Spider Baby
Encyclopedia
Spider Baby is a 1964 black comedy
horror film
, written and directed by Jack Hill
. It stars Lon Chaney, Jr.
as Bruno, the chauffeur and caretaker of three orphaned siblings who suffer from "Merrye Syndrome", which causes them to mentally, socially, and physically regress backwards down the evolutionary ladder starting in early puberty. Carol Ohmart
, Quinn Redeker
, Mary Mitchel, and Karl Schanzer also star.
, 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 evolution
ary 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. 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.
Peter, Emily, their lawyer, Schlocker (Karl Schanzer), and his assistant, Ann Morris (Mary Mitchel), insist on staying at the house. Dinner is served after Ralph happily kills a cat for the main course. The revolting meal includes insects, mushrooms, and a garden salad made of weeds.
Bruno leaves on an errand. Despite warning the children to "behave", events spiral downhill as the Merrye kids run merrily amok. Virginia and Elizabeth murder Schlocker and dump his body into the basement, where the demented beastly relatives apparently eat him. The basement dwellers are unleashed. Meanwhile, Emily models some black nightclothes as Ralph is peeking in. After being chased and then raped by Ralph, Emily becomes sexually aggressive and murderous.
Bruno returns and realizes that he has lost control of the children and of their secret unsavory lives. He lights a bundle of dynamite, blowing himself, the house, and the children to bits. This seems to kill all carriers
of "Merrye Syndrome."
A smug, surviving cousin Peter is recounting the story as the movie comes to a close. However, the camera cuts to Peter's young daughter who eerily resembles Virginia. We see her admiring a spider in its web. Has the curse been eradicated? Or does it remain to afflict further generations?
of the "Monster Mash
," during the film's opening titles.
The film was shot between August and September 1964. However, due to original producer's bankruptcy, the film was not released until January 18, 1968. Spider Baby suffered from poor marketing as well as a series of title changes, being billed alternatively as The Liver Eaters, Attack of the Liver Eaters, Cannibal Orgy, and The Maddest Story Ever Told. Although these alternate titles have little or no relation to the plot, the latter two appear in the lyrics of the title song sung by Chaney: "This cannibal orgy is strange to behold in the maddest story ever told." The opening titles of the film also dub it Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told.
Cinematography is by Alfred Taylor, who had previously worked on the film The Atomic Brain. The entire production cost about $65,000, and took only 12 days to shoot in black and white.
theater in Bakersfield, California
, on Halloween
2004. In October 2007, it opened in Brookings, Oregon
at the local Grange Hall, and in Orlando, Florida
at the Black Orchid Theater.
In 2009 the musical toured with stops in Fresno
, Los Angeles
, Bakersfield
, Tehachapi
and San Francisco, California
. A 2010 tour a multi-city tour had stops in Las Vegas, Nevada
, Toronto, Ontario and Los Angeles.
The soundtrack
for the musical
version was the final project at Buck Owens
' recording studio in Bakersfield, California.
Scenes from the Oregon
, Santa Monica
, Tehachapi, Las Vegas
, Toronto
and San Francisco productions can be found on YouTube
.
at least twice: By the band Fantômas
on their film-score covers album The Director's Cut
, and by crossover thrash
band The Accüsed
on 1988's Martha Splatterhead's Maddest Stories Ever Told
as "The Maddest Story Ever Told."
, as executive producer, and Jeff Broadstreet
as director.
Broadstreet stated in an interview, "We’re going to stick very closely to the basic story of the original film, and at the same time dig deeper into the backstory of the inbred Merrye family". The new script by Robert Valding "expands on the themes of unconditional love, and also the story elements of cannibalism
and the mutant relatives in the basement".
The film was expected to have a budget of $3–5 million and was set for release in 2008 but stalled in production.
of the film's original laserdisc
transfer was released, including a cast and crew reunion and a commentary track by Hill. In 2007, Dark Sky Films released a version featuring Hill's director's cut, a new commentary with co-star Sid Haig
, and multiple documentaries on the making of the film.
