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> Spider Baby (Director's cut) |
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Staring:
Jill Banner,
Lon Chaney Jr.,
Sid Haig,
Joan Keller,
Mary Mitchell
Director:
Jack Hill
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $10.94
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Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: MPI
EAN: 0030306814292
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Label: MPI Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: MPI Home Entertainment
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: MPI Home Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2007-09-25
Running Time: 84
Studio: MPI Home Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: 1964 |
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Description
This highly influential cult classic from writer-director Jack Hill (Switchblade Sisters, Foxy Brown) tells the demented and darkly comic tale of the Merrye children -- Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn), Virginia (Jill Banner) and Ralph (Sid Haig)-- all of whom suffer from a rare genetic malady that causes its victims to mentally regress to a condition of "pre-human savagery and cannibalism." The children live in the old family mansion, and though under the cautious guardianship of chauffeur Bruno (Lon Chaney Jr.), they manage to terrorize anyone or anything which passes through the gates. So when the family is visited by a pair of distant relatives and their greedy lawyer, a wild night of murderous thrills ensues. Dark Sky Films proudly presents the Director's Cut of Spider Baby, transferred and restored in High Definition from the original 35mm negative under the personal supervision of Jack Hill and featuring previously lost footage, rounded out with never-before-seen featurettes created. Bonus Features Include:
Feature length-commentary with writer-director Jack Hill and actor Sid Haig
"The Hatching of Spider Baby" (32 min featurette)
"Spider Stravinsky: The Cinema Sounds of Ronald Stein" (11 min featurette)
"The Merrye House Revisited" (8 min featurette)
Still Gallery
Alternate Opening Title Sequence ("Cannibal Orgy")
Extended Scene
Amazon.com
Re-titled Spider Baby in 1968 after the original title Cannibal Orgy, Jack Hill's black and white proto horror-comedy influenced numerous films, especially those featuring boxed or bagged body parts, like Phantasm's yellow-bleeding finger and Blue Velvet's ear found in the meadow. Spider Baby is about an inbred family cursed with Merrye's Disease, which transforms even sweet children, Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn), Virginia (Jill Banner), and Ralph (Sid Haig) into murderous cannibals. Virginia steals the opening scene, during which she plays "spider," cutting the ear off a messenger who is sent to their decrepit Victorian mansion to deliver news of the house's confiscation. Caretaker Bruno (Lon Chaney Jr.) futilely chides Virginia in preparation for a visit from their oblivious, snooty cousin, Emily Howe (Carol Ohmart) and her husband, Peter Howe (Quinn Redeker), who plan to take the home. As more people pile into the house for a meeting, including lawyer Schlocker (Karl Schnazer) and his innocent assistant, Ann (Mary Mitchell), the kids cut loose, hacking everyone up and feeding them to their uncles locked in the basement. Jack Hill, whose films range from horror (Switchblade Sisters) to Blaxploitation (Coffy, Foxy Brown), made sure in Spider Baby to balance comedy with spook so its cannibalistic themes scare but don't absolutely disgust. A brilliant dinner party scene, in which the Merryes serve roasted cat and garden bugs, passing on the meat because they "don't eat dead things," is one of the tensest and funniest cannibal film scenes ever made, up there with Fuad Ramses' Egyptian feast in Roger Corman's Blood Feast. This special edition DVD includes interesting featurettes that detail the making of the movie and the whereabouts of the real mansion, though the best part of Spider Baby is pondering how bizarre this film must have seemed to the 1960s youth. —Trinie Dalton
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creepy fun, 2010-06-07
I found 'Spider Baby' to be creepy yet funny little movie. Writer/director Jack Hill deserves mucho kudos for assembling a marvelous cast and putting together an absorbing little movie on what appears to be a very tight budget. The two young sisters in the film were both adorable and outstanding. And the sight of a very young Sid Haig bopping in and out of scenes were priceless. How this guy was overlooked at Oscar time is beyond me. The cinematographer, Alfred Taylor did a wonderful job 'spooking' up the mansion and the sets were incredible.
