This one is an old favorite of mine, which I first saw as a teenager when I was starting to get into horror movies. Nice to see it resurface on late night TV recently.
The outline of the story is that a number of men are found dead, drained of blood and encased in what looks like spider silk. Evidence points to one of a pair of rich twin sisters as the culprit, but what's with the spider silk? Tony Franciosa, as the urbane private detective Mark Higbie, investigates and finds the truth.
Taken on its own terms, the story is a lot of fun and does hang together, more or less, building up to a conclusion that works in context, even if it's predictable. The music is fit for purpose.
But there are some delicious absurdities. Patty Duke Astin (as she was then called) can't do a German accent to save her life. Near the end of the film, her character, or rather one of her characters, having been warned to leave home fast to avoid a terrible fate, is seen sedately packing a case as if she were heading off to the beach for the weekend. AND later, when a female character is tossed out of a top floor window by the eponymous black widow, it is clearly a stunt MAN who is taking the fall!
Tony Franciosa turns in a sympathetic performance as Mark Higbie. Even better is his sassy sidekick, who rejoices in the label Flaps and is played with gusto by Roz Kelly.
Better than average for this kind of thing then. Rating: 7/10.
The outline of the story is that a number of men are found dead, drained of blood and encased in what looks like spider silk. Evidence points to one of a pair of rich twin sisters as the culprit, but what's with the spider silk? Tony Franciosa, as the urbane private detective Mark Higbie, investigates and finds the truth.
Taken on its own terms, the story is a lot of fun and does hang together, more or less, building up to a conclusion that works in context, even if it's predictable. The music is fit for purpose.
But there are some delicious absurdities. Patty Duke Astin (as she was then called) can't do a German accent to save her life. Near the end of the film, her character, or rather one of her characters, having been warned to leave home fast to avoid a terrible fate, is seen sedately packing a case as if she were heading off to the beach for the weekend. AND later, when a female character is tossed out of a top floor window by the eponymous black widow, it is clearly a stunt MAN who is taking the fall!
Tony Franciosa turns in a sympathetic performance as Mark Higbie. Even better is his sassy sidekick, who rejoices in the label Flaps and is played with gusto by Roz Kelly.
Better than average for this kind of thing then. Rating: 7/10.