Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told
A caretaker devotes himself to three demented adults after their father’s death.
- Director: Jack Hill
- Genre:Comedy / Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller
- Runtime:81 minutes
Cast
Lon Chaney Jr. : Bruno (as Lon Chaney)
Carol Ohmart : Emily
Quinn K. Redeker: Peter (as Quinn Redeker)
Beverly Washburn: Elizabeth
Jill Banner : Virginia
Official Site:-
Three children of the Merrye family live in a decaying rural mansion with their guardian and chauffeur, Bruno (Lon Chaney, Jr.). The children suffer from “Merrye Syndrome”, a genetic affliction unique to members of their family, which causes them to mentally, socially, and physically regress down the evolutionary ladder, starting in late childhood. Two distant relatives arrive with their lawyer and his secretary in order to examine and claim the property as rightful heirs. Bruno’s shaky control over the children deteriorates; murder, chaos, and insanity ensue.
The siblings, Ralph (Sid Haig), Virginia (Jill Banner), and Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn), are inbred, demented and dangerous. These overgrown children exhibit playful innocence mixed with brutality and feral madness. Virginia is known as Spider Baby because of her obsession with spiders (thus the film’s title). She stalks and eats bugs, moving with a strange and spider-like grace. She also enjoys trapping unsuspecting victims in her rope “web”, “stinging” them to death using two butcher knives. After murdering an innocent delivery man (Mantan Moreland), Virginia cuts off one of his ears, which she keeps in a match box.
Spider Baby’s brother, Ralph, is a sexually advanced but mentally deficient simpleton who moves through the house via the dumb-waiter. Unable to speak, Ralph communicates with only grunts and leers. He becomes sexually aroused with the arrival of the two visiting women.
Several mysterious aunts and uncles who have regressed even further than the Merrye siblings live in the cellar. The skeleton of the family’s dead father is kept in a bedroom and is kissed goodnight by Virginia.
Bruno, the children’s sworn and loving protector, has been able to maintain control and keep the family secrets hidden. But when the snooping, greedy Peter (Quinn Redeker) and Emily (Carol Ohmart) arrive to take possession of the property, the bizarre behavior of the Merrye clan is revealed. Read more