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, written and directed by Jack Hill
Jack Hill
Jack Hill is an U.S. film director, noted for his work in the exploitation film genre. Despite this, several of Hill's later films have been characterized as feminist works.Hill was born in Los Angeles...
. It stars Lon Chaney, Jr.
Lon Chaney, Jr.
Lon Chaney, Jr. , born Creighton Tull Chaney, was an American character actor. He was best known for his roles in monster movies and as the son of famous silent film actor, Lon Chaney...
as Bruno, the chauffeur and caretaker of three orphaned siblings who suffer from "Merrye Syndrome", which causes them to mentally, socially, and physically regress backwards down the evolutionary ladder starting in early puberty. Carol Ohmart
Carol Ohmart
Armelia Carol Ohmart , better known as Carol Ohmart, is an American actress and beauty pageant title holder who appeared in B movies of the 1950s.-From pageants to Paramount:...
, Quinn Redeker
Quinn Redeker
Quinn K. Redeker is an American actor and screenwriter, who is well-known for his work on soap operas.-Career:Redeker has been a screenwriter for over 30 years, with the most notable work to his name being the story writer for the 1978 film The Deer Hunter...
, Mary Mitchel, and Karl Schanzer also star.
Plot
Three children of the Merrye family live in a decaying rural mansion with their guardian and chauffeurChauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.Originally such drivers were always personal servants of the vehicle owner, but now in many cases specialist chauffeur service companies, or individual drivers provide...
, Bruno (Lon Chaney, Jr.
Lon Chaney, Jr.
Lon Chaney, Jr. , born Creighton Tull Chaney, was an American character actor. He was best known for his roles in monster movies and as the son of famous silent film actor, Lon Chaney...
). 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 evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
ary 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
Sid Haig
Sid Haig is a American actor. His roles have included acting in Jack Hill's blaxploitation films of the 1970s as well as his role as Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie's horror films House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects...
), Virginia (Jill Banner
Jill Banner
Jill Banner was an American film actress, possibly best recalled for her role as Virginia, the "spider baby" in the 1964 cult horror-comedy film Spider Baby...
), and Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn
Beverly Washburn
Beverly Washburn is an American actress who appeared as a young girl in NBC's The Loretta Young Show and as an older teenager in Loretta Young's 1962-1963 CBS family drama, The New Loretta Young Show...
), 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. 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
Mantan Moreland
Mantan Moreland was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s.-Career:Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Moreland began acting by the time he was an adolescent, reportedly running away to join the circus...
), 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
Quinn Redeker
Quinn K. Redeker is an American actor and screenwriter, who is well-known for his work on soap operas.-Career:Redeker has been a screenwriter for over 30 years, with the most notable work to his name being the story writer for the 1978 film The Deer Hunter...
) and Emily (Carol Ohmart
Carol Ohmart
Armelia Carol Ohmart , better known as Carol Ohmart, is an American actress and beauty pageant title holder who appeared in B movies of the 1950s.-From pageants to Paramount:...
) arrive to take possession of the property, the bizarre behavior of the Merrye clan is revealed.
Peter, Emily, their lawyer, Schlocker (Karl Schanzer), and his assistant, Ann Morris (Mary Mitchel), insist on staying at the house. Dinner is served after Ralph happily kills a cat for the main course. The revolting meal includes insects, mushrooms, and a garden salad made of weeds.
Bruno leaves on an errand. Despite warning the children to "behave", events spiral downhill as the Merrye kids run merrily amok. Virginia and Elizabeth murder Schlocker and dump his body into the basement, where the demented beastly relatives apparently eat him. The basement dwellers are unleashed. Meanwhile, Emily models some black nightclothes as Ralph is peeking in. After being chased and then raped by Ralph, Emily becomes sexually aggressive and murderous.
Bruno returns and realizes that he has lost control of the children and of their secret unsavory lives. He lights a bundle of dynamite, blowing himself, the house, and the children to bits. This seems to kill all carriers
Disease carrier
Disease carrier could refer to:* Asymptomatic carrier, a person or organism infected with an infectious disease agent, but displaying no symptoms* Genetic carrier, a person or organism that has inherited a genetic trait or mutation, but displaying no symptoms...
of "Merrye Syndrome."
