"Jack Hill is unknown for one main reason: poor self promotion. He was in the same film class as Francis Ford Coppola and it's fairly obvious as to why Francis made it big and people scratch their heads when you bring up the name Jack Hill."
Sid Haig made it clear about Jack Hill when I heard him speak at Flashback Weekend in September. It was there he spoke of with great fondness a film called Spider Baby. The chance he had to work with a legend. The wolf man himself, Lon Chaney Jr. Spider Baby has that 50s/60s "spook house" tone that I just love. It doesn't pull alot of punches either. We're treated to a severed ear in the opening moments. & that credit sequence is just foaming with evil vibes. Also, before Haig belonged to a family of psychpaths & serial killers, he belonged to another family of psychopaths & cannibals. Think of a demented ancestry between the Firefly clan and the Merrye family and you'd be on similiar wavelengths.
I don't mean to speak ill of Francis at all. Always been a huge fan. Hill on the other hand is someone who has been versatile within the exploitation genre. Introducing us to those Switchblade Sisters and giving us Pam Grier in Coffy. A director like Hill is alot like that underground band you knew about in high school that never quite made it big. It's always interesting to hear what rebellious albums they crank out next.
B+
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