Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told Blu-ray Review

[Tech News]

"I caught a big fat bug right in my spider web and now the spider gets to give the bug a big sting. Sting! Sting! Sting! Sting! Sting!"

Arrow Video unleash an absolute gem from the genre of the degenerate gene-pool in Jack Hill's bizarre, brilliant and absolutely bonkers Spider Baby, and its arrival on UK Blu-ray is something to applaud. Subversive, insane, brutal and deeply twisted, this tale of the weird descendents of a cursed family and their efforts to thwart being ousted from their ancestral Californian mansion by greedy distant relatives, is just as funny as it is ghoulish. Made on a shoestring and showcasing one of the last performances from the great monster-man, himself, Lon Chaney Jnr., Spider Baby (aka The Liver Eaters, and Spider Baby, The Maddest Story Ever Told) totally embraces the style and mood of the traditional haunted house pictures - strangers disrupt the dark harmony of a...

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[Jim Di Griz]

Ive never seen this. But after reading this review Ill definitely be trying to watch it!

 

[mentasm]

Wow, I never knew Zooey Deschanel was in this! What is she doing to that dwarf?

 

[Jack Hill]

Chris McEneany has written a wonderful and most insightful review of my little movie, Spider Baby, and I must offer my many thanks for his kind comments. Only one minor error: I had nothing to do with Carnival of Souls and had never heard of it before the Academy screening of their new restoration of Spider Baby in Hollywood. Also, I might add, I think the best quotation from the dialog ought to be, "It's not nice to hate." FWIW.
==Jack Hill

 

[Chris McEneany]

Chris McEneany has written a wonderful and most insightful review of my little movie, Spider Baby, and I must offer my many thanks for his kind comments. Only one minor error: I had nothing to do with Carnival of Souls and had never heard of it before the Academy screening of their new restoration of Spider Baby in Hollywood. Also, I might add, I think the best quotation from the dialog ought to be, "It's not nice to hate." FWIW.
==Jack Hill

Dammit ... of course you didn't!

But you should have!

Jack, it is wonderful to hear from you. I am much obliged that you took the time to read this and comment upon it.

Spider Baby is a cult class act. Absolutely bonkers, of course!!!! But sheer creepy class, through and through. I take it you are pleased with how Arrow treated the release?

Cheers

Chris McEneany

 

[Jim Di Griz]

Thanks Chris for getting me to watch this!

Its a bit of a hidden gem isn't it? Ive never heard of this film before and watched it for the first time last night. I suspect this film is a grower - I don't think anybody I know has heard about this film either and its always good being the first one to spring a surprise on people!

So many things in this film seemed to be original for me given the year it was actually made and not released. I could be wrong and maybe it copies things but I suspect it doesn't.

 

[Chris McEneany]

You're very welcome, Jim!

It's off it's box, isn't it? But it's simply great. Spooky, kooky, sexy. And it's got Lon Chaney Jnr and Sid Haig in it too!

Well, I would say that it's a true one-off, but it's influences went far and wide.

Actually, I have just made reference to it in my review for Hammer's Brides of Dracula - which will be online a little bit later on. The sight of the two nutjob girls poised on the stairs is very akin to the startling image of the two Brides in Hammer's movie.

I'm glad you liked it. And wasn't it great that Jack Hill, himself, even came along to make a comment. Even if he was correcting me .... ahem.

Cheers,

Chris McEneany

 

[Jim Di Griz]

You're very welcome, Jim!

It's off it's box, isn't it? But it's simply great. Spooky, kooky, sexy. And it's got Lon Chaney Jnr and Sid Haig in it too!

Well, I would say that it's a true one-off, but it's influences went far and wide.

Actually, I have just made reference to it in my review for Hammer's Brides of Dracula - which will be online a little bit later on. The sight of the two nutjob girls poised on the stairs is very akin to the startling image of the two Brides in Hammer's movie.

I'm glad you liked it. And wasn't it great that Jack Hill, himself, even came along to make a comment. Even if he was correcting me .... ahem.

Cheers,

Chris McEneany

Yeah just goes to show that you never know who's reading! I posted a little review in the 'Tonight/last night I saw..' thread as well earlier. I think its safe to say that the Addams Family, Munsters, Dark Shadows owe a lot to this one too. Not to mention Romero and others of course. Its as if Jack Hill thought 'what would it be like to do a Poe/Price/Corman film set in the modern (60s) day'. Seems that way to me anyway!