Horrors Of Spider Island — Horrors Of Spider Island(Blu Ray)
Horrors of Spider Island (Ein Toter hing im Netz, Body in the Web) originally appeared in 1960 as a West German production. It was a adults only feature that played around the European grindhouses- though it was band in the UK. Two years later it got a US release- this was cut of most of its nudity, and repackaged with tacky creature feature- taking in a half-man/ half spider monster, bawdy catfights, skimpily clad females, fleeting glances of nudity, and a selection of unlikeable macho & chauvinistic men.
The plot finds a group of six US models- including Barbara Valentin ‘The German Jayne Mansfield’ -on their way to an Asian photoshoot- they crash land in the sea, and after five days adrift come across a small island. The group, including the ladies' arrogant chauvinistic and sleek manager Gary Webster (Alexander D'Arcy), decide to check out their location. They find a cabin, and inside is a dead middle-aged male doctor strung up in a huge spider web. From here the group bicker a lot, have skimpy catfights, and try to bed Webster- one night he goes out for a walk, and is attacked by a giant human armed spider- he’s bitten & turns into a two bucktooth & large claw handed spider man. One by one he attacks the models- be it strangled, drowned, or malled. Also added into the mix we get two chauvinistic men arriving on the island who have come to help the now-dead doctor.
I’d say the films leans more into the nudie cutie sides of things, with only 30% of the films been creature feature/ B- horror fare. The man armed spider is rather neat & creepy looking, the altered Webster looks kind of like a two toothed werewolf, and there are some nice touches of unsettling atmospherics & mood present. The models themselves are very vapid, and largely whining in their presentation, then, of course, we have the trio of sexist macho-men, who take the women when & however they fancy. Largely the film focuses in on the women prancing, dancing, and striping up ‘n’ down. As a gimmick- bound nudie cutie it’s ok, but sadly the creature feature/ horror elements are too sparse & not often enough- the sure the human armed spider is unsettling, and some of the kills are moodily grim- like one of the models gets drowned, and is found face-up-but these elements are too few & far between. So if you like the idea of a nudie cutie with a subtle tinge of creature feature- then you’ll find this fun enough, but if here for mainly the horror side of things you’ll feel very short changed
Moving onto this recent region free Blu Ray release- and Severin has certainly done a nice job of the packaging- it comes in a wonderful garish slip sleeve, and inside the blu ray case features a double-sided sleeve- either a darker or bright ‘n’ buoyant version. Moving onto the disc it’s self- and we get two versions of the film one with a blend of US footage & sudden switches to german- I gather this is the ultimate edition. Then we have the alternate US version entitled It’s Hot In Paradise. The print of the first version is ok- though in places still rather murky, flicking through the other print it seemed slightly brighter. On the extra sides we have a fifteen-minute history of the film from german genre expert Dr. Marcus Stiglegger- and this is most detailed/ thorough- he starts off to discussing the few german exploitation that appeared at the same time as Horrors Of…, moving onto talking about the film's producer & director, before touching on bios of the films key actors, and of course the film in general. We get a few minute audio interview with lead actor Alexander D’Arcy and a few minutes of alternate clothed versions of scenes.
It certainly great to see Severin put out Horrors Of Spider Island as it’s a unique blend of exploitation genres, and an important chapter in 60’s euro exploitation- but sadly I found it never fully satisfying as either creature feature or nudie cutie, but it may well click with you…so I’d say if you dig black & white euro-exploitation that try to balance horror & sleaze give it a try.