Spider Labyrinth — Spider Labyrinth(UHD/ Blu Ray)
From the late 1980s, Spider Labyrinth is a supernatural Giallo in the style/ at times form of Dario Argento’s Suspiria. It’s a slowly unfolding film- which builds in both disquiet & creepy oddness- all moving towards a rather surreally deranged effects-led resolve. Here from Severin is the first-ever digital release of this less-seen Italian film- with the two-disc UHD & Blu-Ray set offering up a brand spanking new 4 K scan, and truly hours of extras.
Spider Labyrinth (aka Il Nido Del Ragno, Cursed Labyrinth: Labyrinth in the Dark) is from 1988. It was directed by Rome-born Gianfranco Giagni- this was his debut feature film. He went on to have twelve other credits- he has one other fiction-based feature 80’s set political drama Nella Terra Di Nessuno- his other credits take in an Orson Wells and true crime documentaries.
The film opens with a flashback/ dream sequence as we see two boys messing around in a basement- one locks one in a wardrobe- he shakes the door madly turning to see a truly huge spider. We then switch to the neatly bearded Professor Alan Whitmore(Roland Wybenga) waking in his bed in a cold sweat to the ring of his phone. He heads into work to be told he’s got to head out from his (supposable) US home to Budapest to track down & talk to an ageing professor who had been behaving erratically and has now gone quiet.
He lands in Budapest- and gets shuttled to his hotel by the rather furtive & mysterious Maria (Claudia Muzii) who says she is the Professor's assistant. He checks into his hotel, and there is an edge of both uneasy & hiding something to the guests & staff- as they make their way around the grand, if eerier hallways of the building.
He goes to the professor's house to be met by a rather stern & male suit-wearing woman who claims to be his wife. He’s led into the prof who is highly on edge & twitchy- he passes him leather leather-bound booklet & some pictures.
From here on the ageing professor is killed- seemingly strung up by web-like material- this is followed by several knife kills. And things slowly but surely get stranger- going from boys who suddenly disappear off swings, people who were apparently never there, getting lost in seemingly straightforward streets, staring & listening crowds, a rolling black ball, and more spider-related imagery/web-like items.
The film certainly has a rather Lovecraft-type tone & feel, and if I were to try to roughly explain what we have here it's a mix of Into The Mouth Of Madness and Suspiria. With a truly wacky and bizarre resolve- which involves a white-tilled metamorphosis that you have to see to believe.
As you’d hope and expect we get the usual English euro-dub- this nicely adds to the air of disquiet. On the whole, there is little campiness or cheese you’d expect in Euro horror- either in the dialogue or the general tone of the film.
Wybenga makes for a good enough protagonist- moving from being slightly troubled and nervey, though to perplexed and falling apart. On the whole, The Spider Labyrinth is an effective slice of Euro horror, with a more serious & odd air to the proceedings. It is a pity Giagni didn’t make any other Giallo/ horror films, as he has a distinctive talent for the form.
This recent dual ultra-HD and Blu-Ray disc gives us a new 4k scan of the film. This looks lovely with crisp well-defined colours, and good depth/ clarity to the darker/ more shadowy elements of the film.
Moving onto the extra side of things, we get a bountiful selection of new stuff- just over four hours’ worth!. First off, we have a Commentary track from Dr. Will Dodson, Professor Of Rhetoric And Media Studies, And Ryan Verrill, Host Of The Disc Connected. They start by talking about the film's opening flashback/ dream sequence- touching on how wardrobes can be both a place of fear & a portal to other worlds. They discuss the film's lead, and how he only had three credits. They point out notable books/items in the foreground of the film- commenting on possible meanings. We get brief bios of the bit part actor and the off-kilter tone of the film's visuals. They talk about how the film fits into the weird tradition. Later on, they discuss late 80’s Italian horror in genreal, and that this is the proper release of this film. They talk about how each new watch of the film offers up new details, and much more. All in all it's a largely interesting track- though at points they do go off on odd tangents, which is somewhat frustrating!.
Otherwise, we get the following filmed interviews- Caught In A Web (45.12) with director Gianfranco Giagni. Arachne (40.12) with screenwriter Gianfranco Manfredi. All The Colors Of A Spider(19.58) with cinematographer Nino Celeste. Smile Of The Spider Woman (34.07) with actress Paola Rinaldi. Death In Stop Motion(39.10) with special FX artist Sergio Stivaletti. Lastly, we have Web Of The Weird (17.27) which is a featurette discussing how the film fits into the Weird Genre-featuring Dr. Will Dodson, Ryan Verrill And Erica Shultz, Author Of The Sweetest Taboo: An Unapologetic Guide To Child Kills In Film. Oh, and a trailer.
Spider Labyrinth is a wonderfully weird gem of late 80’s Euro horror. And it is wonderful to see Severin truly pull out the stops for this release, with an excellent 4k scan, and a truly budging selection of extras.