A smug, surviving cousin Peter is recounting the story as the movie comes to a close. However, the camera cuts to Peter's young daughter who eerily resembles Virginia. We see her admiring a spider in its web. Has the curse been eradicated? Or does it remain to afflict further generations?
Production notes
Several references are made to the 1941 "scary movie," The Wolf Man, which is one of Lon Chaney's most famous character creations. In addition, Chaney sings the theme song, a parodyParody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the "Monster Mash
Monster Mash
"Monster Mash" is a 1962 novelty song and the best-known song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. The song was released as a single on Gary S. Paxton's Garpax Records label in August 1962 along with a full-length LP called The Original Monster Mash, which contained several other monster-themed tunes...
," during the film's opening titles.
The film was shot between August and September 1964. However, due to original producer's bankruptcy, the film was not released until January 18, 1968. Spider Baby suffered from poor marketing as well as a series of title changes, being billed alternatively as The Liver Eaters, Attack of the Liver Eaters, Cannibal Orgy, and The Maddest Story Ever Told. Although these alternate titles have little or no relation to the plot, the latter two appear in the lyrics of the title song sung by Chaney: "This cannibal orgy is strange to behold in the maddest story ever told." The opening titles of the film also dub it Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told.
Cinematography is by Alfred Taylor, who had previously worked on the film The Atomic Brain. The entire production cost about $65,000, and took only 12 days to shoot in black and white.
Cast
- Lon Chaney, Jr.Lon Chaney, Jr.Lon Chaney, Jr. , born Creighton Tull Chaney, was an American character actor. He was best known for his roles in monster movies and as the son of famous silent film actor, Lon Chaney...
as Bruno - Carol OhmartCarol OhmartArmelia Carol Ohmart , better known as Carol Ohmart, is an American actress and beauty pageant title holder who appeared in B movies of the 1950s.-From pageants to Paramount:...
as Emily Howe - Quinn RedekerQuinn RedekerQuinn K. Redeker is an American actor and screenwriter, who is well-known for his work on soap operas.-Career:Redeker has been a screenwriter for over 30 years, with the most notable work to his name being the story writer for the 1978 film The Deer Hunter...
as Peter Howe - Beverly WashburnBeverly WashburnBeverly Washburn is an American actress who appeared as a young girl in NBC's The Loretta Young Show and as an older teenager in Loretta Young's 1962-1963 CBS family drama, The New Loretta Young Show...
as Elizabeth Merrye - Jill BannerJill BannerJill Banner was an American film actress, possibly best recalled for her role as Virginia, the "spider baby" in the 1964 cult horror-comedy film Spider Baby...
as Virginia Merrye - Sid HaigSid HaigSid Haig is a American actor. His roles have included acting in Jack Hill's blaxploitation films of the 1970s as well as his role as Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie's horror films House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects...
as Ralph Merrye - Mary Mitchel as Ann Morris
- Karl Schanzer as Schlocker
- Mantan MorelandMantan MorelandMantan Moreland was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s.-Career:Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Moreland began acting by the time he was an adolescent, reportedly running away to join the circus...
as the Messenger - Carolyn Cooper as Aunt Clara
- Joan Keller Stern as Aunt Martha
Stage adaptations
A musical version of Spider Baby has played small community theaters looking for a wider audience. It opened at the Empty SpaceEmpty space
Empty space may refer to:* Outer space, especially the relatively empty regions of the universe outside the atmospheres of celestial bodies* Vacuum, a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure* Free space, a perfect...
theater in Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....
, on Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
2004. In October 2007, it opened in Brookings, Oregon
Brookings, Oregon
Brookings is a city in Curry County, Oregon, United States. It was named after John E. Brookings, president of the Brookings Lumber and Box Company, which founded the city in 1908. As of the 2010 census the population was 6,336. The total population of the Brookings area is over 13,000, which...
at the local Grange Hall, and in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
at the Black Orchid Theater.
In 2009 the musical toured with stops in Fresno
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, Bakersfield
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....
