Web of the Spider

Right after Mario Bava, the late Antonio Margheriti was arguably the second-greatest Italian Gothic Horror director, his doubtlessly most ingenious work being the 1964 masterpiece "Danza Macabra" (aka. "Castle of Blood") starring the one and only Barbara Steele. "Danza Macabra" easily ranks among the most brilliant and fascinating Gothic Horror films ever made, and I was therefore sceptical about this "Nella stretta morsa del ragno" aka. "In the Grip of the Spider" (1971), a remake which Margheriti made of his own film only seven years later. While "In the Grip of the Spider" does in no way equal (or even come close to) the greatness of "Danza Macabra", however, it is nonetheless an atmospheric, creepy and highly entertaining film that every fellow fan of Italian Gothic Horror should enjoy.

The storyline is more or less the same as in "Danza Macabra": When interviewing Edgar Allan Poe (Klaus Kinski), a journalist Alan Foster (Anthony Franciosa) makes a bet with a sinister count. Foster has to spend a night alone in the count's eerie, presumably haunted mansion. When the first after his arrival is the beautiful Elisabeth Blackwood (Michèle Mercier), Foster does not foresee the horrors that he is about to experience... Anthony Franciosa is always great, most fellow Italian Horror fans will agree that he had his greatest moment in Dario Argento's "Tenebre" (1982); and who would not love a film that begins with the credits: "Klaus Kinski as Edgar Allan Poe"? Michèle Mercier is a beauty, but she is no Barbara Steele. Barbara Steele is my all-time favorite actress and her mere appearance is such an enrichment to all the great Gothic gems she has starred in that a remake with someone else in her role is most likely to disappoint. She is dearly missed in this one, even though Miss Mercier is in no way bad. "Danza Macabra" is one of the most atmospheric and eerily beautiful Horror films ever made. "In the Grip of the Spider" can not compete with the wonderful mood of the original, even though the film is nicely filmed in cool, eerie settings. It really is a blast to see Klaus Kinski play Edgar Allan Poe, however. While the film mostly keeps the storyline of "Danza Macabra", Margheriti added a long opening sequence which consists mainly of Kinski wandering through eerie tombs in search of a grave. Before seeing this, I expected it to be more exploitative than "Danza Macabra", but the film is actually quite low on sleaze and violence. Overall, "In the Grip of the Spider" is nowhere near as brilliant as "Danza Macabra", but it is definitely still atmospheric, creepy and vastly enjoyable Gothic Horror. My fellow Italian Horror buffs can definitely give this a try, but should make sure to see "Danza Macabra" first.

Seven years after giving us the very enjoyable Castle of Blood (1964), one of the most gothic of '60s gothic Euro horrors, director Antonio Margheriti decided to tell the exact same tale again, only this time in colour and without cult favourite Barbara Steele. The result is entertaining enough but also rather redundant if you've already seen his earlier, better movie.

The promise of Klaus Kinski as Edgar Allen Poe is undoubtedly a draw, and sure enough the actor chews up the scenery with a typically wild-eyed performance, but his appearance is little more than an extended cameo to kick off proceedings. The majority of the film follows American reporter Alan Foster (Anthony Franciosa) as he endeavours to spend an entire night in a haunted castle for a wager. As in Castle of Blood, he meets several mysterious characters, all of whom turn out to be ghosts who feed on the blood of the living to ensure their existence.

The film is atmospheric enough and the performances adequate, but I had hoped that Margheriti would have moved with the times, opting for a more exploitative approach this time around, just to make the film a little different from its predecessor (I'd have happily seen more of Michèle Mercier and Karin Field, who play ghostly babes Elizabeth and Julia). It's not to be: Web of the Spider is remarkably reserved, aiming for style over sleaze. Oh well...

Web of the Spider (1971)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Journalist Alan Foster (Anthony Franciosa) is having a conversation with Edgar Allan Poe (Klaus Kinski) when a bet is made. The bet is that Alan can't spend an entire night inside the Blackwood Castle where there are rumors of strange things inside.

I've always enjoyed watching remakes because it gives someone a new stab at some familiar material. There were a handful of directors like John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock who managed to remake their own works, which is an even more interesting thing to do. Italian director Antonio Margheriti made CASTLE OF BLOOD in 1964 and seven years later he'd do a color remake with WEB OF THE SPIDER.

As I said, I really do enjoy watching remakes but there's no question that this film is really lacking when compared to the original. I think the biggest issue that this film has is the fact that it's in color and this just takes away so much from the story. The original film contained some great B&W cinematography that actually added to the atmosphere and it actually helped make a rather eerie picture. The sets and costume design look great here and the cinematography is great but the color just really doesn't help matters.

