The cult classic Spider Baby will be remade. Dread Central reports that filmmaker Dustin Ferguson, known for helming indie horror films like Arachnado, Amityville Toybox, and Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor, has optioned the rights to the 1967 movie. Word is Ferguson plans to remake the movie under his SoCal Cinema Studios banner with original Spider Baby writer-director Jack Hill on board to executive produce.
Spider Baby, aka Spider Baby: or, the Maddest Story Ever Told, stars horror icon Lon Chaney Jr. as the caretaker of three siblings who all suffer from a genetic condition that causes their minds and bodies to regress as they get older. House of 1000 Corpses star Sid Haig is one of the three, appearing in one of his very first roles, with the cast also including Carol Ohmart, Quinn Redeker, Beverly Washburn, Jill Banner, and Mary Mitchel.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
A bizarre film that’s part horror and part dark comedy, Spider Baby had been a fairly obscure film upon release before garnering a cult following in subsequent decades. Retro reviews have helped land the movie an approval rating of 94% at Rotten Tomatoes, considered to be great fun for those who seek out the unusual film. In the 2000s, a stage musical adaptation had also gone on tour with performances in different states. Rumros of a remake had circulated in the past, though none have yet materialized.
Spider Baby Will Be Remade
Sid Haig, who would have a resurgence in the horror genre decades later thanks to his role as Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie’s films, would sometimes reflect back on Spider Baby in some of his final interviews. While the role came for Haig early on in his career, playing Ralph was not a challenge for the actor, who said he was already “crazy” to begin with, making him a natural for these kinds of roles.
“I’m pretty crazy anyway,” Haig said of taking on that character, via Without Your Head. “It was really a lot of fun… I basically got to make up who my character was and what it was all about, because, you know, there was no point of reference. We don’t have a lot of data on regressing families. So, it was pretty much just shoot for it, and if it worked, great.”
On the film later building a cult following through bootleg video tapes, Haig, who passed away in 2019, added, “That’s when people really started paying attention to it, and then the DVD releases, and then we had some screenings at the New York art theater, and in L.A. Every year, more and more people want more big screen screenings of it, and more and more DVDs get sold, so it’s all very cool.”
No word yet on when the Spider Baby remake will start production or be released.
