Spider Baby or, the Maddest Story Ever Told (1967) - Episode 82 - Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“Just because something isn't good doesn't mean it's bad.” But, in this case, it could be pretty great. Join this episode’s Grue-Crew - Whitney Collazo, Joseph Perry, and Jeff Mohr - as they get to know the members of the Merrye family, especially the one known as Spider Baby (1967).

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 82 – Spider Baby (1967)

In a dilapidated rural mansion, the last generation of the degenerate, inbred Merrye family lives with the inherited curse of a disease that causes them to mentally regress from the age of 10 or so on as they physically develop. The family chauffeur looks out for them and covers up their indiscretions. Trouble comes when greedy distant relatives and their lawyer arrive to dispossess the family of its home.

IMDb

 

• Writer/Director: Jack Hill
• Music: Ronald Stein
• Cinematography: Alfred Taylor
• Cast
  • Lon Chaney Jr. as Bruno (as Lon Chaney)
  • Carol Ohmart as Emily
  • Quinn K. Redeker as Peter (as Quinn Redeker)
  • Beverly Washburn as Elizabeth
  • Jill Banner as Virginia
  • Sid Haig as Ralph
  • Mary Mitchel as Ann
  • Karl Schanzer as Schlocker
  • Mantan Moreland as Messenger

Your Decades of Horror Classic Era Grue-Crew is understandably enamored of Spider Baby and who wouldn’t be? Lon Chaney Jr., Sid Haig, and the rest of the cast shine in Jack Hill’s low-budget macabre comedy. Jeff is particularly impressed with the detail and depth packed into nearly every scene. The film is still just as macabre and weird and darkly humorous as Joseph remembers it to be the first time he experienced it. Whitney gives a heartfelt remembrance of Sid Haig and expresses how much she enjoyed his performance in Spider Baby.

If you haven’t seen Spider Baby or even seen it lately, the Classic Era Grue-Crew thinks you should hit it again soon! At the time of this writing, Spider Baby is available to stream on Amazon Prime and as a Blu-ray disc from Arrow Video.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era puts out a new episode every two weeks. The next episode in their very flexible schedule is chosen by Jeff and will be The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), directed by Jack Arnold and written by Richard Matheson.

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To each of you from each of us, “Thank you so much for listening!”