Jack Hill’s film concerns three inhabitants of a huge house who suffer from a condition which makes them regress into a childlike state. Their butler tries to hide them from the world as they also have murderous impulses (witnessed in the first scene involving the postman who ventures onto their property) and as a promise to their deceased father.

I love movies that give a peek inside a private world in which madness and freakiness prevail. While watching Spider Baby, I kept thinking of The Baby, The Addams Family, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Psycho.

I had heard so much about Spider Baby over the years but had only gotten to see it until now. It certainly didn’t disappoint. It’s a slice of weirdness that must have freaked people out when it was first released in Grindhouse cinemas and Drive-Ins.

Watch out for Sid Haig’s extraordinary performance and the excellent quirky theme tune.

4 out of 5 stars