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Spider Baby (1967) poster

Spider Baby

dir. Jack Hill · 1967

Feature
Psychological Horror
Mood
Dark / Comedic
Look
stark contrasts, dimly lit interiors, and a claustrophobic atmosphere
Structure
episodic with a focus on character interactions
Plot

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.

Why watch

In a crumbling mansion, the Merrye family, afflicted by a bizarre genetic condition, engages in increasingly erratic and violent behavior as they are threatened by opportunistic relatives. Watching this film is like stepping into a fever dream where the grotesque and the absurd collide, leaving you both amused and horrified.

Cultural context
1960s counterculturerise of independent horrorexploitation film movement

Where this shelves

every shelf · back to the store