And also it was great to see the terrific Lon Chaney Jr. in his best work since the 'Wolfman'. His performance was poignant and nearly brought tears to my eyes at the tragic ending. As i mentioned at the begining, all the supporting roles were filled with skill and nuance. I would recommend this film to anyone who shares my love of B 'Horror' films. And the included documentary on the making of the film was alsoquite enjoyable. Add that to the 84 minutes of genius preceding it and you've got some great entertainment for a rainy Saturday afternoon. I highly recommend 'Spider Baby.Spider Baby (Director's cut)
 Never got!, 2009-08-16
I never got my movie in the mail. I asked where it was and never got a response. This movie us awesome.
Sting! Sting! Sting!!, 2010-04-12
If you like the older retro cult style films, really funky humor, Lon Chaney Jr (who really played his role well in this) and the idea of a pre-Spaulding role by Sid Haig. Awww shucks - just trust me on one thing, and simply BUY this. It is so darn funny in all it's moments that I can't list them all - and the extras are very good to watch too. It is dark and morbid, funny and spoofish, crazy and insane - and it ALL works well into a GOOD and thought out story!...I have watched it at least 20 times since I bought this about a year (?) ago, and still have never tired of it!
Campy-Cartoony-Cannibal-Cult-Classic!!!, 2010-03-23
Another Jack Hill classic. Maybe THE Jack Hill Classic. I cant praise this film enough. I love it.
The opening title sequence (featuring a creepy song sung by Lon Chaney) perfectly sets the tone: a live-action cartoon, somewhat akin to the Addams Family, but closer to the Texas Chainsaw Masacre in plot (but without a drop of blood). Scary, funny and suprisingly touching, this film deserves to be seen by as wider audience (although it enjoys great success as a Cult Classic). This is the film that gave Sid Haig his start in feature films, and he speaks nary a line of dialog!
If you have any interest at all in cult cinema of the 50's, 60's, and 70's, you really shouldnt let this one pass you by. I rank it up there with another black and white live-action cartoon from the same period: Russ Meyer's Faster Pussycat! Kill, Kill! in terms of cult film enjoyability. But while Faster Pussycat is more overtly sexual/violent in tone, overall, this is a pretty much PG rated affair by today's standards (although I guess Faster Pussycat could probably get a PG today too). If viewed with Mom and Dad, this would be a great Halloween movie for the lil guys. No swearing or nudity and I'm guessing that kids would absolutely adore the dog-like character Ralph, played by Sid Haig and the Grandfatherly Bruno, played by Lon Chaney.
The DVD itself is a great package: great special features and a nice, clean, widescreen print. But dont let the misleading DVD cover fool you, there is absolutely no gore to be seen here (which I actually think adds to the film rather than detracts from it).
Great movie, but I got 2 copies from Amazon- BOTH defective., 2010-05-09
This is one of my all time favorite films. It's part horror, part comedy, part tragedy. Wonderfully spooky and weird. An unsung classic. Nobody was more anxious or more excited than I was to find out about the special Director's Cut DVD. I ordered it from Amazon right away. The picture quality indeed looks fantastic. I have seen several prints of this movie in different formats and this one looks the best. Unfortunately, about halfway through the film there is a terrible buzzing sound on the audio track. It comes and goes throughout the entire second half of the film, and is very noticeable and highly annoying. This is obviously a defect on the disk. I have tried watching the disk in 2 other dvd players to double-check that it wasn't my player - and I got the same terrible buzzing sound in all the same places, proving that it is a defect with this pressing of the DVD. Bitterly disappointed, I got a second copy and the second copy had the same exact problem. Perhaps Amazon simply got a bad batch from the factory? I would love to hear the opinions of anyone who knows the film (and its normal audio track) well, and can tell me if their copy of the Director's Cut DVD has the same problem. In other words I am trying to find out if all copies bear this same defect or if I am just extremely unlucky to end up with two defective copies in a row. If nobody speaks up, I guess I'll have to buy it a third time, probably from a different sales outlet, to find out.
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