Before ‘Spider-Man’ Watch ‘Spider Baby: The Maddest Story Ever Told’ (For Free)
It’s hard to get away from Spider-Man nowadays. As one of Marvel’s most popular and recognizable heroes, he has been the face of many recent superhero movies and TV shows, and is preparing to return to the big screen once more with Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026).
However, before you dive back into Spider-Man, perhaps you would like to make the acquaintance of Spider Baby. Everyone knows Spider-Man, but only a select group of cult film enthusiasts know the strange tale of Spider Baby. Now that Spider Baby: or, the Maddest Story Ever Told (1967) is streaming for free on JustWatch TV, it’s the perfect time to rediscover this cult horror-comedy.
What Is ‘Spider Baby’ About?
Despite its title, Spider Baby is in no way related to Spider-Man. Instead, it is a horror-comedy that tells the shocking, twisted tale of the Merrye children. In the film, the Merrye children—Ralph (Sid Haig), Virginia (Jill Banner), and Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn)—are three orphaned children who live with their family chauffeur, Bruno (Lon Chaney, Jr.), in the dilapidated Merrye House. The house and children are feared by their neighbors, given that the children suffer from the genetic Merrye syndrome, in which they regress physically and mentally beginning in late childhood.
The children display very odd and dark behaviors and interests. Ralph, the oldest, creeps about the house via the dumbwaiters, while the middle child, Virginia, is infatuated with spiders. The youngest child, Elizabeth, is the most manipulative and conniving of the bunch. For the most part, the family lives in isolation in their decaying home, with Bruno shielding them from the rest of the world. However, when distant relatives arrive, claiming to be the heirs of the Merrye property, the darkness in the home comes to light in spectacularly chaotic, gruesome fashion.
How ‘Spider Baby’ Became a Cult Classic
Spider Baby has quite an interesting history. Although it was shot in just 12 days in 1964, the film would take three years to reach the screen because the original producers went bankrupt. By the time the horror-comedy finally reached theaters in 1967, with little to no marketing and a confusing variety of alternate titles, it received little attention. It wasn’t until the advent of the VHS tape that Spider Baby began to gain traction. Between VHS and Blu-Ray, Spider Baby is still being rediscovered and beloved by new fans to this day.
Spider Baby had all the makings of a cult classic. It was released to relative obscurity, and it was quite bold in its exceedingly dark, offbeat humor. It was the exact kind of film that people may not have appreciated at the time. However, for modern audiences looking for intriguing, killer family tales that probe the darkest parts of the human psyche and aren’t afraid to laugh at murder, illness, and dysfunction, Spider Baby is like discovering hidden treasure.
Why To Watch ‘Spider Baby'
If you are a sucker for B-movies and horror-comedies that skirt the line between exploitation films and mainstream cinema, you won’t want to miss Spider Baby. It’s an especially good watch if you love the absurdity and madness of dysfunctional, homicidal households as in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly (1970). Like many exploitation-style B-movies, it thrives on completely unrestrained and unabashed creativity, where no topic or detail is off-limits, and the madness is embraced.
What sets Spider Baby apart from other B-movies, though, is its delicate balance of horror and humor. It’s a rare horror-comedy that features genuinely horrific topics and takes you to a very dark, creepy place, yet still manages to maintain an underlying tone of dark humor. A lot of the humor comes from the sheer absurdity of watching the Merrye children commit such gruesome acts while still maintaining an odd sense of childlike innocence. In many ways, the Merrye family reminds me of The Addams Family, embracing the same humorous kookiness while venturing into much darker territory.
As strange and funny as Spider Baby is, it also goes a bit deeper than a true exploitation film. The movie is really as much a family tragedy as it is a comedy, featuring the devastating tale of an inbred family with hereditary mental illness. There is also something touching about the way Bruno genuinely cares for and wants to protect the Merrye children. The fact that nothing these children do, no matter how terrifying, can make him turn on them is a concept of unconditional love not often captured so poignantly in cinema. If you’re looking for bold, unrestrained horror, thoughtfully twisted storytelling, and a strong dose of dark humor, you can’t go wrong with Spider Baby.
