The Spider Labyrinth

"Spider Labyrinth" is a strange and slow but engaging Giallo-type thriller that doesn't have any big names involved in the production (except maybe – if you're an insider – special effects wizard Sergio Stivaletti) but it nevertheless stands as one of the greatest undiscovered gems of late 80's Italian horror cinema. Around this time, the Giallo (which is essentially a stalk & slash movie with some additional trademarks) ran low on inspiration, but this movie brings some imaginative diversity to the sub genre by adding occult sub plots. Sort of like Sergio Martino already attempted to achieve in the early seventies with "All the Colors of the Dark". The plot opens with a brief but atmospheric flashback/dream sequence immediately clarifying the protagonist's link and phobia for large spiders; a small detail that will prove very relevant later in the film. Alan Whitmore is an American professor studying ancient dead languages. He's part of his university's project called Intextus, which concerns professors from all around the globe collaborating to translate and comprehend one specific long lost language. The correspondent in Budapest – Prof. Roth – hasn't been heard of in a long time and, since his input is particularly fundamental, Alan is assigned to travel to Hungary and meet up with him. Alan arrives in an overall uncanny and hostile environment, but nevertheless comes into contact with Roth through his amiable and stunningly beautiful secretary Genevieve. Shortly after, Prof. Roth is found murdered under mysterious circumstances and Alan gradually becomes sucked deeper and deeper into a (spider's) cobweb of occult conspiracies. Slow and indistinctive at first, "Spider Labyrinth" marvelously unfolds into a hugely macabre and unnerving thriller. Considering the plot (and perhaps after a few slight changes) and some of the malignant characters, THIS should have been the final chapter in Dario Argento's Three Mothers trilogy! Director Gianfranco Giagni may perhaps be a relatively unknown name in the Italian horror industry, but he promptly proves himself to be capable of maintaining a grisly atmosphere throughout the film and even proportionally builds up more tension towards a literally mesmerizing climax. The sinister Budapest filming locations form the ideal setting for a tale like this, but everything else is entirely Giagni's accomplishment (like, for example, empty swings and toy balls bouncing seemly by themselves). Then, last but not least, there's the work of Sergio Stivaletti in the special effects department. The effects – and particularly those during the finale – are shocking and masterfully nauseating. I've always been a big fan of Sergio Stivaletti's 'art' and once again he surpassed himself his own craftsmanship. If you like horror, and I do mean Horror with a capital H, I guarantee you'll be staring at the last fifteen minutes of "Spider Labyrinth" with your mouth and eyes wide open. Bravo, Mr. Stivaletti!

Not only do I hunt the independent flicks, I also try to track down those flicks that were never released in a proper way, no DVD or official VHS was released. Sometimes they were only available on VHS at a rental base. Most of those flicks are well sought after and aren't cheap to buy. But sometimes if you hunt and are patient you can find those gems. This is one of them. It's an Italian horror movie but I wouldn't say that it is a giallo. Therefore there are to much strange things going on, the occult takes an important factor in the storyline. It never bores but as always with the Italian ones the sound isn't what it should be. The added sounds like doors closing or the wind is always too loud and that makes you look for failures. Like when the wind blows hard you see leaves flying away in front of the street but further the trees are standing still. Do I need to say more. But the movie works and has his creepy moments. the killings aren't bloody or gory but they work and that's good, isn't it. There is some stop motion used with the rip off of the spiderhead scene in The Thing, but still it's worth seeing. The version I have is English spoken with Japanese subs and clocks in at 87 minutes, uncut. And for those perverts out there, yes, some nudity is involved but due the Japanese release private parts are blurred, you know what I mean...

Professor Alan Whitmore (Roland Wybenga), co-ordinator on a project investigating a strange religious sect, travels to Budapest to retrieve a missing report where he becomes entangled in a web of intrigue, murder and occult activity.

Although its stylish cinematography, shocking violence and dreamlike atmosphere were undoubtedly influenced by Dario Argento's supernatural classics Suspiria and Inferno, and its narrative is eerily similar to Roman Polanski's under-rated occult horror The Ninth Gate, The Spider Labyrinth is no second-rate knock off: in my humble opinion, it is far a more accomplished work than either of Argento's celebrated movies, and it preceded Polanski's film by more than a decade.

