THE SPIDER WOMAN STRIKES BACK-1946-Jean Kingsley (Brenda Joyce) returns to her hometown after a career somewhere else to be a companion to Zenobia (Gale Sondergaard), a blind woman who lives in a dark house with her mute manservant Mario (Rondo Hatton).
Zenobia seems a pleasant sort while Mario seems rather sinister. One night while Jean is asleep (obviously drugged) Zenobia comes to Jean's bedroom and draws blood from her. She then meets Mario in the basement where she feeds her carnivorous plants with Jean's blood! After some cattle and a little girl die, Z draws more blood from Jean.
From a talk between her and Mario we learn Z killed the other girls who came to work for her. She promises Mario, who's sweet on Jean, that Jean won't die. Hal (Kirby Grant), a guy who once asked Jean to marry him, brings agricultural agent Moore (Milburn Stone) in to investigate. Later Jean discovers Z isn't blind and she's making the poison that's killing the cattle. Her mad plan is to drive all the farmers away and buy up all the land that once belonged to her family. In a frenzied effort to burn all the plants when suspicion is thrown on her, she and Mario die. Hal rescues Jean.
This Universal quickie is like a TV movie running less than an hour. Since it was not a hit, some critics feel this movie signaled the end of the classic Universal Pictures horror run.
Director Arthur Lubin directed 5 of Abbott & Costello's classic Universal films and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA remake with Claude Rains. Later did most most of the "Francis The Talking Mule" series and in the '60's made THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET.
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