I'd also argue that the slow nature of the film really doesn't help matters either. The problem is that there's really not much of an atmosphere here and it's certainly not creepy so the slow-burn that the director goes for just isn't as successful as I'm sure he was hoping. Yet another problem is that there just isn't anything fresh or original done with the material outside of the opening scenes with Kinski playing Poe. These early scenes were actually quite good and it's too bad that Kinski doesn't stick around for long.

I thought Franciosa was good in the lead role and Michele Mercier is good as the mysterious Elisabeth. Kinski clearly steals the film but he's only at the beginning and end. As I said, WEB OF THE SPIDER is technically well-made but on its own it just doesn't have enough to really work. When compared to the original, it makes this one all the more forgettable.

Some people really suck at negotiating business deals. "In the Grip of the Spider" revolves on a guy who accepts a bet to spend the night in a secluded and reputedly haunted castle and if he survives the ordeal, he receives the astonishing, stupendous and exhilarating reward of … 10 pounds! Ten pounds?!? Even in the 19th century this probably wasn't even enough to pay the coachman to drive you back to civilization! At least the eccentric Vincent Price offered his guests $10.000 to spend one night in his house on haunted hill; now there's a guy you can do business with! "In the Grip of the Spider" is an accomplishment of the hugely underrated Italian director Antonio Margheriti (better known under his international alias Anthony M. Dawson) and apparently a remake of his very own Gothic horror classic "Castle of Blood" starring Barbara Steele. By doing this Margheriti was far ahead of his time, as it's extremely popular among directors nowadays to remake their own earlier movies. Unfortunately I haven't seen "Castle of Blood" (or at least not yet), so I can't compare, but reliable sources tell me this early 70's version can't hold a candle to the original. This may be so, but I still wouldn't call "In the Grip of the Spider" a bad film – especially not if you're a sucker for Gothic atmospheres. Admittedly the storyline is a little flimsy and unspectacular, but the film nevertheless has several things going for it, like the presence of Klaus Kinski (depicting no less than Edgar Allen Poe), lovely luscious ladies and a downright sardonic finale. The American journalist Alan Foster is desperate to get an interview from the notorious novelist Edgar Allen Poe, but he gets more than he bargained for when Poe and his friend challenge him to spend the night at Blackwood castle. Convinced that ghosts and vampires don't exist, Foster accepts and remains alone in the dark and ominous castle. Things start out great for him, as the lucky bastard even has sex with the perplexing beauty who appears out of nowhere. Several more suspicious individuals make their appearance and, through flashback, Alan gradually learns they're all ghosts trapped inside the castle for all eternity. "In the Grip of the Spider" is slightly overlong (110min) and a lot of footage easily could have been cut. There's a lot of ballroom dancing and painting observing going on, which is quite unnecessary and in fact only undermines the atmosphere of Gothic morbidity. The scenes where random characters dwell through the castle's catacombs and stumble upon ancient tombs are irrelevant to the plot at well, but at least they fit the Gothic concept. The rare moments when Kinski appears on screen are sublime – even though he doesn't even remotely resemble the real Edgar Allan Poe – since there is no other actor more suitable to play a neurotic and lightly inflammable genius than him. Michèle Mercier (as Elizabeth) and Karin Field (as Julia) are both extremely beautiful and sexy starlets, but I'm sort of convinced that Barbara Steele was even better than the two of them combined in the original. I guess I'll have to track that one down as soon as possible. Overall this is a flawed but interesting film, recommend to fans of vintage Italian Goth-horror.

When Michèle Mercier appears in the sequence when she's still "alive" and puts on a necklace,it is obvious that the director was thinking of her "Angelique " character.The scene looks like an outtake of the Bernard Borderie's saga.

"Nella..." is certainly an underrated work:it does not rely on special effects or on gore and sex is kept to the minimum.Probably influenced by Bava,Margheriti creates fear with his camera ,using elements of the settings ,a mirror for instance.His lead is an earnest thespian,Anthony Franciosa, a former student of the Actor's Studio,not a mediocre amateur as we often meet in European horror movies.Supernatural is smartly introduced and the screenplay is much more elaborated than usually.Many people will disagree but Amenabar's style in "the others" is not that much different,even if that director is infinitely superior to Margheriti."Nella..." was also certainly influenced by Robert Wise's classic "the haunting " (1963!!!) as far as the conclusion is concerned.

Poe's presence (Klaus Kinski) and the fact that the hero's first name is "Allan" do not bring much to the movie.

In spite of the poor rating,I sincerely believe that fantasy and horror buffs won't waste their time if they watch "nella...."