen in nets and slicing their ears off, but the son Ralph (Sid Haig, who’s since gone on to cement his cult horror status with House of a 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Reject) is a mute, deranged animal.
When two distant cousins, Ann (Mary Mitchel) and Peter (Quinn K Redeker), arrive along with officious lawyer Schlocker (Karl Schanzer) and his secretary Emily (Carol Ohmart), they announce that they are to become the children’s guardian and inherit their mansion home. Bruno’s little family unit doesn’t take kindly to this idea and horrific, yet hilarious, hijinks ensue.
In the mid-60s the idea of a horror comedy wasn’t widely recognised, which led a lot of viewers to assume that Spider Baby was meant to be taken seriously and was just badly made, hence leading to its later reputation as a kitsch classic. This is clearly ridiculous as its pure farce and is intentionally hilarious. The characters are all caricatures and we’re meant to be firmly on the side of the mad family. The film is essentially a fairground haunted house ride as we watch the hapless squares bumble from one room to another encountering all manner of terrors before being satisfactorily bumped off in refreshingly bloodless ways.
Jack Hill went on to direct cult films of all shapes and sizes, including blaxploitation favourites Coffy and Foxy Brown, and even this early in his career it’s clear he know exactly how to please exploitation audiences while also subverting their expectations. With Spider Baby he’s clearly thrilled to be playing homage to the horror films of the 30s and 40s, as well as the B-Movies of the 50s that he grew up with. He includes plenty of sly references including Ann telling a bemused Bruno how much she loved the Wolfman, leading to the line “Are you a Wolfman fan Ann? This is meta years before anyone really knew what meta meant and it became fashionable. Then there’s the film’s utterly ridiculous ending, which is so audacious in how it ties up all the loose ends that you have to take your hat off to it.
It’s no surprise to see Joe Dante pop up in the excellent special features talking about how much he adores the film as he’s made a career recreating the joyously amoral, chaotic, tongue-in-cheek B-Movie tone of the movie in his films from Gremlins to Matinee to The Burbs. And he’s chosen an unbeatable cult classic to take inspiration from.
Overall Verdict: A peerless Blu-ray package for an uproariously fun and witty film that defines the phrase “cult classic. As one of the characters screams “this is the phoniest setup I’ve ever seen! and that’s exactly the point.
Special Features:
Audio commentary with director Jack Hill and star Sid Haig
Panel discussion from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences “FILM-TO-FILM Festival, featuring Jack Hill and stars Quinn K. Redeker and Beverly Washburn.
“The Hatching of Spider Baby Interviews with Jack Hill, Sid Haig, star Mary Mitchel, fan Joe Dante and more on the making of the film.
“Spider Stravinsky: The Cinema Sounds of Ronald Stein A tribute to the composer of The Terror’ and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman’ among others.
“The Merrye House Revisited Jack Hill revisits the original house that was used as the main location in the film.
Alternate opening title sequence.
Extended scene
Original trailer
Behind-the-scenes image gallery
The Host (1960)’ Jack Hill’s early short film featuring Sid Haig in his first starring role.
Collector’s booklet.
Reviewer: Adam Pidgeon