Morphing slowly from a giallo-style murder mystery into a surreal Lovecraftian horror where ancient gods and their murderous followers secretly conspire to spread their evil around the globe, The Spider Labyrinth is a brilliantly crafted nightmare, tinged with a sense of paranoia and madness, packed with cool visuals, laced with eroticism, and topped off with several standout scary moments: appearances by a supernaturally strong, knife-wielding hag are guaranteed to send a shiver up the spine; a suitably freaky finale features some truly unsettling FX work from Sergio Stivaletti; meanwhile, fans of sexy Euro-babes are catered for by the lovely Paola Rinaldi as Genevieve Weiss, Whitmore's enigmatic (and frequently naked) contact in Budapest, and Claudia Muzi as hot hotel maid Maria.

As far as I know, The Spider Labyrinth still awaits an official DVD release, which I think is a travesty for such a fine film; until some enterprising company snaps it up and gives it the treatment it deserves, fans of bizarre Euro-horror will have to make do with the bootleg version that is available, a VHS transfer I believe, but still well worth getting one's mitts on.

This largely unknown Italian horror movie encapsulates the best of Italian horror. We've got Giallo elements, supernatural elements, surreal ambiance and a dark, sinister plot. Despite a lovely murder scene that takes place in the middle of a load of bed sheets, the first half of the film is largely rather uninspiring; but as the film moves on, it mutates into one of the most grisly assaults that I've ever seen from Italy. Many people that have seen this movie have labelled it a Giallo, and while the film does have it's Giallo moments in the first half - I'd put Spider Labyrinth in with the robust Gothic horror films such as Kill Baby Kill, Inferno and Suspiria before listing it amongst the likes of Solange and The Bird With the Crystal Plumage. The plot follows a professor who is sent to stay with a fellow professor for reasons that are always left rather vague. It's not long before his professor host ends up dead, and our hero is being plunged into a world of mystery and sinister cults, which all seems to focus around some strange 'fist-sized' black balls.

Italian horror is well known for not making a lot of sense and this film suffers from a screenplay that adheres to that 'rule'. The intrigue is generated towards the start mainly because of the fact that the film is so difficult to follow, but once the film enters it's more satisfying second half, these problems are somewhat resolved. Even while the film isn't making a whole lot of sense, however, it still remains interesting by way of its atmosphere. Atmosphere tends to be more important in this sort of film anyway, so the fact that this one relies on it is largely to its credit. The beautiful Italian locations are well shot and the lighting in the scenes indoors gives the film exactly the right mood. The underground scenes towards the end represent the film's strongest location shoots, and are one of the main reasons why it ultimately succeeds. The special effects look extremely cheap and are mostly stop-motion. However, they're really disgusting also, and the final scene; even though the 'monster' is a doll, really is nightmarish. Overall, I could easily understand anyone that doesn't like Spider Labyrinth; but it hit the nail on the head for me, and I definitely recommend it to my fellow Italian horror cinema fans!

A professor sent to Italy to check on a reclusive colleague finds himself in a world whose reality seems less and less certain. That's about all one needs to know about the plot. Most Italian horror is mood driven not plot focused. The Spider Labyrinth certainly owes a debt to Dario Argento. We have a mystery, a sect, a hotel with strange residents, and the unsettling feeling that the protagonist left reality behind the moment he stepped off the airplane. The world of the film is one of magic, just like in Suspiria or Inferno, yet the film does not fall into the trap of being a rip-off of those films. Only one scene, the murder of a maid in a room with hanging sheets, suffers from being overly familiar. Otherwise, the film has the feel of an Argento film without coming across as theft. While The Spider Labyrinth is not without problems (some hokey FX; an at times easy to predict plot), it seems more daring and evocative than Mother of Tears, Argento's last Three Mothers film. I am surprised by how little attention the film has gotten in the U.S. even with horror film fans like myself.