Spider Baby (Director's cut)
by Jack Hill
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jill Banner, Joan Keller, Lon Chaney Jr., Mary Mitchell, Sid HaigDirector: Jack Hill
Brand: MPI
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 84 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-09-25
Audience Rating: Unrated
Model: DVD8142
Studio: MPI Home Entertainment
Product features:
- This highly influential cultic from writer-director Jack Hill (The Switchblade Sisters, Foxy Brown) tells the demented and darkly comic tale of the Merrye children -- Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn), Virginia (Jill Banner) and Ralph (Sid Haig)-- all of who suffer from a rare genetic malady in which they mentally regress to a condition of "pre-human savagery and cannibalism." The children l
Movie Reviews of Spider Baby (Director's cut)
Movie Review: Want to Play Spider?
Summary: 5 Stars
Before I begin let me say that Spider Baby is one of my 4 favorite films of all time. Jack Hill's comments are worth the price of the film alone to anyone who appreciates the struggles and gambles of low budget film making at the start of their career. This is only part of the extras, but let's sharpen our knives and go bug hunting with the movie itself.
Jack Hill's horror, cult classic tells the tale of the last of the Merrye family who suffer from a degenerative disease of the brain that begins at about 10 years of age due to inbreeding. The Merrye children could be said to be homicidal, cannibalistic, pyschotic and yet at times show childlike innocence and charm. Their two aunts (that have proceeded them into total madness)live (if you can call it that) in the basement. The Merrye family is cared for by their devoted caregiver and chauffeur, Bruno who has made a deathbed promise to the children's father to always protect and look after the children.
Enter into the story an Aunt wanting to take over the family holdings, her nieve brother, her sleezy lawyer and the lawyer's beautiful, playful, and easily unnerved, legal assistant.
While Spider Baby is a low budget survivor of lawsuits, drive-ins and hidden copies; it has endured the test of time due to the acting talents of the cast. Lon Chaney Jr. (Bruno) could count this as one of his last films and Jill Banner (Virginia aka Spider Baby) as her first movie role. Sid Haig (Ralph) is an art form unto himself with his contortions and facial expressions. Beverly Washburn (Elizabeth) is so compelling with her rollercoater worth of moods. Carol Ohmart (Aunt Emily Howe) is both sexual and evil in her selfish motives. Her brother Quinn K Redeker (Uncle Peter Howe) is both narrator and out to lunch friend to all. Mary Mitchel (Ann) is pure comedy relief, perfect victim and mirror to any scene she is in. Mantan Moreland (the messenger) brought a politically incorrect, African-American role to the beginning of the film which has to be appreciated for a comedy style that had faded from movies by 1964. The last character I would like to mention is the house and grounds themselves which have horror, comedy and degeneration that so describes the entire movie. The house and grounds are in a sense the spider web.
Overall, the roles are wonderfully defined, the story is told well, the violence is off camera yet clear. The strength of the acting lies in the non-verbal facial, use of hands and motion.
There are really two endings in the same movie. The first is both twisted and logical in it's climax. The second is a surprise and leaves one wishing for a sequel that never happened.
This film is so delicious and sickening in the same bite. Spider Baby will make you laugh and scream in the same breath.
Want to play Spider?
Summary of Spider Baby (Director's cut)
This highly influential cult classic from writer-director Jack Hill (The Switchblade Sisters Foxy Brown) tells the demented and darkly comic tale of the Merrye children -- Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn) Virginia (Jill Banner) and Ralph (Sid Haig)-- all of who suffer from a rare genetic malady in which they mentally regress to a condition of "pre-human savagery and cannibalism."The children live in the old family mansion and though under the cautious guardianship of chauffeur Bruno (screen icon Lon Chaney Jr.) they manage to terrorize and kill anyone or anything which passes through the gates.Transferred and restored in High Definition from the 35mm original negatives under the supervision of Jack Hill.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: NR UPC: 030306814292 Manufacturer No: DVD8142Re-titled Spider Baby in 1968 after the original title Cannibal Orgy, Jack Hill's black and white proto horror-comedy influenced numerous films, especially those featuring boxed or bagged body parts, like Phantasm's yellow-bleeding finger and Blue Velvet's ear found in the meadow. Spider Baby is about an inbred family cursed with Merrye's Disease, which transforms even sweet children, Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn), Virginia (Jill Banner), and Ralph (Sid Haig) into murderous cannibals. Virginia steals the opening scene, during which she plays "spider," cutting the ear off a messenger who is sent to their decrepit Victorian mansion to deliver news of the house's confiscation. Caretaker Bruno (Lon Chaney Jr.) futilely chides Virginia in preparation for a visit from their oblivious, snooty cousin, Emily Howe (Carol Ohmart) and her husband, Peter Howe (Quinn Redeker), who plan to take the home. As more people pile into the house for a meeting, including lawyer Schlocker (Karl Schnazer) and his innocent assistant, Ann (Mary Mitchell), the kids cut loose, hacking everyone up and feeding them to their uncles locked in the basement. Jack Hill, whose films range from horror (Switchblade Sisters) to Blaxploitation (Coffy, Foxy Brown), made sure in Spider Baby to balance comedy with spook so its cannibalistic themes scare but don't absolutely disgust. A brilliant dinner party scene, in which the Merryes serve roasted cat and garden bugs, passing on the meat because they "don't eat dead things," is one of the tensest and funniest cannibal film scenes ever made, up there with Fuad Ramses' Egyptian feast in Roger Corman's Blood Feast. This special edition DVD includes interesting featurettes that detail the making of the movie and the whereabouts of the real mansion, though the best part of Spider Baby is pondering how bizarre this film must have seemed to the 1960s youth. ?Trinie Dalton
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