Jul 06 2008
Spider Baby Review. See this movie!
This is a review of Spider Baby. This is a review from a film that is pretty obscure but is still a gem. I was at an independent film house recently and the discussion turned to an actor named Sid Haig. Now Sid Haig is was a staple in the 70’s b-circuit of films including Jack Hill’s Coffey and Foxy Brown. He was made popular again due to Quentin Tarantino and Rob Zombies use of him in their films. But one of his earliest films was Jack Hill’s demented little tale called Spider Baby. In brief it’s about a caretaker who looks after this mansion and the benefactors of the estate, two girls and a boy. The boy is a demented almost retarded freak played brilliantly by Haig. The caretaker is notable to mention because it is played by a sober Lon Chaney Jr. Chaney is actually touching as the caretaker of the estate and this is one of his worthiest performances. The film then progresses as people from the outside who inherit the mansion stay the night to some horrifying consequences. This film is tight pace, beautifully acted, and wonderfully directed little gem and I recommend this to all film buffs out there. A side note about Spider Baby, as I write this IMDB.com has just reported a remake in the works, so see the original first before they destroy another classic!
