Curse of the Black Widow (TV 1977)

Tony Franciosa plays a detective who's on the trail of a murderer whose mutilated and predominantly male victims are found encased in silken cocoons. He eventually tracks the killer's path ... See full summary »

Director:

Dan Curtis

Writers:

Robert Blees (teleplay), Earl W. Wallace (teleplay),

Stars:

Anthony Franciosa, Donna Mills, Patty Duke

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Franciosa	...	Mark Higbie (as Tony Franciosa)
Donna Mills	...	Leigh Lockwood
Patty Duke	...	Laura Lockwood (as Patty Duke Astin)
June Lockhart	...	Mrs. Lockwood
June Allyson	...	Olga
Max Gail	...	Ragsdale
Jeff Corey	...	Aspa Soldado
Roz Kelly	...	Flaps
Sid Caesar	...	Lazlo Cozart
Vic Morrow	...	Lt. Gully Conti
Michael Delano	...	Carlo Lenzi (as Michael DeLano)
Robert Burton	...	Jeff Wallace
Bryan O'Byrne	...	Oakes - Zoo Watchman
Tracy Curtis	...	Gymnast
Irene Cagen	...	Rita (as Irene Forest)

Storyline

Tony Franciosa plays a detective who's on the trail of a murderer whose mutilated and predominantly male victims are found encased in silken cocoons. He eventually tracks the killer's path to Los Angeles, where he discovers her true identity - a woman who was bitten by black widow spiders as a child, ...but that's only the beginning of the story.

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Plot Keywords:

spider | victim | death | murder | twins | 

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Genres:

Horror | Crime | Mystery

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 September 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Love Trap

Company Credits

Production Co:

ABC Circle Films, American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Dan Curtis Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Olga walks to the house to look for Laura, she is wearing black flat shoes. When she enters the house, she is wearing black high heel pumps.

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Quotes

[Detective Higbie and Flaps have found the body of Mrs. Lockwood]
Mark Higbie: I thought she was dead...
Flaps: She is now.

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Connections

Featured in Svengoolie: Curse of the Black Widow (1997)

User Reviews

Could have been fun, but doesn't cut it

Some movies have some of the right ingredients, but the execution is where it falters. Sometimes it's due to a low budget, lack of time, or even a lack of talent and imagination. One thing that the 1970s gave us is a lot of great made for TV Horror films that are filled with imagination and still delight to this day. But of course not all of them are going to be something special. Take this this little number for example, which has a pretty good cast of veterans and a concept that sounds fun. If you'd seen 'The Night Stalker' and it's sequel before this then you'd find this is a similar movie. Unfortunately, it ends up being a poor man's version.

Pros: Great cast of veterans, decent performances. Score that's at times funky, creepy at others. Some good chills. Picks up and gets more interesting in the second half. Not too bad effects for a TV movie or for the time.

Cons: Slow first half. Nothing new here. Attempts to be tongue cheek aren't very successful. Mostly forgettable. Too talky.

Final thoughts: I really wanted to like this movie, but it just didn't quite do it for me. It's really too bad because there are some good elements here, but they don't add up to very much. There are much better 1970s made for TV movies than this and also ones involving spiders. Do yourself a favor and skip this and see maybe 'Kingdom of the Spiders' or 'Arachnophobia' instead.

My rating: 2/5