I've been watching the free Internet Universal Monsters Channel of late (Xfinity 4135) and in between some dull and boring 21st century horror flicks, the UMC shows a healthy selection of the vintage Universal horror movies. Universal's run peaked in the mid '40s and the films essential were better produced and written "poverty-row" horror types. They were on their last legs.
A lot of these mid '40s films are on the UMC. I had never seen 1946's The Spider Woman Strikes Back. But I'm a fan of Gale Sondergaard, who was pretty good in a couple of Universal Sherlock Holmes films. This film is 59 minutes and I wasn't expecting much. It's a slight film with a kind of "let's-wrap-things-up-quickly finale. However, it was a pleasant surprise: a not bad film with a good plot, fine acting and a generally creepy, suspenseful pace. And it also has the disfigured Rondo Hatton, Universal's dying horror star of the mid '40s. (Hatton suffered from acromegaly).
The plot: Sondergaard is Zenobia Dollard, a reclusive blind woman living in a mansion. Hatton is her scary looking mute servant, Mario. Starlet Brenda Joyce (also Jane in the Tarzan movies) is hired as Zenobia's assistant. Zenobia's had other assistants who have mysteriously left service. Although Mario takes some getting used to, things start well between the trio. But Joyce, (whose character is named Jean Kingsley) begins to have excessive fatigue, and sleeps too much.
What's happening is Zenobia (who is not blind) is siphoning blood out of Jean nightly, with Mario as her assistant. She feeds the blood to toxic plants, which eventually pollutes the milk. Cows are dying. Area residents get ill. The community is in an uproar wondering why this is happening. I don't want to give away the plot or the final minutes. Other characters include Jean's boyfriend, Kirby Grant (Hal Wentley), who does some sleuthing for his beloved. Along with other townspeople, they begin to tighten the noose on Zenobia and Mario.
Sondergaard is excellent in the film, with a chilly politeness and solicitude that is increasingly sinister. Hatton was a poor actor, but in this film, he seems to show -- in his own way -- sympathy for Jean. He doesn't want her to die like the other assistants.
Sondergaard had previously played The Spider Woman in a Sherlock Holmes Universal mystery, matching wits with Basil Rathbone. Obviously, producers played on that in The Spider Woman Strikes Back. But they are not the same character, and there are few spiders in the film. The sharp dialogue and pacing provide tension, particularly when Jean is in the large mansion, at the mercy of Xenobia and Mario.
The film plays like a longer version of a superb TV show along the lines of Thriller, Night Gallery, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, or The Twilight Zone. It's largely ignored now although there was a recent Blu Ray release. It must have pleased viewers as a B feature in the late 40s.
Universal was soon to end their horror production. It became Universal International and made a string of flops until Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein became a bit hit. As mentioned, the Universal B horrors are tighter and more disciplined than Poverty-Row films. But it's the chaotic, slapdash scripts of films such as The Corpse Vanishes or The Ape Man that make these cheapie films more popular today; not to mention the iconic Bela Lugosi starring in many.
But give The Spider Woman Strikes Back a viewing. I'll wager you'll enjoy it. You can watch the Universal Monster Channel here.
-- Doug Gibson
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