Horrors of Spider Island (1960 – Public Domain Movie)

Horrors of Spider Island – Movie Review

Horrors of Spider Island is a black and white horror movie made in 1960. The story begins in Los Angeles, where Gary Webster and his assistant, Georgia, are busy interviewing dancers for an assignment in Singapore. All of the interviewees have been hand-picked by talent-scout, Mike Blackwood, and Mike sure must know his stuff because Gary only rejects two of them.

Gary may have found his girls, but they never make it to Singapore because their plane crashes into the sea and after a few days floating around in a raft they find manage to splash and paddle their way to an island.

After spending the night crashed out on the shore Gary and the girls begin exploring the island and when they discover a cabin they are filled with fresh hopes of being rescued. Their hopes are dashed when they see the owner of the cabin. He is hanging around in a massive spider’s web and is very busy being dead

There’s plenty of food in the cabin, and after they have removed the body, Gary and the girls soon make themselves at home. But it’s a warm night. The cabin is too hot for them, so most of the girls decide to sleep outside. Wouldn’t you if there was a huge killer spider on the loose?

Gary finds it a little hot inside the cabin too so he decides to go for a walk and soon falls prey to the giant spider. He puts up a good fight, and even manages to kill the eight-legged freak, but the damage is already done. Gary has been bitten.

The spider’s venom was obviously strong enough to kill the owner of the cabin, but it has a very different affect on Gary. Instead of dying he sprouts hair all over his face and hands and his fingers transform into the kind of claws that would make every visit to the toilet a terrifying situation.

Gary also gets a new outlook on life and spends the rest of the film terrorising and killing anyone he can get his hairy hands on.

More than anything else Horrors of Spider Island is an exploitation movie where gorgeous girls show of their long legs and shapely figures as they dance, fight, and go swimming. And, just to remind the viewer that this is meant to be a horror film, they indulge in a spot of occasional screaming.

How good is Horrors of Spider Island? Not very. If  want shivers down your spine or edge-of-the-seat excitement, this movie won’t be for you. The plot is weak and the quality of the acting is acceptable at best.

With a name like Horrors of Spider Island, the movie could be said to be flying under false colours but it just about works as light entertainment.

 

Additional Information

Director: Fritz Böttger

Cast

Barbara Valentin … Babs
Rainer Brandt … Bobby
Harald Maresch … Joe
Elfie Wagner … Linda
Dorothee Parker … Gladys
Helga Franck … Georgia
Helga Neuner … Ann
Gerry Sammer … May
Eva Schauland … Nelly
Helma Vandenberg … Kate
Walter Faber … Mike Blackwood