, Tehachapi
Tehachapi, California
Tehachapi is a city incorporated in 1909 located in the Tehachapi Mountains between Bakersfield and Mojave in Kern County, California. Tehachapi is located east-southeast of Bakersfield, at an elevation of...
and San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. A 2010 tour a multi-city tour had stops in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Toronto, Ontario and Los Angeles.
The soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
for the musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
version was the final project at Buck Owens
Buck Owens
Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...
' recording studio in Bakersfield, California.
Scenes from the Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, Santa Monica
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, Tehachapi, Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and San Francisco productions can be found on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
In music
The film's theme song has been coveredCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
at least twice: By the band Fantômas
Fantômas (band)
Fantômas is an avant-garde metal supergroup formed in 1998 in California, United States. The band is named after Fantômas, a supervillain featured in a series of crime novels popular in France before World War I and in film, most notably in the 60s French movie series.-History:Fantômas began just...
on their film-score covers album The Director's Cut
The Director's Cut
The Director's Cut is an album by Mike Patton's supergroup Fantômas. All the songs are more or less recognizable cover versions of popular movie themes. This album has many more occasions of Patton using traditional vocals than Fantomas's other albums....
, and by crossover thrash
Crossover thrash
__FORCETOC__Crossover thrash, often abbreviated to crossover, is a form of thrash metal that contains more hardcore punk elements than standard thrash. The genre lies on a continuum between heavy metal and punk rock...
band The Accüsed
The Accüsed
The Accüsed is a crossover thrash band from Seattle, WA, founded in 1981. They are considered to be an important progenitor of the crossover style that bridged the gap between thrashcore and thrash metal, later influencing grindcore and some crust punk bands; as well as an influential band in the...
on 1988's Martha Splatterhead's Maddest Stories Ever Told
Martha Splatterhead's Maddest Stories Ever Told
Martha Splatterhead's Maddest Stories Ever Told is an LP by Oak Harbor, Washington metalcore band The Accüsed. It was released in 1988, then re-released in 1991 on Combat Records.-Track listing:# "Psychomania" # "Bag Lady Song" # "Inherit the Earth"...
as "The Maddest Story Ever Told."
Remake
In 2007, independent film producer Tony DiDio began preparing a remake of the film. It will feature the 1968 version's director, Jack HillJack Hill
Jack Hill is an U.S. film director, noted for his work in the exploitation film genre. Despite this, several of Hill's later films have been characterized as feminist works.Hill was born in Los Angeles...
, as executive producer, and Jeff Broadstreet
Jeff Broadstreet
Jeff Broadstreet is an American film director. He directed the 2006 remake of Night of the Living Dead , titled Night of the Living Dead 3-D. Broadstreet has also directed films like Sexbomb , Area 51: The Alien Interview , Megalomania , and Dr. Rage...
as director.
Broadstreet stated in an interview, "We’re going to stick very closely to the basic story of the original film, and at the same time dig deeper into the backstory of the inbred Merrye family". The new script by Robert Valding "expands on the themes of unconditional love, and also the story elements of cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
and the mutant relatives in the basement".
The film was expected to have a budget of $3–5 million and was set for release in 2008 but stalled in production.
Official website
In 2009, Spider Baby writer/director Jack Hill and END Films launched the "official Spider Baby website," which includes historical information about the film, director/cast biographies, video clips, photo galleries and a store that sells exclusive merchandise.DVD release
In 1999, a DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of the film's original laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
transfer was released, including a cast and crew reunion and a commentary track by Hill. In 2007, Dark Sky Films released a version featuring Hill's director's cut, a new commentary with co-star Sid Haig
Sid Haig
Sid Haig is a American actor. His roles have included acting in Jack Hill's blaxploitation films of the 1970s as well as his role as Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie's horror films House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects...
, and multiple documentaries on the making of the film.
External links
- Spider Baby official website
- Spider Baby at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
- Spider Baby reviewed by Rick McGrath
- Spider Baby the musical
- Spider Baby the musical in Brookings Oregon
- Spider Baby the musical on Youtube