La maledizione della vedova nera

On one level, this ill-fated Dan Curtis production is a cornucopia of great TV actors(Patty Duke, June Lockhart, June Allison, Donna Mills)clearly hard-up; this flick is the proof. Duke and Mills are twins who are somehow connected to a series of bizarre murders. Seems the victims are dispatched by a gigantic spider. Coincidentally, the twins late parents were doing research with spiders before they died. Many questions are laid out, such as: why is the spider made of paper-mache? Why is Patty Duke running around in a brunette wig and black jumpsuit and speaking with a bad German accent? What was Dan Curtis on when he conceived this disaster? The cast members could have only been trying to pay down their morgages doing this one.

Do you remember this movie from the 70's (1977)? It is about a woman who was bitten by many spiders as a youth, who can transform into a giant black spider. To this day, in my opinion, this movie is much better than a lot of the crap that Hollywood has recently manufactured.

Also, could tell me, or direct me to, where I could find the original T.V poster ad for this film? I remember that it was a picture of a spider with 8 human female legs, a spider's abdomen, and a human female face attached to it's body. The ad appeared in T.V. Guide.

This would be an awesome collectors item if I could find it.

Let me know.

Thanks

After all the movies I have seen, some of the most enjoyable, are those turned out for ABC's Tuesday Night at the Movies in the 1970's. They were B-movies in all their glory. The Curse of the Black Window is one such movie. Filled with good character actors, a fast plot and cheesy special effects, it filled a void for genre movies on tv. Other genre movies created in this time were-The Cat Creature, Black Noon, Dual and the great Night Staker(One of the great Vampire movies.).It was not just horror movies, but detective, war, love and comedies that entertained the viewers. The tv movies of the today are mostly teen flicks, love stories or social pronouncements. I do wish for a good old fashion cheapie horror tv movie.

Just keep your eyes open(0n cable,dvd or video)for the giant black spider of Dan Curtis mind.

Take Patty Duke, Donna Mills, June Allyson and June Lockhart. Add schizophrenia, were-spiders (similar to -wolves, but with eight legs), 1977 Los Angeles and Dan Curtis. Sprinkle with a bit of nepotism (Tracy Curtis, daughter of director Dan, has 15 seconds showing off on a balance beam that's grafted on like a third arm), add a pinch of bad cinematography and annoying commercial fade-outs, and bake well for what seems like forever.

Garnish with stereotypical "Injuns", gay morgue directors and sassy streetwalkers, then soak in brine for two hours. Prop dialogue firmly on stilts and spit in its eye. That's this movie. I loved it.

Right down to the meaty, slappable smile of the implausible leading man, every detail seemed just a bit ... off. And happily so. If this one doesn't generate derisive howls of laughter at your next homocockail soiree, sweetie, you need to redecorate or something.

This movie was great! Patty Duke & Donna Mills as (fraternal) twins?!? Guess there have been stranger things...like a man-sized Black Widow spider terrorizing Los Angeles! I won't give away who the "spider woman" is but within the first 2 minutes all you have to do is hear her voice & you'll know instantly it is either her or her proper twin cousin from Brooklyn Heights! Fortunately the fx in this film are so realistic you too may even believe that 6ft spiders are made of paper mache. Of course we also get the creature-point-of-view, and since spiders have 8 eyes we see 8 victims at once. If you have the opportunity to see this, you must watch it.