Spider Baby

 (1968) ***1/2

The Merrye family, a rogue group of inbreeds, live in a secluded mansion on the outskirts of town. The family is afflicted with a hereditary disease that causes age regression, the older they get the younger they act.  Bruno, the devoted caretaker and chauffeur watches over them and takes care of any trouble they might get into. Trouble arrives in full force when some distant relatives come to cash in on the family fortune. Mayhem ensues and the bodies begin to pile up, Bruno certainly has his hands full this time.

Recently Tony, Abduscias and I all went to this year’s Rock n Shock Horror convention where we attended a Q&A session with Sid Haig (Devil’s Rejects) and one of his films that repeatedly came up was Spider Baby. Not only was Sid hilarious as the infantile Ralph Merrye but he spoke of his experience working with screen legend Lon Chaney jr. that plays the attentive servant Bruno. Anyway, the conversation was engaging enough to spark my interest. I loved it, not your average inbred hillbilly film at all. The film is weird and funny and it was a pleasure to watch both Chaney & Haig interacting.