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.
A fun romp. This movie feels like it is wedged between old school horror, and more recent exploitation films. Stylistically, it feels 50s, yet subject matter is more 70s exploitation. I liked it, but I will watch a lot of garbage. Give it a try. Young Sid Haig as a bonus.
Picture a ramshackle house (like the one the "Waltons" lived in) and then imagine it populated by two sisters and a brother who progress ok until their early teens, then they start to regress - with varying degrees of maniacal behaviour. Is this dangerous? Well we need only ask poor old Mantan Moreland who never faced such dangers with "Charlie Chan" as he does in the opening scenes trying to deliver a letter to the house and... well... it's the last delivery he will ever make! Their only controlling influence is their chauffeur "Bruno" (Lon Chaney Jr.) but even he has his hands full when some grasping cousins - and their lawyer - decide to come visit and claim their inheritance. Given the state of the place, I'd have run a mile but they cl...
Its a madhouse, a madhouse!
This was shot at the end of summer, 1964, but not released until over three years later due to the producers going bankrupt. Its full title is Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told, which is reminiscent of other oddball, overlong titles in the 60s, such as "The Incredibly Strange Creatures ...Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!?"
This isnt as entertaining and its strapped by B&W photography but, like that one, its really quirky, hammy horror, rather than a comedy. Both came in the 'B' tradition of "The Brain That Wouldn't Die, mixed with the slasher bits of "Psycho." Rob Zombie was obviously influenced by it for his House of 1000 Corpses.
While Lon Chaney Jr in his old age and a ...
