Welcome to the Movie Club! Today’s movie is Jack Hill’s horror-comedy Spider Baby!
Spider Baby follows the surviving members of the Merrye family, Ralph, Virginia and Elizabeth, all of whom are afflicted with “advanced Merrye syndrome” which causes them to regress into a feral and infantile state. They are looked after by their caretaker and chauffeur, Bruno, who tries to keep them in check while some extended family members visit and attempt to claim the family’s property for themselves.
First released in 1967 and shot for a budget of $65,000, Spider Baby didn’t make much of an initial splash, but has earned a cult following over the years. Its box office results are not available, but it does currently hold an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and would go on to inspire other influential horror films.
Trivia:
- Spider Baby was first shot in 1964, but due to the film’s producers going bankrupt, it wasn’t theatrically released until 1967
- The movie’s original title was Cannibal Orgy, or the Maddest Story Ever Told before it was changed to Spider Baby, and it was also released under the name The Liver Eaters for a Lon Chaney, Jr. double feature.(which also included Dr. Terror’s Gallery of Horrors renamed as The Blood Suckers)
- An antique rocking chair belonging to Jack Hill’s grandmother was accidentally destroyed by Quinn Redeker while being used as a prop on set.
Up Next: October is one of the rare months where we get 3 meetings, so spooky season will continue with the found footage horror film Banned From Broadcast: Saiko! The Large Family. We will meet to discuss it on October 16, although it seems this movie is very obscure (as far as I can tell it was only released in Japan) so there are no official streaming sources. YouTube wins again:
