The film proclaims itself to be “_It’s a madhouse, a madhouse!”_ Filming took place late in the summer of 1964, but it wasn't shown until more than three years later because the people who made it went broke. The complete name is “Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told,” which brings to mind other unusual and lengthy titles from the sixties, like "The Incredibly Strange Creatures ...Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!?". While not as enjoyable as some, and somewhat limited by its black-and-white visuals, it shares a similar oddball, over-the-top horror style with that earlier film; neither is intended to be funny. They both draw from the low-budget tradition of something like "The Brain That Wouldn't Die,” combined with the suspenseful elements found in “Psycho.” Rob Zombie clearly took inspiration from this movie when he created “House of 1000 Corpses.” Although Lon Chaney Jr., who was older by then, and a young Sid Haig are memorable, the women in the cast really stand out. Many people focus on Jill Banner as Virginia; she was seventeen during filming and would become eighteen just a few months afterward. Sadly, she passed away too soon in 1982 at age thirty-five because of a car accident involving a drunk driver near Ventura Freeway. It’s noteworthy that she was employed by Marlon Brando at the time, assisting with script development and related tasks. While she has her charms, I found her character to be so naive and unstable that it put me off—at least, that's my opinion. Carol Ohmart as Emily is who I prefer, especially considering her striking moments reminiscent of “Horror Hotel,” also known as “The City of the Dead.” The movie lasts 1 hour and 21 minutes and was filmed at Smith Estate in Highland Park, along with other locations around Los Angeles such as Chatsworth and Mandeville Canyon. Some studio work was completed in Glendale. GRADE: B-

Source on TMDB