Spider Baby | Art House Billings | @Babcock Theatre

September 11, 2024 at 7:00 PM

Wednesday, September 11th, we are celebrating another Art House staff birthday at the historic Babcock Theatre! This time, Marketing Manager Spencer Gallagher (that's me!!!!) has clawed his way through one more year on this rock, and he (I?) will be celebrating with a screening of one of his (my?!) favorite cult films, Jack Hill's wacked out 1967 feature, SPIDER BABY!

This is one of my absolute favorite films, at least in the horror genre, it's just so much fun! Commonly coined as the stylistic midpoint between The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Addams Family, SPIDER BABY exists in a strange world of its own, full of themes from the old dark house films of the Hays Code era that came before it, as well as the more gruesome visuals to be found in grindhouse movies that would come later! This movie presents quite a shocking and absurd plot for when it was filmed, but still does not take itself too seriously! It's definitely a silly horror comedy where you can tell everyone had a great time on set, plus it's got Lon Chaney Jr!

Within the walls of a crumbling rural mansion are the last generation of the inbred Merrye family. For generations, the Merrye family has suffered from a hereditary, degenerative disease that causes them to mentally regress as they physically develop, until they ultimately become mindless, homicidal cannibals! The family chauffer, Bruno, sincerely loves the three teenage kids who look up to him, and he does his best to cover for their increasingly dangerous behavior. However, when two distant relatives come to the mansion to seek better care for the children, and a greedy lawyer comes to dispossess the family of their home, Bruno has to figure out how to shake the visitors before they discover the family's violent nature!

Cost: $9

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