1967
Director- Jack Hill
Cast- Lon Chaney Jr., Sid Haig, Jill Banner, Carol Ohmart,
Quinn Redeker, Beverly Washburn
The
tagline for the film was “The Maddest Story Ever Told”, but in fact this was a deceptively
clever film. It was made with the talent of a big budget film but the energy
and originality of an indie cult classic.
Various
members of the Merrye family suffer from a congenital disorder that begins to
express itself around puberty. As their bodies grow older their minds start to
regress to a primitive state, until, at adulthood they are little more than
animals. Lon Chaney Jr. plays Bruno, a loyal servant to the family that swore
an oath to its patriarch to watch over the family’s surviving members, which in
this case, are 3 adolescent children in various stages of regression.
Elizabeth
(Beverly Washburn) is the least deranged of the trio and watches over her
siblings when Bruno is away. She has a child’s morality and separates everyone
into those she hates or likes and often tells others who they should hate. Virginia
(Jill Banner) likes to pretend that she is a spider (hence the name of the
movie). She refers to other people as “bugs” that she catches in her web and
stings them. Occasionally her game turns deadly. Virginia is not evil. The gravity
of what she does escapes her, like a cat playing with a mouse. Ralph (Sid Haig in one of his earliest roles)
is the oldest and most “devolved” of the group. He is reduced to grunts and
points and acts like a horny caveman most of the time.
A
distant cousin, unaffected by the malady, wants to take advantage of the family
to get access to their home and wealth. She brings her brother, her lawyer and
the lawyer’s assistant to the family home with the intention of having Bruno
declared unfit to raise the children and have the children taken away and made
wards of the state. Bruno objects but is powerless to stop them. Despite his
objections, the group insists on staying
in the home. Bruno tries to keep the children in line but eventually their true
natures assert themselves and people start coming to bad ends.
The
roles of the 3 children are great roles and I imagine the actors had a fun time
exploring such interesting characters. They
display a real family dynamic that gives it authenticity. Virginia and
Elizabeth, display a sibling rivalry but side with each other when outsiders
appear. Ralph, as the older brother, is adored by his younger sisters who seem
giddy when he appears. The girls don’t seem oblivious to his deteriorating state
as much as it just doesn’t matter to them. Lon Chaney Jr. was always good as an
amiable character and he turns in the same sort of worried but lovable
performance that made his Wolfman so enjoyable.
The
movie was made in 1964 but due to problems with the studio it wasn’t released
until 1967. Lon Chaney Jr. was on the tail end of his career, and would die a
few years later, but he doesn’t phone in his performance. Sid Haig, of course,
went on to an incredibly prolific and long career, becoming most famous for his
role in Rob Zombie’s Devil’s Rejects films. Beverly Washburn had a long career
before and after Spider Baby. Her film and TV credits span from 1950 through
2018! Jill Banner, who played the Spider Baby, went on to act for a few more
years (including several episodes of Dragnet) before leaving Hollywood.
Unfortunately she died young from a car accident. It’s too bad that Spider Baby
wasn’t more popular. I think her character could have become one of those
quirky goth icons like Lydia Deetz or Wednesday Addams.
There
are several reasons to see the film. First, you get to see 2 horror icons, Lon
Chaney Jr. and Sid Haig, on the screen together. Second, it’s a very original
film. It walks the line carefully between horror and black humor. It is a fun,
entertaining film with good performances from all involved.
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