The Spider Woman Strikes Back

I know that Mario and Miss Zenobia are up to no good but I couldn't figure out why Jean kept acting like she did when nothing suspicious was happening to her. This movie has a very wacky premise that makes the film feel more cheesy than it really is.

Sort of a spin-off of one of the Sherlock Holmes films, where Gale Sondergaard repeats a blind character from that movie. It's got the spooky characters and the eerie atmosphere was done well, but story is a desperate attempt to make something out of something that wasn't made to be. Doesn't work all that well.

There's some good stuff here: the mystery of exactly what Zenobia is up to is compelling at first, & suspense builds when it becomes unclear whether or not the town's working with her. What looks like the beginning of a potential rape scene is also incredibly creepy. However, once I saw Hatton look like he was going to do something to a cow, I assumed he was going to inject it with something that would create the sleeping milk he gives the heroine, & so I spent half of this confused.