‘Baby,’ ‘Madman’ Hit the Midnight Circuit

It’s midnight movie madness as the Nuart launches “Spider Baby,” which will play Friday and the next two Fridays, while the Sunset 5 will show “Memoirs of a Madman” Fridays and Saturdays for at least a month, also starting Friday. Both are horror pictures with crazies on the loose.

Neither film fulfills the midnight movie ideal, which calls for outrageous, disreputable fun or for pictures that are so bad they’re good. “Spider Baby,” a campy low-low-budget ‘60s horror flick, is amusing enough to approach the second ideal, whereas “Memoirs of a Madman” is hopeless by any standard.

“Spider Baby” tells of three demented young adults--two sisters, one blonde (Beverly Washburn), the other brunette (Jill Banner), with a thing for spiders, and their all-but-drooling bald brother (Sid Haig, an exploitation stalwart of the era). Cared for by their devoted, protective family chauffeur (Lon Chaney Jr., in a game, gallant portrayal), they live in the countryside in a large hilltop Victorian. The trouble is that a predatory cousin (Carol Ohmart), accompanied by her nice-guy brother (Quinn Redeker) and her mercenary attorney (Karl Schanzer) and his assistant (Mary Mitchell), turn up to try to get their hands on the property.

Everything that ensues is laughably predictable and silly, but primitive as it is, “Spider Baby” is a professional effort in which Hill makes an attempt at style, aided by Al Taylor’s shadowy black-and-white cinematography and Chaney’s willingness to play straight.

In comparison, George and Mike Baluzy’s “Memoirs of a Madman” is a rambling, spoofy amateur effort that feebly attempts to justify itself as a dark comedy. Somehow, the taunts of two customers (none other than ‘60s underground star Taylor Mead and Quentin Crisp, who also narrates the film) in a roadside cafe disturb a young man (Richard Craven) to the extent that he ends up in a mental institution, where he becomes part of a break-out led by a homicidal maniac (Brad Bechard) eager to go on a killing spree. Among the escapees is a transsexual (Jerome Linnemann) in love with Bechard, a goofy Neanderthal type (Ralph Giordano). There’s absolutely nothing memorable about this “Memoirs.”

* MPAA rating: unrated. Times guidelines: “Spider Baby” includes scenes of violence and menace.

‘Spider Baby’

Lon Chaney Jr.: Bruno

Carol Ohmart: Emily

Quinn Redeker: Peter

Jill Banner Virginia (Spider Baby) Beverly Washburn Elizabeth

An American General presentation. Writer-director Jack Hill. Producers Paul Monka, Gil Lasky. Cinematographer Al Taylor. Wardrobe Joan Keller. Music Ronald Stein. Art director Ray Story. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes.

* Fridays and Saturdays midnight only at the Nuart, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 478-6379. * MPAA rating: unrated. Times guidelines: “Memoirs of a Madman” contains considerable casual killing, some graphic language.

‘Memoirs of a Madman’

Brad Bechard: Butch Lee

Richard Craven: James Bunting

Ralph Giordano: Leon

Ralph Graff: Dr. Raji

Jerome Linnemann: Rose

A Headliner Entertainment Group release of a Coyote Production. Writers-directors-editors George & Mike Baluzy. Line producer Christopher Sam. Cinematographer Itzik (Harel). Costumes Karen Perry. Music Khris Ganser and Killer Watts. Art director David Baluzy. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes.

* Fridays and Saturdays midnight only at the Sunset 5, Sunset and Crescent Heights. (213) 848-3500.