I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Bruno (Lon Chaney Jr) is a caretaker who looks after three siblings of the Meryee family who suffer from a rare and peculiar disease. However, when various people arrive at the house, mayhem ensues.The film lives up to the title. Jack Hill created a strange story which serves well with the horror comedy genre. Spider Baby was made on a low budget of an estimated $65, 000 and this resulted in some issues with the production. The release was delayed for 3 ½ years due to a bankruptcy of the film's original distributor, however, it finally released in 1967 through David L. Hewitt. After the film's release, it was only available in a pirated VHS format until Jack Hill discovered an original negative and released it as a 'Director's Cut'. Spider Baby has become a cult favourite. All the performances are top notch and the overall tone can be summed up as a mix of fun, shock and dark humour. If you like dark horror comedies this is a must watch!

A friend showed me his copy of "Spider Baby" a couple of years ago, and to tell the truth, in spite of my bent for odd ball fringe cinema, I wasn't sure what to make of it...although I had to admit, it had its moments. However, the second time around when I saw it on one of those free streaming channels on Roku, I was much more impressed with everything.I was especially impressed with Lon Chaney's demented sad sack performance, with the air of lunacy and degeneracy that surrounded the family, and yet the real affection and bonding they seemed to have with each other. And I could see that most of the scenery and props and lighting was very effective in getting what the director wanted to convey to the audience. Part "Fall of the House Of Usher", part "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", part "House of 1000 Corpses", and yet sustaining a more delicate balance of mood and sadness and menace than any of those worthy entries...this is quite the treat if you are into weird, old movies. Go see it if you like this sort of thing.

I stumbled on this movie a few years back knowing almost nothing about it, save for it starring the awesome Sid Haig. Somehow, in all of my wanderings through the horror graveyards, this movie had escaped my attention as it had not been the sort of movie frequently discussed in horror boards or history books. It was a wonderful surprise, then, to discover what an amazing, eerie treat this movie was to behold.The reason for its' hidden place in the horror archives has to do, mainly, with its' distribution history. The movie was filmed in 1964 but lost in limbo for several years when the producers went bankrupt. It finally saw the light of day in 68, though it was packaged in subpar drive-in double bills under several titles and never got the promotion that it so truly deserved. It wasn't until home video release in the 80s that it started to gather a real following and that has increased greatly over the last decade with a DVD release and inclusion in Netflix streaming, where I stumbled across it. As such, it's one of those rares movies that's probably more well-known to modern fans that it was to the horror geeks of its' time.Directed by Jack Hill, who had come from the Roger Corman family, working on movies like THE TERROR and DEMENTIA 13. He would go on to direct exploitation classics like FOXY BROWN. The movie stars Sid Haig, Beverly Washburn (from OLD YELLER) and Carol Ohmart (HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL), along with the legendary Lon Chaney Jr.The movie starts with a fun animated title scroll backed by a campy song sung by Chaney himself. Instantly, the viewer realizes that you are onto something different and fun. The opening scene sets the tone as character actor Mantan Moreland (KING OF THE ZOMBIES) is trying to deliver a letter to the Merrye House, only to be caught in the web of one of its' youngest, who sets to slicing him up. We are, then, introduced to a demented family that carries a strange malady causing them to digress to primordial monsters.While this is not the first example of a horror movie using a demented family as the villains (you can go back to THE OLD DARK HOUSE for that), you can certainly see the touchmarks that quite possibly influenced legions of horror movies to come. Lon Chaney's caretaker reminds me a lot of Jim Seidow's cook in Texas CHAINSAW. The presence of Sid Haig and the family dynamic certainly share a resemblance to HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES and the creatures in the basement remind me of PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS.The movie is decidedly low on gore, with very little bloodshed, beyond the initial killing of the postman. However, there is a strange, disturbed sexuality throughout the movie. Ohmart parades around her room in lingerie, arousing the lust of Haig's Ralph character. Her scenes, plus the partial disrobing of the secretary in the climax show a little more risqué flesh than most movies of its' time. There is also an implied rape and one of our young females attempts to seduce her uncle, all of which play to the theme that the cause of this strange malady is forbidden desire, namely incest.The movie looks absolutely gorgeous, especially when put into the context of its' budget. If you can, avoid the free streams on sites like YouTube and rent a copy of the DVD, which looks striking and shows a clear attention to cinematography that belies the independent nature and relative inexperience of its' cast and crew.You''ll certainly find some who don't "get" the love of this movie and that's probably got more to do with over-hyped expectations than the actual results, as this movie has started to gain a devoted cult following. If you're a fan of dirty, creepy horror films and looking for something new, this will not disappoint.

Spider Baby (1968) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Jack Hill's cult favorite about a loving caretaker (Lon Chaney, Jr.) who takes care of three mentally disturbed kids who just happen to enjoy killing. Over the past decade or so, SPIDER BABY has become one of the biggest cult films out there and it's easy to see why because it's just so strange and contains such a bizarre atmosphere that you can't help but get involved in its weirdness. I'm not going to sit here and say this is a great film or even a good one. I think there are all sorts of problems with the picture including a pacing issue but there's still enough here to make it worth viewing. For starters, people must remember that this was shot long before NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD so there's some fairly graphic moments here. Another thing that really works well are the performances, which I'd say are the greatest thing going. Chaney gives an extremely good performance and he really makes you feel as if his character loves this kids and would do anything for them. Visually you can tell the actor is in the middle of his alcoholic days and this tough look really just adds to the softness of the character in a strange way. Beverly Washburn, Jill Banner and Sid Haig are all terrific as the three mental cases and all of them really do a fantastic job with their performances. They're not Oscar-worthy performances but they certainly nail the weirdness. Mantan Moreland appears briefly and is very memorable as well. What really separates this film from many other "B" movies that were made during this era is its atmosphere. There's no question that the ultra low-budget helps but there's just something rather creepy about the entire atmosphere. SPIDER BABY isn't a masterpiece but there's certainly not another film out there like it.