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Title: Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told (1967)
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1 nomination.
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Lon Chaney Jr. | ... |
Bruno
(as Lon Chaney)
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| Carol Ohmart | ... | ||
| Quinn K. Redeker | ... |
Peter Howe
(as Quinn Redeker)
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| Beverly Washburn | ... | ||
| Jill Banner | ... | ||
| Sid Haig | ... | ||
| Mary Mitchel | ... |
Ann Morris
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 |
Karl Schanzer | ... |
Mr. Schlocker
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| Mantan Moreland | ... |
Messenger
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|
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
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. Written by D.A. Kellough <[email protected]>
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Whatever happened to... Spider Baby See more »Certificate:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
24 December 1967 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Attack of the Liver Eaters See more »Box Office
Budget:
$65,000 (estimated)Company Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1
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Bruno, The Chauffeur: Screams and moans and bats and bones / Teenage monsters in haunted homes / The ghosts on the stair / The vampires bite / Better beware, there's a full moon tonight / Cannibal spiders creep and crawl / Boys and ghouls having a ball / Frankenstein, Dracula and even the Mummy / Are sure to end up in somebody's tummy / Take a fresh rodent, some toadstools and weeds / And add an old owl and the young one she breeds / Mix in seven legs from an eight-legged beast / And then ...
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(uncredited)
Written by Ronald Stein
Performed by Lon Chaney Jr.
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Did You Know?
Trivia
After dinner, there's a brief scene that ends with Schlocker wagging his cigar at Emily. Originally this scene ended with Emily ripping the cigar from his hand and puffing on it, but the producers hated this irreverent moment and demanded it be cut. See more »Goofs
When the window comes down on the back of the messenger you can see a hand at each side of the window holding it down from the outside. See more »Quotes
[opening titles; sung]Bruno, The Chauffeur: Screams and moans and bats and bones / Teenage monsters in haunted homes / The ghosts on the stair / The vampires bite / Better beware, there's a full moon tonight / Cannibal spiders creep and crawl / Boys and ghouls having a ball / Frankenstein, Dracula and even the Mummy / Are sure to end up in somebody's tummy / Take a fresh rodent, some toadstools and weeds / And add an old owl and the young one she breeds / Mix in seven legs from an eight-legged beast / And then ...
See more »
Crazy Credits
As the film ends, "THE END" appears on the screen, then suddenly changes to "THE END ?". See more »Soundtracks
Spider Baby Theme(uncredited)
Written by Ronald Stein
Performed by Lon Chaney Jr.
See more »
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The film opens with one of the most horrific murders ever shown on film; the rest of the movie is never again quite this frightening or startling, but is enjoyable nonetheless as a horror-comedy of the same ilk as "House on Haunted Hill" or "Bucket of Blood." The story concerns a family of inbred Southern degenerates who were once proud and powerful but whom years of inbreeding have reduced not only to childlike idiocy but savagery; some distant relatives out for money decide to meddle with dire, predictable results. The movie, complete with a loyal retainer, cute but deadly kids, and some even deadlier aunties and uncles kept tucked away in the cellar is essentially an extended version of an Addams family episode (the drawn out dinner scene is a bit too sitcomish). However, there are enough funny-scary moments to keep things moving along: the more memorable of these being when bitchy ice queen Emily succumbs to brother Ralph's caveman charms and when sister Virginia, the spider baby of the title, gives her long dead father a good night kiss—a scene with a weirdly poetic quality like something out of Poe. Perhaps the best part of the movie is Lon Chaney Jr. in his touching portrayal of Bruno, the kindly chauffeur who is genuinely devoted to his savage and hopeless surrogate family.
A cult film that deserves its status.