Spider Baby

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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.
Sid Haig
Jill Banner
Beverly Washburn
Music by Ronald Stein
Cinematography Alfred Taylor
Editing by Jack Hill
Distributed by American General Pictures
Release dates 1968 (filmed 1964)
Running time 86 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget $65,000

Spider Baby is a 1964 black comedy horror 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. Sid Haig, Jill Banner, Carol Ohmart, Quinn Redeker, Mary Mitchel, and Karl Schanzer also star.

Plot

Three children of the Merrye family live in a decaying rural mansion with their guardian and chauffeur, Bruno (Lon Chaney, Jr.). 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. [1]

The siblings, Ralph (Sid Haig), Virginia (Jill Banner) and Elizabeth (Beverly 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 (Mantan Moreland), Virginia cuts off one of his ears, which she keeps in a match box.

Virginia's brother, 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.

Two mysterious aunts and an uncle 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.

Bruno, the children's sworn and loving protector, has been able to maintain control and keep the family secrets hidden. But when the snooping, greedy cousin Emily (Carol Ohmart) and her brother Peter (Quinn Redeker) arrive to take possession of the property, the bizarre behavior of the Merrye clan is revealed.

Peter, Emily, their lawyer Schlocker (Karl Schanzer) and his assistant Ann Morris (Mary Mitchel) insist on staying at the house. Dinner is served after Ralph happily kills a cat for the main course. The revolting meal includes insects, mushrooms, and a garden salad made of weeds.

Bruno leaves on an errand. Despite warning the children to "behave", events spiral downhill as the Merrye kids run merrily amok. Virginia and Elizabeth murder Schlocker and dump his body into the basement, where the demented beastly relatives apparently eat him. The basement dwellers are unleashed. Meanwhile, Emily models some black nightclothes as Ralph is peeking in. After being chased and then raped by Ralph, Emily becomes sexually aggressive and murderous.

Bruno returns and realizes that he has lost control of the children and of their secret unsavory lives. He lights a bundle of dynamite, blowing himself, the house, and the children to bits. This seems to kill all carriers of "Merrye Syndrome."

Smug surviving cousin Peter, who managed to escape the house with Ann, is recounting the story as the movie comes to a close: addressing the audience, he explains that, as the sole remaining heir, he inherited the Merryes' vast family fortune, married Ann, and wrote a book on the strange "Merrye Syndrome" phenomenon. He adds that his particular branch of the family was distant enough to be immune to the syndrome. However, the camera cuts to Peter's young daughter, who eerily resembles Virginia. We see her admiring a spider in its web. Has the curse been eradicated? Or does it remain to afflict further generations?

Production notes

Several references are made to the 1941 "scary movie," The Wolf Man, which is one of Lon Chaney's most famous character creations. In addition, Chaney sings the theme song, a parody of the "Monster Mash," during the film's opening titles.

The film was shot between August and September 1964. However, due to the original producer's bankruptcy, the film was not released until January 18, 1968. Spider Baby suffered from poor marketing as well as a series of title changes, being billed alternatively as The Liver Eaters, Attack of the Liver Eaters, Cannibal Orgy, and The Maddest Story Ever Told. Although these alternate titles have little or no relation to the plot, the latter two appear in the lyrics of the title song sung by Chaney: "This cannibal orgy is strange to behold in the maddest story ever told." The opening titles of the film also dub it Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told.

The cinematographer was Alfred Taylor, who had previously worked on the film The Atomic Brain. The entire production cost about $65,000, and took only 12 days to shoot in black and white.[2]

Cast

Legacy

Stage adaptations

A musical version of Spider Baby has played small community theaters, looking for a wider audience. It opened at the Empty Space theater in Bakersfield, California, on Halloween 2004. In October 2007, it opened in Brookings, Oregon at the local Grange Hall, and in Orlando, Florida at the Black Orchid Theater.

In 2009 the musical toured with stops in Fresno, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Tehachapi and San Francisco, California. A 2010 tour a multi-city tour had stops in Las Vegas, Nevada, Toronto, Ontario and Los Angeles.

In 2012 it played in San Diego California at the 10th Avenue Arts Centre as part of Gamercon]and Terror at the 10th, respectively.

The soundtrack for the musical version was the final project at Buck Owens' recording studio in Bakersfield, California.

Scenes from the various productions can be found on YouTube.

In music

The film's theme song has been covered at least twice: By the band Fantômas on their film-score covers album The Director's Cut, and by crossover thrash band The Accüsed on 1988's Martha Splatterhead's Maddest Stories Ever Told as "The Maddest Story Ever Told."

Remake

In 2007, independent film producer Tony DiDio began preparing a remake of the film, featuring the 1968 version's director, Jack Hill, as executive producer, and Jeff Broadstreet as director.[3]

Broadstreet stated in an interview, "We’re going to stick very closely to the basic story of the original film, and at the same time dig deeper into the backstory of the inbred Merrye family". The new script by Robert Valding "expands on the themes of unconditional love, and also the story elements of cannibalism and the mutant relatives in the basement".[3]

The film was expected to have a budget of $3–5 million and was set for release in 2008 but stalled in production.[4]

Official website

In 2009, Spider Baby writer/director Jack Hill and END Films launched the "official Spider Baby website," which includes historical information about the film, director/cast biographies, video clips, photo galleries and a store that sells exclusive merchandise.

Preservation and Archival Status

In 2012, the film was preserved by the Academy Film Archive, using the original camera negative. A new fine grain master positive, new duplicate negative, and new prints were created, as well as analog and digital soundtrack masters.

DVD release

In 1999, a DVD of the film's original laserdisc transfer was released, including a cast and crew reunion and a commentary track by Hill. In 2007, Dark Sky Films released a version featuring Hill's director's cut, a new commentary with co-star Sid Haig, and multiple documentaries on the making of the film.

See also

  • Smith Estate (Los Angeles, California), the Merrye House

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ "The Spider Baby Website". Spiderbabyonline.com. Retrieved 2013-02-25. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Fangoria - America's Horror Magazine
  4. ↑ Spider Baby (2008)

External links

Films directed by Jack Hill
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