Any Monogram Charlie Chan film from the 1940s is more cinematic and faster-moving than this talkathon-boreathon, which barely qualifies as a film; it really is just a piece of filmed theater - and poorly filmed, at that (for example, there is a scene where it takes 5 minutes for 3 men to accept that there is a dead body in the room - even though the body can be easily seen from the point where they are standing). As the characters talk....and talk....and talk.....and talk....without getting anywhere, it is very tempting to start doing other things while the film drones on at the background. But do tune in for the unmasking of the killer in the last 10 minutes, which is actually chillingly well-done. Penelope Keith is lively in the lead, but she is surrounded by a bunch of stiffs (no pun intended) - excepting the killer's performance in the aforementioned climactic scene. ** out of 4 for that scene alone.
Review of Spider's Web
