Horrors of Spider Island (German: Ein Toter hing im Netz, "A Corpse Hung in the Web") is a 1960 West German horror movie written and directed by Fritz Böttger, and produced by Gaston Hakim and Wolf C. Hartwig for Rapid-Film/Intercontinental Filmgesellschaft.[1][2][3] The movie features Alexander D'Arcy as Gary Webster, a talent agent who hires several young women to dance in Singapore. Their airplane ride ends when they crash-land into the ocean. Webster and the women survive and float to an island where they find a large spider web with a dead man hung on it; they learn he was a researcher who'd found uranium on the island. Later, a giant mutant spider sinks its teeth into Webster, causing him to become a partially spider-like beast.[4]
| Horrors of Spider Island | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Fritz Böttger |
| Screenplay by | Fritz Böttger |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Georg Krause |
| Edited by | Heidi Genée |
| Music by |
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Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Neue Filmverleih |
Release date |
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Running time | 82 minutes |
| Country | West Germany |
| Language | German |
The movie was released in the United States in 1962, and has been released with various English titles including It's Hot In Paradise, Hot In Paradise, Girls Of Spider Island, Horrors Of Spider Island and Spider's Web.[2]
Plot
Gary Webster (Alexander D'Arcy), a nightclub manager, hires a group of women in New York City to dance in his nightclub in Singapore. While flying over the Pacific Ocean, their airplane begins burning and plummets into the ocean. The group is seen next a few days later, suffering from dehydration on a life raft, before they finally encounter a small island and stagger to dry land.
Having discovered fresh water, they explore the island and find a cabin. Inside, they discover a dead man caught in a large spider web. According to his journal, the man was a Professor Green researching and mining for uranium, but he feared something terrible was about to happen to him. There's no indication how long the professor planned to be on the island, but the women estimate there is enough food to last them about a month.
That night, Gary ventures out alone and is bitten by a giant spider; he kills it, but becomes a beast with spider-like face and claws. He flees into the woods, leaving the women to wonder what has happened to him. Driven by uncontrollable violent urges, Gary kills one of the women the next day.
Twenty-eight days pass, and the women are running low on food when they see a ship on the horizon. They are unable to signal it before it leaves, but two men, Joe and Bobby, arrive in a rowboat with supplies for the professor. As they all wait for the ship's scheduled return, they celebrate their last night on the island with a raucous party. One of the men sneaks off to rendezvous with a woman, but both are killed by Gary. Finally aware of Gary's mutation, the survivors hunt him with torches until he flees into quicksand and dies.
Cast
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Source:[1]
Production
The movie was filmed between October and November 1959[1] on location in Yugoslavia.[5] Georg Krause, who previously filmed Stanley Kubrick's 1957 anti-war classic Paths of Glory, served as the cinematographer,[2] with Heidi Genée editing.[1]
Producer Hartwig decided that in order to have a horror exploitation winner, the movie only needed a monster and semi-nude women.[6]
Release
The movie was shown in Berlin on April 16, 1960.[1] Pacemaker Pictures distributed the movie in the United States, originally with the title It's Hot In Paradise in March 1962 with an 86-minute running time.[4][5] It was later released with the title Horrors of Spider Island as part of a double feature with The Flesh and the Fiends in November 1965 with a 75-minute running time.[3][7]
Reception and legacy
Author and movie critic Leonard Maltin awarded the movie 1.5 out of 4 stars, terming it a "well-photographed sex film, typical of the period", with sci-fi elements added almost casually.[8] Allmovie also gave the movie 1.5 out of 5 stars, stating that "while the primary purpose of this German-made oddity is to show scantily clad women imperiled by a decidedly male beast, it's also attractively photographed, and several scenes (most notably, Gary's first post-bite attack, and his final flight through a swamp) deliver a frisson not usually found in nudie-cutie/monster movie hybrid".[7] Brett Gallman from Oh, the Horror! deprecated the movie, writing, "No matter which mode it's in, the film is mostly incompetent. Shots are staged with little imagination, the (presumably) stock music is often incongruous with what's on the screen, and the acting turns are woeful". Gallman also criticized the movie's poor dubbing, monster design and frequent day for night sequences.[9]
Mondo Digital.com gave the movie a mixed review, complimenting its style while acknowledging its faults, stating, "While watchable even in its shortest version, Horrors of Spider Island becomes a delirious experience with the added nude swimming footage. The atrocious dubbing contains some of the more quotable one-liners around, while D'Arcy's weird but decidedly non-threatening monster makes up for the decided lack of actual arachnids on screen".[10]
George R. Reis from DVD Drive-In.com, however, gave the movie a positive review, commending the movie's climax as "moody" and "well-photographed".[11]
It was featured on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000[6] in 1999.[5][12]
See also
References
Notes
- ^ a b c d e "Ein Toter hing im Netz". filmportal.de. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Credits". British Film Institute. London. Archived from the original on December 23, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b Munden, 2007. p.549
- ^ a b Erickson, Hal. "Horrors of Spider Island". Allmovie. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c Reid, 2007. p.96
- ^ a b Trailers From Hell
- ^ a b Gaita, Paul. "Review". Allmovie. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Leonard Maltin (2015). Classic Movie Guide: From the Silent Era Through 1965. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 307. ISBN 978-0-14-751682-4.
- ^ Gallman, Brett. "Horror Reviews - Horrors of Spider Island (1960)". Oh, the Horror.com. Brett Gallman. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- ^ "Horrors of Spider Island". Mondo Digital.com. Mondo Digital. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- ^ Reis, George. "Horrors of Spider Island". DVD Drive-In.com. George R. Reis. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- ^ "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Horrors of Spider Island (1999)". Allmovie. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
Bibliography
- Munden, Kenneth White (1997). The American Film Institute Catalog: Feature Films, 1961-1970, Part 2. University of California Press. ISBN 0520209702.
- Reid, John Howard (2007). Science-Fiction & Fantasy Cinema: Classic Films of Horror, Sci-Fi & the Supernatural. Lulu. ISBN 978-1430301134.
External links
- Horrors of Spider Island at IMDb
- Horrors of Spider Island at AllMovie
- Toter hing im Netz (Horrors of Spider Island) Horrors of Spider Island at Rotten Tomatoes
- Horrors of Spider Island is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive