Spider Baby . Weekly Alibi . 08-18-97

Spider Baby

DIRECTED BY: Jack Hill

REVIEWED: 08-18-97

Another all-time great from the fabulous Jack Hill, and this one has its own terrific theme song, actually performed by "Videodrome" fave Lon Chaney Jr.! Lon is the caretaker of the Merry family, a bunch of twistoids who carry a "regressive gene." As they age, they become more animalistic, eventually becoming cannibals! Distant relative Carol Ohmart, who hopes to toss the current occupants out of the Merry house and take possession of the old place, comes to visit, along with her lawyer, his kewpie-doll assistant and kindly Uncle Pete. The severely weird teenage daughters (one of whom likes to pretend she's a spider and "sting" folks with a pair of kitchen knives) aren't real happy about this turn of events, and they set out to prevent Carol from getting her hands on the house. Cat-eating freak Sid Haig (in a great performance) is mostly oblivious but digs hanging from the wall outside Carol's bedroom and spying on her as she dolls herself up in a garter belt and stockings for no reason other than it's fun to look at! Uncle Pete drives drunk, Sid chases Carol through the woods, Spider Baby ties Pete up and comes on to him and the older members of the family make an appearance by crawling out of a pit in the basement! As people begin turning up dead, Lon decides it's time to put a stop to the Merry bloodline, heads out to score some dynamite, and before long we're zipping towards the "shock" ending--and trust me, you're gonna want to rewind this sucker and watch it again, 'cause it's just about the coolest movie ever. (Video Treasures)

--Scott Phillips

Other Films by Jack Hill
Coffy
Foxy Brown

Film Vault Suggested Links
Dead Alive
The Frighteners
Mother's Day

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