THE WEB OF THE SPIDER (1972) is director Antonio Margheriti’s color remake of his 1964 DANZA MACABRA (CASTLE OF BLOOD) which, along with Mario Bava’s LA MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO (BLACK SUNDAY) is considered one of the twin pillars of Italian Gothic Cinema. This genre flourished from 1957-1972 making SPIDER one of the last examples to be made before being eclipsed by the Giallo genre which consisted of contemporary crime stories that, thanks to the abandonment of censorship standards, were filled with gratuitous nudity and graphic, misogynistic violence. DANZA had not been a success at the box office so the director decided to redo it in color. This time it was successful but Margheriti later dismissed SPIDER saying that color robbed the story of its atmosphere.
Set in the mid-19th century so that Edgar Allan Poe could be a character, the story concerns skeptical reporter Alan Foster who accepts a wager that he cannot spend one night alone in a nearby haunted castle. Dropped off by Poe and the castle’s owner, he unexpectedly encounters a number of people inside including a beautiful woman that he falls in love with. He later discovers that she and the others who inhabit the castle are dead and must relive their deaths on this one night of the year, November 2nd, which is All Souls Day. He witnesses their various demises before realizing that he is to be next so that the dead can prolong their unholy existence and return next November 2nd. Will he be able to escape the castle alive and collect the bet? The ending is a surprise.
It is true that SPIDER lacks the overpowering atmosphere of the B&W original and it doesn’t feature Italian Gothic icon Barbara Steele. However it does benefit from a bigger budget and from better acting by the principal players. The reporter is played by American actor Anthony Franciosa who brings an earnest intensity to the role especially after he discovers the castle’s secret. Euro favorite Klaus Kinski is a suitably deranged Poe. Most IG fans dismiss this version but I find SPIDER stylishly lit, well photographed, and just as enjoyable as its predecessor, but in a different way. Like most European horror films, SPIDER exists in several bad public domain copies so beware.. The original, uncut versions of both movies are now available on streaming services and on home video.
The Capsule Critic 