Spider Baby
Short description
The Merrye family lives in a run-down country house, its youngest generation made up of sisters Virginia and Elizabeth and their older brother Ralph. All three share a hereditary condition that only affects their bloodline: from late childhood onward, their minds and social instincts slowly slip backwards while their bodies keep growing. Bruno, the family chauffeur, promised their late father he would look after them, and he does what he can to keep their household running and their behaviour hidden from outsiders. That balance is disturbed by the arrival of distant relatives and their lawyer, who have plans for the family's inheritance and expect to find the children easy to manage.
Jack Hill wrote the screenplay and directed the film, which followed his work on The Terror and came before Macabre Serenade, Pit Stop and a run of pictures through the 1970s, among them Coffy and Foxy Brown. Lon Chaney Jr. plays Bruno, with Carol Ohmart and Quinn K. Redeker as the visiting relatives, and Beverly Washburn, Jill Banner and Sid Haig as the three siblings. The supporting cast also includes Mantan Moreland. Produced by Gil Lasky and Paul Monka through Lasky-Monka, the film mixes horror and comedy.
It drew a modest response on IMDb, where it holds 6.7 out of 10 across roughly 8,800 votes, and a similar score on TMDB from a much smaller number of ratings. A critics' rating of 6.6 out of 10 from 16 reviews is close to the audience figures, suggesting the two groups have generally viewed it alike.
What's left behind the scenes
- In the 1990s, the film was considered lost until it was discovered that a 17mm VHS tape version with poor sound quality existed. Director and screenwriter Jack Hill found the original negative, made a clean digital copy, and released it. The film's copyright had lapsed, and Hill was able to release the copy as his own property. Hill included a scene cut from the original release and called the resulting version the 'director's cut'.
- The film was shot in 12 days in August 1964. On the small stage without air conditioning, the heat was often unbearable. On some days, Lon Chaney Jr. (1906-1973) had to wipe streams of sweat from his face between takes.
- In the scene where Ralph descends the wall of the house and looks into the window, Syd Haig (1939-2019) was lowered using a rope tied to his feet. Blood rushed to his head, the actor panicked, so the scene was filmed very quickly.
- During a fight scene with Mary Mitchell, Syd Haig had a temperature of over 104 degrees Fahrenheit due to the flu. He was examined every few hours by a doctor stationed on set for this purpose and periodically given an injection.
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