Strange that after watching Spider Baby, I should flick thru the channels while rewinding the tape and come across a late night broadcast of Lon Chaney Jr. in The Wolf Man. Coincidence? Apparently so, but after watching a goodly portion (I hadn't seen Wolf Man since childhood), I realized what a shame it is the world will always remember Chaney Jr. for his wooden performance in what was basically formula studio fare while remaining painfully ignorant of his superior performance in Spider Baby, itself a far superior film.
Director Jack Hill's blacker than black comedy-horror was shot on a shoestring budget and displays more imagination than a dozen big budget bores rolled into one. The always amusing Sid Haig and a stellar cast of nobodies round out this tale of a fun loving, albeit deranged family suffering the effects of a rare congenital disease, all the while cared for by their loving chauffeur (Chaney). When trouble arrives in the form of some greedy distant relatives with their Hitler-esque lawyer in tow, well, you really have to see this film to believe it. Spider Baby is simply a blast!
Director Jack Hill's blacker than black comedy-horror was shot on a shoestring budget and displays more imagination than a dozen big budget bores rolled into one. The always amusing Sid Haig and a stellar cast of nobodies round out this tale of a fun loving, albeit deranged family suffering the effects of a rare congenital disease, all the while cared for by their loving chauffeur (Chaney). When trouble arrives in the form of some greedy distant relatives with their Hitler-esque lawyer in tow, well, you really have to see this film to believe it. Spider Baby is simply a blast!