SPIDER LABYRINTH (1988)
aka Il nido del ragno
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 86 Minutes 35 Seconds
Audio: English or Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: HDR 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Gianfranco Giagni
Cast: Roland Wybenga, Paola Rinaldi, Margareta von Krauss, Claudia Muzii, William Berger, Stéphane Audran
Spider Labyrinth (1988) is a film that has long sat at the top of eurcult collectors wishlist of film to get an HD upgrade, a late-80's slice of Italian horror that's been quite hard to come by for years, even on grey market circles. That is until now, for Severin Films have once again made eurocult dreams come true with a miraculous 4K UHD/Blu-ray edition chock full of tasty extras!
The film starts off with an American professor Alan Whitmore (Roland Wybenga, Run For Your Life) tasked by his corporate colleagues to travel Budapest to reconnect with his missing colleague Professor Ross (László Sipos), and to recover his research. It seems both men are working on the mysterious Intextus Project who have researcher in various places around the world doing research. Arriving in Budapest he is greeted by Ross's very sexy assistant, Genevieve (Paola Rinaldi) and taken to the see professor, where he is greeted by his wife who says he's been acting quite strangely, and Ross himself says he is being watched. and in danger, and acts quite strange. Things in Budapest seem off and weird, the next day Ross is found mysteriously hanged and covered in cobwebs and the police say he never had a wife, very curious indeed. Alan starts to have nightmares about a childhood incident where he found himself trapped in a cabinet with a creepy spider, and more bizarre violent deaths and encounters occur. Strange characters abound, we have a witchy looking hotelier Mrs. Hukn (Stéphane Audran, Bluebeard) alway with her black cat, and a mysterious old man (Howard Berger, The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff) who is always warning Alan of impending dangers. Slowly Alan begins to realize he's wandered into a weird web of mystery, where no one is to be trusted and nothing is what it seems, and that he might be too deep in to find a way out, pulled in further by his attraction to the Genevieve. Loaded with otherly atmosphere this one is drenched in dread and weird wonderment, a black ball appears shortly before each of the murders, followed by the appearance of a toothy witch (Margareta von Krauss) with a knife. The murder set-pieces are pretty awesome, a scene of a woman (Claudia Muzii, Malena) being stalked through a sheet-shrouded labyrinth bathed in eerie green lights feels like it's ripped right out of Suspiria. There are also some very nice looking scenes shot in a bathhouse, and a subterranean catacomb where things get rather spooky. The finale features Alan encountering a centuries old Old God worshipping cult, where the creepy spider-baby deity makes an appearance in a scene that owes a lot to John Carpenter's The Thing, featuring some fantastical effects by Italian special effects legend Sergio Stivaletti. The scenes shot around Budapest are like a character unto themselves, mysterious architectures that seem to create a labyrinth where it's easy to lose your way, maybe even your mind, it really helps create a world were the supernatural might exist.
This is a seriously strange and atmospheric flick, reminding be a bit of Argento's Suspiria or Inferno by way of Soavi's The Sect, and a bit of the Lovecraft riff Dagon. It's got a great look to it as well, fluidly shot by Sebastiano Celeste (Escape from Women's Prison) with atmospheric swaths of colored lighting, unsettling skewed angles, and some mind-bending special effects work, including some tasty stop-motion, that make you wonder just why this has remained so obscure for so long.
Now what it all means and what the Intextus Project are up to, well, I never figured that out, but it's a strange and wonderful film that washes over you like a eerie half-remembered eurocult nightmare that loses the plot along the way. Originality is not it's strong suite, but I dig the heavy Lovecraftian vibe, the gooey effects, and how batshit weird it gets, a definite recommend, and now thanks to Severin it's widely available for the first time ever on home video.
Audio/Video: Spider Labyrinth (1988) makes it's worldwide 4K UHD debut from Severin Films in 2160p UHD framed in the original 1.85:1 widescreen, sourced from a 4K scan of the negative with HDR color-grading. The source looks terrific, restored to perfection with lush grain and vivid colors. Clarity and depth are wonderful, the black levels are deep and inky, and the disc is well-authored with no compression issues that I detected. The HDR color-grading gives primaries a nice boost over the Blu-ray counterpart. Audio comes by way of English or Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles. The tracks sound great and are well-balanced, and the orchestral score Franco Piersant sounds terrific.
Extras are also well-stocked, the 4K UHD only features the Audio Commentary With Dr. Will Dodson, Professor Of Rhetoric And Media Studies and Ryan Verrill, Host Of The Disc Connected and the 2-min English language Trailer for the film. I am not familiar with these guys but the track is in-depth and insightful, exploring the cast and crew as well as the Lovecraftian and Weird themes. The Blu-ray which features the film in HD also features those same extras and several more. We get a 45-min Caught In A Web – Interview With Director Gianfranco Giagni who talks about getting his break in feature films, the 41-min Arachne – Interview With Screenwriter Gianfranco Manfredi who gets into writing the script and its influences, the 20-min All The Colors Of A Spider – Interview With Cinematographer Nino Celeste who speaks about shooting the flick in Hungary and working with the director; the 34-min Smile Of The Spider Woman – Interview With Actress Paola Rinaldi discusses her career and big breaks, including being cast here; plus the 39-min Death In Stop Motion – Interview With Special FX Artist Sergio Stivaletti who discusses the fantastical special effects of the film. These are all in Italian with English subtitles. The only English language extras - aside from the Trailer - is the 17-min video essay Web Of The Weird – Placing Spider Labyrinth In The Weird Genre With Dr. Will Dodson, Ryan Verrill And Erica Shultz, Author Of The Sweetest Taboo: An Unapologetic Guide To Child Kills In Film, which delves into the Lovecraftian and Weird elements of the film. The two disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original movie poster artwork. The discs inside also feature separate artworks on the disc. This release is also available as a limited edition 3-disc set with the CD soundtrack, and exclusive slipcover with unique artwork available direct from Severin.
Special Features:
DISC 1: UHD
- Audio Commentary With Dr. Will Dodson, Professor of Rhetoric And Media Studies, And Ryan Verrill, Host of The Disc Connected
- Trailer
DISC 2: Feature Blu-ray
- Audio Commentary With Dr. Will Dodson, Professor Of Rhetoric And Media Studies, And Ryan Verrill, Host Of The Disc Connected
- Caught In A Web – Interview With Director Gianfranco Giagni (45:12)
- Arachne – Interview With Screenwriter Gianfranco Manfredi (40:41)
- All The Colors Of A Spider – Interview With Cinematographer Nino Celeste (19:58)
- Smile Of The Spider Woman – Interview With Actress Paola Rinaldi (34:07).
- Death In Stop Motion – Interview With Special FX Artist Sergio Stivaletti (39:10)
- Web Of The Weird – Placing SPIDER LABYRINTH In The Weird Genre With Dr. Will Dodson, Ryan Verrill And Erica Shultz, Author Of The Sweetest Taboo: An Unapologetic Guide To Child Kills In Film (17:27)
- Trailer (2:01).
Screenshots from the Severin Films Blu-ray:
Extras:
