Kiss of the Tarantula (1976)

A disturbed teenage girl unleashes her pet tarantula against her "enemies."

Director:

Chris Munger

Writers:

Daniel Cady, Warren Hamilton Jr.

Stars:

Suzanna Ling, Eric Mason, Herman Wallner

Cast

Credited cast:
Suzanna Ling	...	Susan Bradley
Eric Mason	...	Walter Bradley
Herman Wallner	...	John Bradley
Linda Spatz	...	Tracy
Beverly Eddins	...	Martha Bradley
Patricia Landon	...	Nancy Drury
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Burrows	...	Mr. Price
Jared Davis	...	Dr. Morgan
Rebecca Eddins	...	Susan Bradley - Age 10
Susan Eddins	...	Susan Bradley - Age 5
W. James Eddins	...	Sgt. Wes Matthews
Rita French	...	Joan Murphy
George Gingell	...	Ralph Miller
William Guhl	...	Wayne Richards
Art Lane	...	Security Guard

Storyline

John Bradley operates and lives in a mortuary along with his wife, Martha, and daughter, Susan, who collects tarantula spiders and has always been ostracized by her friends because... well she's a little bit strange.When Susan discovers that mommy dearest is plotting to have dear old dad killed by her secret lover, who is also dad's brother, she places a tarantula in mommy's bed while she sleeps. Abruptly awakened by the spider, mom dies of a heart attack. This bizarre little episode apparently puts sweet little Susan over the top. Later as a teenager, Susan uses her pet tarantulas in acts of revenge against her terrified classmates, who have been tormenting her for way too long. And innocent looking Susan doesn't stop there, making good plot use of her father's mortuary and her creepy little playmates!

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Plot Keywords:

tarantula | spider | independent film

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Taglines:

So silent. So deadly. So final.

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

May 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Shudder

Filming Locations:

Columbus, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema-Vu

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References Dirty Harry (1971)

User Reviews

Revenge of the Spider Woman

I would say that this was inspired by the success of Willard which came out the previous year but the action is provided by spiders instead of rats. How about the scenes at the drive-in movie theatre? A volkswagen contains four victims who are screaming at the top of their lungs and no one comes to investigate. Were they and the spider woman the only ones at the drive-in? The spider woman spends time fending off the lecherous advances of her uncle, played by Eric Mason, whose acting style reminded me of William Shatner.