Spider Baby
PSYCHOTRONIC
•
1h 24m
1967 • United States • Directed by Jack Hill
This was the first solo feature by Jack Hill (Coffy, Switchblade Sisters, Foxy Brown), whom Quentin Tarantino dubbed 'the Howard Hawks of exploitation filmmaking', and it remains one of his wildest and weirdest.
The credits dub this 'the maddest story ever told', a promise that's well on the way to being fulfilled in the opening scene alone, when Virginia traps and kills a hapless deliveryman in her makeshift web.
She's one of three siblings who suffer from a unique genetic disorder that causes them to regress back to childhood, while retaining the physical strength and sexual maturity of adults.
Lon Chaney Jr gave one of his most memorable late performances as Bruno, their guardian and protector, who has managed to cover up their crimes until two distant relatives lay claim to their house. When they insist on moving in, Bruno has to cross his fingers and hope that the 'children' behave towards their new guests...
Up Next in PSYCHOTRONIC
-
Beyond the Door
Legendary filmmaker Ovidio G. Assonitis, whose 'Tentacles and Piranha II' sought to cash in on the killer fish craze spawned by 'Jaws', first hit pay dirt in 1974 with 'Beyond the Door' - a gloriously bonkers riff on 'The Exorcist' featuring Emmy Award-winning actress Juliet Mills and distinguish...
-
The Blancheville Monster (Italian ver...
1963 • Italy • Directed by Alberto De Martino
The perverse influence of Poe is used to great effect in Alberto De Martino’s The Blancheville Monster – a tale of family curses and madmen in the attic, as Emilie de Blancheville (Ombretta Colli, Gladiator of Rome) returns home to her brother Roderi...
-
Blood Feast
1963 • United States • Directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis
The filmography of late movie maverick Herschell Gordon Lewis brims with the mad, macabre, and just downright bizarre. But perhaps the most unhinged of all his directorial efforts, and certainly the most influential, must surely be his or...
