Event

HORROR OF SPIDER ISLAND

(aka Ein Toter hing im Netz, The Bodies Hang In Nets)
Dir. Fritz Böttger (as Jamie Nolan) (1960)
West Germany/Yugoslavia, 80 min.
In Dubbed English

We've seen burlesque dancers on the stage, we've seen burlesque dancers behind the scenes, so how about burlesque dancers crash-landing on a tropic island and facing off against an evil spider-ma...erm, man-spider? Welcome to Ein Toter hing im Netz (The Bodies Hang In Nets), a weird little German film which we in the west know as HORROR OF SPIDER ISLAND! A talent agent named Gary (Alexander D'Arcy, THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE, HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE) pulls togeteher a dance troupe to head to Singapore and certain success when catastrophic engine failure ends up with all hands in the ocean, leading to a Lord Of The Frauleins situation on a torrid island where a radioactive spiderbite turns Gary into a bug-eyed killing machine! You may think this is all just a pretext to see leggy blondes languidly draped in makeshift bikinis, and you would not be wrong, but it's worth noting one of those blondes is none other than the great Barbara Valentin (here named Babs Valentine), known and loved by Fassbinder fans worldwide, and she's just as wonderfully salty here as ever. This print compiles best available sources to include all the scenes cut from the international release, so you get all the nude swimming and dancing the American cut promised and never delivered, making this a perfect film for long hot summer nights when sleep is impossible and danger lurks around every turn.