Spider Baby (Directors cut)
by Jack Hill
List Price:
Our Price: $14.99
You Save: $4.99 (25%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $6.58 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jill Banner; Jr. Lon Chaney; Sid Haig; Joan Keller; Mary Mitchell; Mantan Moreland; Carol Ohmart; Quinn K. Redeker; Karl Schanzer; Beverly WashburnDirector: Jack Hill
Brand: MPI
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: 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
Studio: MPI Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Spider Baby (Directors cut)
Movie Review: They're talking about us Virginia..........I know!
Summary: 5 Stars
My god....this is a cult classic film that I just accidently happened to stumble upon. Without this film there would be no devils rejects, no texas Chainsaw massacre, no rocky horror picture show, not to mention a load of other films. This film is funny....it's more darkly comic than anything else. It should not be taken seriously, and yet there are some truly terrifying moments. Excellent, really excellent. such a shame Jill Banner died at such a young age...she had the makings of a terrific actress.
Summary of Spider Baby (Directors cut)
This highly influential cult classic from writer-director Jack Hill (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 whom suffer from a rare genetic malady that causes its victims to 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 (Lon Chaney Jr.), they manage to terrorize anyone or anything which passes through the gates. So when the family is visited by a pair of distant relatives and their greedy lawyer, a wild night of murderous thrills ensues.
Dark Sky Films proudly presents the Director's Cut of Spider Baby, transferred and restored in High Definition from the original 35mm negative under the personal supervision of Jack Hill and featuring previously lost footage, rounded out with never-before-seen featurettes created.
Bonus Features Include:
Feature length-commentary with writer-director Jack Hill and actor Sid Haig
"The Hatching of Spider Baby" (32 min featurette)
"Spider Stravinsky: The Cinema Sounds of Ronald Stein" (11 min featurette)
"The Merrye House Revisited" (8 min featurette)
Still Gallery
Alternate Opening Title Sequence ("Cannibal Orgy")
Extended Scene
Re-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
Comedy DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Terror TrainRelease date: 2004-09-07; DVD
Best price: $4.94
Price in other shops:
The BurningRelease date: 2007-09-11; DVD
Best price: $7.15
Price in other shops:
Fiend without a Face - Criterion CollectionRelease date: 2001-01-30; DVD
Best price: $21.00
Price in other shops:
Spider Baby (Special Edition)MPI; Release date: 2007-09-25; DVD
Best price: $8.22
Price in other shops:
Equinox (Criterion Collection)Release date: 2006-06-20; DVD
Best price: $27.50
Price in other shops:
13 GhostsSony; Release date: 2001-09-11; DVD
Best price: $8.56
Price in other shops:
The FuryRelease date: 2001-09-04; DVD
Best price: $7.35
Price in other shops:
The Stepford WivesParamount; Release date: 2004-06-15; DVD
Best price: $7.43
Price in other shops:
Ju-on (The Grudge)Lions Gate; Release date: 2004-11-09; DVD
Best price: $5.31
Price in other shops:
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Restored Authorized Edition)Release date: 2002-09-24; DVD
Best price: $10.89
Price in other shops:
Prom Night (Widescreen)CURTIS,JAMIE LEE; Release date: 2007-09-04; DVD
Best price: $2.13
Price in other shops:
Fox Horror Classics Collection (The Lodger / Hangover Square / The Undying Monster)Fox; Release date: 2007-10-09; DVD
Best price: $16.62
Price in other shops:
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2-Disc Ultimate Edition)MPI; Release date: 2006-09-26; DVD
Best price: $9.96
Price in other shops:
Basket Case (20th Anniversary Special Edition)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2001-07-17; DVD
Best price: $5.68
Price in other shops:
Witchfinder GeneralTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-09-11; DVD
Best price: $6.54
Price in other shops:
The BurningRelease date: 2007-09-11; DVD
Best price: $7.76
Price in other shops:
Eaten Alive (Two-Disc Special Edition)MPI; Release date: 2007-09-25; DVD
Best price: $14.95
Price in other shops:
Who Can Kill a Child?MPI; Release date: 2007-06-26; DVD
Best price: $11.97
Price in other shops:
Tales From the Crypt / Vault of Horror (Double Feature)TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-09-11; DVD
Best price: $7.35
Price in other shops:
From Beyond (Unrated Director's Cut)TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-09-11; DVD
Best price: $12.11
Price in other shops: