"What a cast!"
Michael Weldon, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film

"At times, Spider Baby is like a television sitcom directed by Luis Buñuel... Categorizing this oddity is no easy task. Spider Baby is a horror-comedy, but lacks the buffoonery and dumb jokes that most comedies rely on. It has been referred to as a black comedy, but as such it lacks the cynicism and sophistication of typical humour noir. It is macabre and grotesque, but in an offbeat, fun-loving way. In offering bizarre situations and weird ethical dilemmas, the film rebuffs the simplistic response. Contradictory emotions abound."
Jim Morton, RE/Search: Incredibly Strange Films

"Made shortly after Hill's aborted Blood Bath project for Roger Corman, this inspired black comedy shows what a gleeful, sharp-toothed satire that film could have been. Al Taylor's cinematography cloaks the makeshift sets in credibly decrepit atmosphere, and the art director's eye for detail is merciless (note the Raggedy Ann doll crucified on the wall of Virginia's room - in the center of a Crayola spider web!). The performances are surprisingly vivid, even loveable, with Chaney delivering an expert comic performance that never wanders too far astray from his trademark brand of tragic pathos. Haig, vamping about like a mute Jerry Lewis, is a scene-stealer, and the Tweedledum-Tweedledee duologues between Washburn and Banner are delicious."
Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog

"Hill is well served by his cast, especially Jill Banner with her unnervingly wide staring eyes and little girl act. Lon Chaney, Jr. conducts his part with a sad dignity and gives probably the best performance he ever gave in the latter years of his life... Also good is second-billed Carol Ohmart who comes across with an effectively snooty middle-class moral superiority. The film is on the tame side today, but certainly it would have been quite outré stuff for the 1960s.
Richard Scheib, The SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review

"Not bad little chiller about the antics of a very unusual---and very sick ----family."
Leonard Maltin Movie Guide

"Though the graphic violence is only intimated, the constant creepiness of the proceedings go far beyond the boundaries of good taste (especially for the sixties)... Add a bit of cannibalism, a hint of dismemberment, and a healthy serving of grim humour, and Spider Baby becomes an overlooked cult classic for shock junkies... Jack Hill should be commended for creating a true vision of madness. Alternately hilarious, touching and very nasty, it's easily his most original movie."
Steve Puchalski, Slimetime

"Spider Baby has no nudity, no blood, is cheaply shot in black and white, and directed with a meager hand. However, the characterizations and actors will hold your attention. Maybe not as fun as, but certainly reminiscent of, later films such as Basket Case [1982], The Hills Have Eyes [1977], Mother's Day [1980] and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre [1974], Spider Baby is creepy-crawly fun."
Staci Layne Wilson, Horrorwood.com

"Though superficially similar to some of Charles Addams' drawings, Spider Baby truly resembles nothing else in film... Filmed for virtually no money in atmospheric black and white over a period of twelve days, Spider Baby... continuously surprises thanks to its sharp script and enthusiastic performances. Ohmart does a funny turn on her blonde bitch routine from House on Haunted Hill [1959], albeit with less clothing here, and Chaney's emotional post-dinner scene with the two girls proves once and for all that he was a fine actor in and out of makeup. The script includes a number of marvelous in-jokes for fans, particularly some funny riffs on The Wolf Man [1941], and really isn't as depraved as a simple plot description might sound."
Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

"... just about the coolest movie ever."
Scott Phillips, Albuquerque Alibi

"Ghastly trowel-made horror film featuring crestfallen Lon Chaney, Jr. in one of his last film roles before being struck down with illness. Best forgotten."
Ed Naha, Horrors: From Screen to Scream

"...for all of the strong and unique points, the film doesn't work. As anything. Certainly not as a children's film, not as a horror movie (nothing resembling a vampire even shows up, although there is a juvenile voyeur hanging upside down outside a window), not even as something simply defying categorization. Still, as the works of John Waters enjoy a following, there are probably people out there who would enjoy this. Bevare awf zem! Bevare, bevare!"
Clayton Trapp, Brilliant Observations on 1173 Films

compiled by Richard Harland Smith