BY ERNIE MAGNOTTA
I love European genre cinema. For example,
the Spanish horror films of Paul Naschy and Amando de Ossorio, the British
Hammer and Amicus films; not mention the many British, French and Italian
Eurospy films, and, of course, the Italian giallos and spaghetti westerns, just
to name a few. In Italy, directors such ase Sergio Leone, Dario Argento and
Mario Bava are legends. However, there were several Italian directors who may
not have been as well-known as these three artists, but who still created many
entertaining and worthwhile films. One of these directors was Antonio
Margheriti, who dabbled in various genres including spaghetti western, peplum,
Eurospy and horror. Some of his well-known horror films are The Long Hair of Death, Seven Death’s in the Cat’s Eye and the
beloved Cannibal Apocalypse. But in
1971, Margheriti directed a film that some horror fans may not be familiar
with. Others may have heard of it, but may not have ever seen it. That film is Web of the Spider.
Directed with style by Margheriti, here using
his American-sounding pseudonym Anthony M. Dawson, Web of the Spider revolves around journalist Alan Foster who
accepts a bet from legendary author Edgar Allan Poe to spend one night in
Blackwood Castle; a structure that Poe believes to be haunted, but Foster does
not. Moments after arriving at the dusty, cobweb-covered Victorian castle, Foster
begins hearing and seeing strange and frightening things. Is it a hoax
perpetrated by Poe or is Blackwood Castle really the home of something
supernatural?
Written by Bruno Corbucci (James Tont operazione U.N.O. aka James Tont-Operation Goldsinger), Web of the Spider is a color remake of
Margheriti’s and Corbucci’s 1964 black and white, gothic horror film Castle of Blood which starred the
legendary Barbara Steele (Black Sunday,
The Pit and the Pendulum). Due to Castle
performing poorly at the box office, Margheriti decided to remake it six
years later; this time in color. The director would later say that this was a
mistake as he felt that the color robbed Web
of the Spider of its atmosphere. Although I somewhat agree with him, I
still think it’s an interesting film and I’m glad that it was made. Clocking in
at 93 minutes, Web moves along at a
fast enough pace (for me, anyway), and, although it would have been more
atmospheric in glorious black and white, conjures up quite a bit of gothic
mood. The sets are wonderful and are dressed beautifully and the look of the
movie reminds me very much of a Night
Gallery episode crossed with a Roger Corman Poe film. The period costumes
are also quite lovely looking and the eerie musical score, by prolific Italian
composer Riziero Ortolani (The Valachi
Papers, The House on the Edge of the Park), adds immeasurably to the film.
The movie also features two very well-known
actors. The first is Anthony Franciosa (A
Hatful of Rain, Tenebrae) who stars as Alan Foster and convincingly shows
us a man who goes from happy confidence to frightened madness. The second is
Klaus Kinski (For a Few Dollars More,
Slaughter Hotel, Nosferatu the Vampyre). Although Kinski’s role as Edgar
Allan Poe is brief, it is also extremely memorable and one of the highlights of
the film.
We also have lovely French actress Michèle Mercier (Black Sabbath, Angélique,
Marquise des Anges) who does well with her role of the seductive Elisabeth
Blackwood while recognizable faces such as Peter Carsten (Mafia Connection, Mr. Superinvisible), Silvano Tranquilli (The Horrible Dr. Hichcock, Castle of Blood),
Karin Field (Cave of the Living Dead, The
Mad Butcher) and Raf Baldassarre (A
Fistful of Dollars, Eyeball) only add to the well-made movie.
Web of the Spider has been released on
Blu-ray in region 1, 2 and 3 from the fine folks at Garagehouse Pictures. The
film, which is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, looks gorgeous. The
audio is also superb and the disc is overflowing with special features such as
the German theatrical trailer, a deleted scene, an art gallery, the German
Super 8 movie digest, and the uncut Italian version in standard definition
which is also presented in its 2.35:1 aspect ratio and runs over seventeen
minutes longer than the American version. We are also treated to not one, but
two audio commentaries. The first is by George Reis, the editor of DVD Drive-in and writer/director Keith
Crocker. These knowledgeable guys tell you everything you ever wanted to know
about Web of the Spider while, in the
second commentary, screenwriter Stephen Romano, who is also a crazy talented
artist and contributed the beautiful, eye-catching artwork featured on the
Blu-ray sleeve, provides much info about the film, as well as about extremely
interesting subjects such as filmmaking and pre-home video film distribution.
Rounding out these excellent special features are fifteen minutes of Antonio
Margheriti trailers. If you’re a fan of 1970s Euro horror films, Klaus Kinski
or Antonio Margheriti, this disc is an absolute joy.
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(Ernie Magnotta is the author of "Halloween: The Changing Shape of an Iconic Series"). Click here to order from Amazon.)