Web of the Spider (1971)
By Steve Nyland aka Squonkamatic
My favorite of all the Gothic European made horror films is Antonio Margheriti's "Web of the Spider" from 1971. A misfired remake of his classic 1964 masterwork "Castle of Blood", the film purports to be an Edgar Allan Poe related tale about an American journalist (Anthony Franciosa) who takes a sucker bet that he cannot stay an entire night in a secluded Victorian era mansion long rumored to be haunted. The insane Klaus Kinski plays Poe in wraparound segments and the proceedings are best described as a "Supernatural Soap Opera" detailing the fated love quadrangle which leads to murder, insanity, and a curse from beyond the grave to re-live the events once a year on All Saint's Eve.
English language distributors weren't sure what to make of the picture, which didn't have the overt exploitation which Italian genre cinema usually promised. Margheriti had envisioned the film as a 70mm roadshow type experience in widescreen Techniscope but the reduced budget forced him to fudge on some of the supernatural fireworks. The final result bears more in common with a British Hammer Films costumer than a bloodthirsty Italian shocker with nudity & gore. The film performed well enough in Europe (Italian, French, German and Spanish language dubs were created, all slightly different) but was unforgivably hacked apart by its English language sub-producers, shorn of about 12 minutes of footage and re-formatted for the grindhouse type cinemas who would screen such content in double bill presentations.
And it bombed, was quickly pulled from circulation and re-formatted yet again for TV viewing with whiplash inducing pan/scan reduction of the widescreen photography and absolutely all "adult" content removed. Relegated to Creature Feature type syndication for local channels to screen during off programming hours, which is how I first encountered it as a lad. Certain elements stuck with me: The little Derringer type pistol Franciosa is armed with, the dude with the white hair + beard (Peter Carsten) who goes down into the basement after hearing something weird, and the awesome babe (Michelle Mercier) in her buxomy push-up bra who dissolves into nothing at the end. All of which came back to me in the early 2000s when stumbling upon the film as a bargain bin box set pressing during the early era of the DVD craze.
The Obsession. I cannot explain it, there's just something about this movie which compels me to want to know more.
To say that I became obsessed with "Web of the Spider" is putting it mildly. I *had* to find the purest most complete version and amass any data I could about the movie, to better understand what it is about the film which so fascinates me. Because in many regards it is an awful movie, certainly not the maverick artistic accomplishment that the story served as for "Castle of Blood" (or "Castle of Terror", as the British prints were named). That film is a marvelous study of darkness and atmospherics where light itself becomes a storytelling motif. "Web of the Spider" comes off as a clunky overblown soap opera by comparison, with whatever naughty intrigue would have rewarded the viewer for sticking with it has been removed.
My quest eventually led me to a large collection of different release versions of the film, none absolutely "complete" with all elements present, some with a bit more and most with a bit less. The film did receive a Blu-Ray HD treatment in 2017 but is the same cut English print which circulated for years albeit in an impressive widescreen HD transfer. Which I am nonplussed by, not even having a TV plugged in currently and screening most of my entertainment content on my fone while working on my art. I don't live in a movie theater , but did upload my favorite English language release of the film to my YouTube channel where you can see it too. And if so inclined pick up the Blu-Ray pressing linked below, which has the extended Euro print content as SD bonus content.
Will write about the film more in a future post, just wanted to get this shared up as a Happy Halloween trick or treat item for your goodie bag.
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