Spider Baby
| Spider Baby | |
|---|---|
Film poster
|
|
| Directed by |
Jack Hill Bart Patton (assistant) |
| Produced by | Paul Monka Gil Lasky |
| Written by | Jack Hill |
| Starring |
Lon Chaney, Jr. Carol Ohmart Quinn Redeker Beverly Washburn Jill Banner Sid Haig Mary Mitchel Karl Schanzer Mantan Moreland |
| Music by | Ronald Stein |
| Cinematography | Alfred Taylor |
| Edited by | Jack Hill |
| Distributed by | American General Pictures |
|
Release date
|
1968 |
|
Running time
|
86 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $65,000 |
Spider Baby is a 1968black horror comedy film, written and directed by Jack Hill. It stars Lon Chaney, Jr. as Bruno, the chauffeur and caretaker of three orphaned siblings who suffer from "Merrye Syndrome", which causes them to mentally, socially, and physically regress backwards down the evolutionary ladder starting in early puberty. Carol Ohmart, Quinn Redeker, Beverly Washburn, Jill Banner, Sid Haig, Mary Mitchel, Karl Schanzer and Mantan Moreland also star.
Three children of the Merrye family live in a decaying rural mansion with their guardian and chauffeur, Bruno (Chaney). The children suffer from "Merrye Syndrome", a genetic affliction unique to members of their family, which causes them to mentally, socially and physically regress down the evolutionary ladder, starting in late childhood. Two distant relatives arrive with their lawyer and his secretary in order to examine and claim the property as rightful heirs. Bruno's shaky control over the children deteriorates; murder, chaos and insanity ensue.
The siblings, Ralph (Haig), Virginia (Banner) and Elizabeth (Washburn), are inbred, demented and dangerous. These overgrown children exhibit playful innocence mixed with brutality and feral madness. Virginia is known as "Spider Baby" because of her obsession with spiders. She stalks and eats bugs, moving with a strange and spider-like grace. She also enjoys trapping unsuspecting victims in her rope "web", "stinging" them to death using two butcher knives. After murdering an innocent delivery man (Moreland), Virginia cuts off one of his ears, which she keeps in a match box.
Ralph is a sexually advanced but mentally deficient simpleton who moves through the house via the dumb-waiter. Unable to speak, Ralph communicates with only grunts and leers. He becomes sexually aroused with the arrival of the two visiting women.
The mysterious Aunt Clara, Aunt Martha, and Uncle Ned, who have regressed even further than the Merrye siblings, live in the cellar. The skeleton of the family's dead father is kept in a bedroom and is kissed goodnight by Virginia.
...
Wikipedia