SnoopyStyle Merreye Syndrome is defined as a disease that causes regression to a primitive state suffered by the inbred Merrye family. A messenger delivers adoption notice to the isolated Merreye home. He gets caught in Virginia's web and killed by Elizabeth. Bruno the driver (Lon Chaney Jr) returns with Ralph (Sid Haig) to clean up the mess. Distant cousins Peter and Emily Howe come to take over and sell off the estate. Lawyer Mr. Schlocker and his assistant Ann Morris come to administer and plan to put the 3 children into institutions.This is a schlockfest B-movie. Filmmaker Jack Hill is in the same vein as the likes of Roger Corman. Lon Chaney is a good co-lead. Sig Haig is pretty good as the mute brute. It's got camp appeal with hot young cannibals. The kills aren't scary. It's simple B-movie fun.

Johan Louwet If I had to describe this movie in one word than "weird" would be fitting. Disturbing it is at times but comparing it to what we get to see today it is very mild. I love this more subtle approach along with the black and white cinematography which helps to create a creepy atmosphere. These 3 kids are just great horror characters. We have Ralph, the bald boy who doesn't seem to have the ability to speak looks at first a young version of Uncle Fester from the Addams Family but you really wouldn't want to be with him in a room alone. His facial expressions that seem to crave for meat from no matter what creature is really scary. Elizabeth well she is the eldest and looks pretty normal until she realizes that she and her siblings are in danger of losing the house. And last but not least there is Virginia who has this obsession with spiders. The scenes where she pretends to be a spider are just great. Other great scenes are the dinner scene and of course when the greedy Mr Schlocker starts to roam the rooms of the house.

Rainey Dawn I 'lost' this film in my memory banks - and after watching it a few minutes I recalled seeing it before but it was a long time ago so I watched it again recently and I have to say it is a good solid horror film. It's more true horror than comedy. Sure Spider Baby has a handful of humorous moments but it is more of a good horror-thriller film to me. This movie is engrossing, very suspenseful and just weird but an oh so good story. It is a demented movie - so odd and just flat out creepy.This is one of Lon Chaney, Jr's best films. He was really good in this. So if you like Lon Chaney, Jr as Larry Talbot in The Wolf Man then you should like him in this movie - good performance. The rest of the cast was so convincing in this film as well - so don't watch it for just Chaney watch it for the rest of the cast too.9.5/10

Michael_Elliott Spider Baby (1968) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Jack Hill's cult favorite about a loving caretaker (Lon Chaney, Jr.) who takes care of three mentally disturbed kids who just happen to enjoy killing. Over the past decade or so, SPIDER BABY has become one of the biggest cult films out there and it's easy to see why because it's just so strange and contains such a bizarre atmosphere that you can't help but get involved in its weirdness. I'm not going to sit here and say this is a great film or even a good one. I think there are all sorts of problems with the picture including a pacing issue but there's still enough here to make it worth viewing. For starters, people must remember that this was shot long before NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD so there's some fairly graphic moments here. Another thing that really works well are the performances, which I'd say are the greatest thing going. Chaney gives an extremely good performance and he really makes you feel as if his character loves this kids and would do anything for them. Visually you can tell the actor is in the middle of his alcoholic days and this tough look really just adds to the softness of the character in a strange way. Beverly Washburn, Jill Banner and Sid Haig are all terrific as the three mental cases and all of them really do a fantastic job with their performances. They're not Oscar-worthy performances but they certainly nail the weirdness. Mantan Moreland appears briefly and is very memorable as well. What really separates this film from many other "B" movies that were made during this era is its atmosphere. There's no question that the ultra low-budget helps but there's just something rather creepy about the entire atmosphere. SPIDER BABY isn't a masterpiece but there's certainly not another film out there like it.