If you suffer from arachnophobia this is a review best skipped as eight legged beasties and indeed two legged ones that are descending into the order of the Araneae lurk here. Spider Baby aka ‘Cannibal Orgy’ was made way back in 1964 by Corman graduate Jack Hill and purported to be ‘The Maddest Story Ever Told.’ It certainly proved very maddening as once completed it was completely re-edited (read ruined) by the producers and remained unreleased due to its now incoherent narrative. Following this the producers went bust and it remained largely unseen until 1968 and pretty much vanished into obscurity until very poor bootleg prints surfaced in the home video age. In this time Hill had gone on to make a career as writer and director and was no doubt best known in the Blaxploitation genre for The Big Doll House and Bird Cage, Foxy Brown and Coffy between 1971-74. Pam Grier’s career had well and truly taken off thanks to the huge success of these films but was really frustrated at Spider Baby remaining lost in obscurity and it was something that thankfully he made the decision to track down in a decent print and restore to its glory for all to see. Finally with the worldwide Blu-Ray release on Arrow any other versions out there can be replaced as the spider is crawling out its lair to spook a new generation a mere 49 years after it was made!
Sitting down to watch it for the first time (it was not a film I wanted to see a shoddy copy of in the past) I was immediately aware that I was going to be in for a fun ride. Having read about the film and seen stills from it I had a feeling that it was going to take in certain aspects of some of my favourite black and white genre flicks although with the exception of a couple such as Tod Browning’s 1932 classic Freaks it was going to be the one doing the influencing. Indeed the title music and the great cartoon characters that went with it sounded vaguely familiar. It’s a Monster Mash and a half and inspired one firm fan Mike Patton to include his version on the Fantomas Director’s Cut album.
The two pervading factors that meld the story together are the setting of the old dark house and that of the dysfunctional family unit, both play a major part and are the very essence of the movie itself. We are introduced narratively to a story about the unfortunate Merrye family who due to inbreeding have unfortunately been genetically regressing back to animal state. Darwin would have been shocked as no apes are these young adults but we have the dog boy Ralph played excellently by the 29 year old and bald as a coot Sid Haig, the spider girl Virginia (Jill Banner) and older but still uncertain which part of the animal kingdom she is heading for sister Elizabeth (Beverley Washburn). Looking after the brood at the bequest of the deceased patriarchal head is Bruno played with great kindness and huge warmth by Lon Chaney Jr who should certainly need no introduction. It is interesting to have Chaney Jr and Haig in this and compare them, as one was in the twilight years of their illustrious career and the other was just starting out.
There are some shocking moments to be had when we meet the family for the first time through the eyes and soon to be chopped off ears of a messenger (Mantan Moreland playing one of the last examples of the colonial black man )who has come to deliver a letter which fortuitously heralds their doom. It would appear cousins are on the scene along with a lawyer and have decided to come and see their relatives and decide what is best for them, breaking up the family and upsetting the very precarious applecart they have become accustomed to along the way. One of the favourite parts of the film is undoubtedly the meal scene where everyone breaks bread together and there is no pussyfooting around things here or worming your way out of eating the delicacies the family are tucking into. You may think that as meat speeds up the degenerative process and the family are vegetarian things would be fairly safe but oh no. This has all the trimmings of the humour that the film is rife with and yes I found myself giggling lots through the duration. It also reminds of other notorious dinner table scenes such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre although thankfully not as horrible and perhaps the surreal and messy eating habits seen in Nikos Nikolaidis 1990 head-screwer Singapore Sling. When you think about it you may well find yourself full turn at Rob Zombie’s House Of A Thousand Corpses too, well I sure did.
The old dark house is a place of much secrecy and as people bed down for the night it unveils its mysteries mainly at the expense of the interlopers such as the snooping lawyer Mr. Schlocker (Karl Schanzer) who looks a cross between Oliver Hardy, Groucho Mark and Adolf Hitler. There are big spiders and owls and mysterious cabinets and hidden rooms and what of other family members? It’s all done in a fun way and the horrors are hardly in the style of Curt McDowell’s 1975 hardcore Thundercrack but I reckon they could have inspired that infamous movie too. It is the Merrye’s who are the real stars though and they steal every scene they are in. There is an innocent vivaciousness about the girls in particular and the look of lunacy that they get in their eyes when they pick up sharp objects is really unsettling. They do a perfect job of straddling the lines between normality and being downright unhinged really well. It was a great shame to read that Jill Banner died in an automobile accident at the far too young age of 35. Sid Haig is barking (and I have to use that pun) and shows what a great character actor he was to become after he had this opportunity, Hill certainly helped launch his career throwing this bone at him!
Basically if you like fast paced (it might be old but it sure aint creaky) fun with an overlaying ghoulish Gothicism about it and the vibe of a dangerous Munsters / Adams Family esque clan this is certainly the film for you. The one mistake I made was not realising there was two hours or so of extras to watch and as I write this review I am going to have to wait till night falls again to see these and write about them!
Having done so I feel like I have been flooded by a huge wealth of information and that is without watching the audio commentary with Haig and Hill. First up is a ‘Hatching Of Spider Baby’ a making of documentary where the film is discussed in depth by players and the film makers. They all fondly remember the 12 day shoot and have plenty of anecdotes and cinematographer Alfred Taylor is especially informative about the techniques he used to get the films shadow and light effects. One thing that was a surprise was to learn more about Jill Banner and the fact she walked into casting and nailed the role having had little acting experience at all. Also at the time of death she was romantically involved with Marlon Brando who stated she was the one true woman for him!
Following this there is Spider Stravinsky, a short look at the score work of the late Ronald Stein. His music certainly adds to the ambience of the film and I knew very little of him so found this equally informative and amusing on the parts where his wife and biographer talk about getting Chaney Jr to voice, sing the main theme music.
We pop back to the Merrye House to see the now listed building pretty much unchanged from the outside and swelter in the glow of the California sun as Hill takes us through the various parts of the grounds where key scenes were filmed.
Then there is an extensive talk at a restoration screening of this along with the other classic of its era Herk Harvey’s Carnival Of Souls (1962). We are told about the work that went into getting the film looking so good and the fun of tracking it down and there is a question and answer session with Hill, Beverley Washburn and Quinn K Redeker, what the latter is on who knows, it may have just been life but he is an eccentric blur to watch and hear.
After this and numerous extended scenes etc we have a short film The Host directed (but not restored) by Hill in 1960. This stars a younger Haig with hair and a horse in a surreal Western setting with a touch of the bizarre about it. The half hour running time still makes it a bit slow as you will quickly guess where it is going but it is certainly worth the once over. All in all what a package and this is surely the ultimate and best version of Spider Baby you are ever likely to see.
Whenever you choose to watch Spider Baby it will instantly feel as though it is Halloween and it is really no surprise that it has the cult status and is loved by so many genre enthusiasts after all this time. The only real question I was left with at the end of this highly enjoyable viewing experience is how the hell come Tim Burton has not remade it with wifey and Depp? I’m sure the thought must have crossed his mind!
Pete Woods
http://www.spiderbabyonline.com
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