Spider Baby 2023 Remake To Premiere Black & White Version On YouTube
Spider Baby or, the Maddest Story Ever Told is a cute story about very tiny domesticated spiders… no, no it is not, it is a horror comedy that was released in 1967. Written and directed by Jack Hill and starring Lon Chaney Jr., Carol Ohmart and Quinn K. Reddeker, Spider Baby has gone from being a relatively obscure film to a bonafide cult classic since its original release.
In Spider Baby, Chauffeur Bruno (Lon Chaney Jr.) looks after three strange siblings at their family estate. Ralph (Sid Haig), Virginia (Jill Banner) and Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn) all suffer from an inherited condition: a genetic disorder that causes a reversal in mental age and results in a crazed, childlike disposition. Because of his affection for the family, Bruno covers up the siblings' bizarre behaviour and crimes. But, when relatives arrive at the family estate, the truth is bound to come out.
Now, Spider Baby returns in a remake of the classic with a modern twist, thanks to writer/director Dustin William Ferguson (with Bobby Canipe Jr. serving as Second Unit director). Ferguson has a large back catalogue of over 140 credits across multiple areas of filmmaking including writing, directing, producing, cinematography and many more. Just a handful of his films include such titles as Terror at Black Tree Forest (2010), Doll Killer (2013), Blood Claws (2015), Runaway Nightmare (2018), Mega Ape (2023) and many more. Go to Dustin’s IMDb page for the full list of his credits.
Official Spider Baby Poster
The remake revolves around A pair of greedy relatives try to repossess the Merrye Estate. But the inbred Children will protect their home and bloodline at all costs. I don’t know about you, but the insanity of that synopsis is more than enough to grab my attention. Pass me a straight jacket and a close family member, paint my right foot purple and count me the f**k in (I don’t know what any of that means).
The cast list comprises Brinke Stevens, Traci Burr, Emma Keifer, Jennifer Moriarty, Robert Allen Mukes, Peter Stickles, Crystal Loverro, Skylar Fast, Erik Anthony Russo, Noel Jason Scott and more.
Produced by SoCal Cinema Studios, Spider Baby 2023 keeps its connection to the 1967 original with Jack Hill serving as an executive producer. Original cast member Beverley Washburn, who previously played ‘Elizabeth’ returning as a new character ‘Meredith’. Also, Lon Chaney Jr.’s grandson Ron, plays Dr. Skinner.
Filming on the remake was completed last summer and the premiere debuted on Halloween at the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, with Dustin and many of the cast and crew in attendance. You can take a look at the red-carpet interview with Dustin by clicking here and you can watch red-carpet interviews with cast members by heading on over to LRMOnline.
Take a look at the official trailer below.
In response to the request of fans, Dustin has now revealed that he will be premiering a special black-and-white… fright…a special black-and-fright version of Spider Baby on YouTube for free, which is exciting news for me as I tend to watch a lot of films in black-and-white. There’s just something about it that I find aesthetically pleasing to my squidgy face cameras.
The film will air on Friday, 15 December at 18:00 PST, that’s 02:00 GMT for us UK folk (better get the coffee in, then). Here’s the link for the YouTube channel to watch it.
Click the banner below to take you to the event page. I hope to see you all there because once it has finished, it is gone. So, don’t miss out.
Click on the image to go to the Spider Baby: Black and White Premiere event Facebook page.