309:. Checking further, he finds out that Leigh and Laura's father died in a plane crash several years ago, and one of the girls was nearly bitten to death by spiders. Mark finds out that the plane landed in an old vineyard owned by the Lockwoods, and meets an aging Native American who found the girls. The Native American says that according to an old legend, some women are affected by an ancient curse passed through the female line. During the full moon, these women turn into giant spiders in times of stress, kill their victims, encase them in webbing and feed on them. These women have a red hourglass-shaped birthmark on their abdomens, similar to those found on black widow spiders. They are practically indestructible in spider form; the only thing that can kill them in that form is fire. The twin who was bitten by the spiders is the one affected by the curse.
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him, and unfortunately, Gianni ended up raping Laura and getting her pregnant. This caused
Valerie to retaliate and kill Gianni, which was what their mother witnessed; she was babbling about Laura killing an Italian boy when Leigh found her, and it made her go crazy. Laura then turns into a spider. Horrified, their mother falls out of the window to her death. Valerie encases Leigh in webbing. Olga arrives minutes later and realizes Laura has to die. She goes to an old farmhouse to find Laura cowering on a stall. Laura admits that Valerie killed their mother, and hurt Leigh as well. As Olga pulls out a pistol, Valerie takes over, turns into a spider and kills Olga.
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really the killer. She has long suffered from multiple personality disorder; Valerie is the expression of her feelings of inadequacy compared to Leigh. Valerie is also the only one who knows how to use Laura's curse. It turns out that
Valerie has made several advances toward Leigh's boyfriends; when they turn her down, she turns into a spider and kills them. The only other people who know the secret are their mother, and their former nanny, Olga. Their mother has been in a catatonic state since seeing Valerie kill Leigh's fiancé.
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friends. She tells Mark that although
Jennifer does not really look like her, sometimes she reminds her of Laura. Jennifer asks to go for one more swim before dinner, at which time she turns and waves to Mark and Leigh on the balcony, revealing a red hourglass-shaped birthmark on her abdomen, the same one that Laura had, indicating that Laura was her mother and that she has inherited the "curse of the black widow".
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Leigh arrives and finds her mother in a panic. Suddenly, Valerie walks in, taunts Leigh and her mother by telling her about the things Laura never had the courage to say to Leigh. She also talks about how Leigh stole Laura's boyfriend, Gianni. She explains that Laura tried to win him back by seducing
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Sometime later, Mark is at Leigh's beach house for dinner, while
Jennifer is shown playing on the beach with her dog. Leigh explains that Jennifer is adjusting to living with her, though she still has occasional nightmares, but with diminishing frequency. She has returned to school and is making new
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Mark finds the place deserted and goes to the farmhouse. He finds Leigh, alive but terrified. Just then, Valerie arrives in spider form. Mark empties his pistol into her, to no avail. He hurls a lantern at
Valerie, and she catches fire. Leigh and Mark escape, while Valerie sets the farmhouse ablaze
293:
has been terrorized by a series of mysterious murders, in which several men have been found dead with huge puncture wounds in their chests. The latest happens when private detective Mark Higbie is visiting a bar. A dark-haired woman with a German accent needs help with her car, and one of Higbie's
312:
Mark calls Laura and finds out Leigh is on her way. Laura tells him that Leigh is the one who was bitten, and Mark tells her to get out as fast as she can. As Laura is in the midst of packing, she suddenly has violent convulsions and visions of two of the men who died. It turns out that Laura is
302:. Each time, a mysterious woman named Valerie Steffan was in the area. Gully suspects that the twins, Leigh and Laura Lockwood, are somehow involved. Leigh hires Mark, concerned about the police focusing on her. It turns out that she dated all of the men who have died so far.
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Mark does some digging and finds out that
Lieutenant Gully Conti, who is leading the investigation, knows who the culprit is, but is covering up details. He soon finds out why; all of the victims have had their bodily fluids sucked out of them, and the wounds are filled with
534:, David Deal commended the film's cast, cinematography, and "old fashioned sense of fun". Deal then went on to note that, while the film was reasonably entertaining, its "meandering story" and 'forced sense of legitimacy' proved detrimental to its overall success.
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s Jim
Craddock rated the film a mixed score of two out of four bones. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter awarded the film two out of four stars, criticizing the film's script as being "recycled". In his book
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called the film, " wonderfully cheesy TV movie-of-the-week". Fraser A. Sherman felt that the film was reasonably well-made and favorably compared it to director Curtis' previous work,
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Mark eventually gets in touch with a former bartender who saw one of the murders, who tells him that at least one man was killed by a man-sized
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received a mixed response from critics upon its original broadcast, with some criticizing the film's inadequate special effects and script.
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friends goes out to help her. The woman makes a pass at him, but is turned down. Minutes later, the man is found dead.
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as she thrashes about on fire. The farmhouse burns to the ground and the police consider the ordeal to be over.
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Cyborgs, Santa Claus and Satan: Science
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16:1977 American TV series or program
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547:, while also criticizing some of
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722:Deal, David (January 27, 2015).
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701:Craddock, Jim (July 9, 2004).
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399:Michael DeLano as Carlo Lenzi
1177:1970s English-language films
1162:Films directed by Dan Curtis
358:credited as Patty Duke Astin
222:September 16, 1977
770:. McFarland & Company.
728:. McFarland & Company.
439:Crofton Hardester as Gianni
152:- 829 & 837 Park Road,
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1187:1977 science fiction films
430:Elizabeth Grey as Charlene
1152:Films about shapeshifting
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445:Rosanna Locke as Jennifer
289:For the past four years,
271:. It originally aired on
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1167:Films set in Los Angeles
998:Curse of the Black Widow
982:The Kansas City Massacre
848:Curse of the Black Widow
837:Curse of the Black Widow
826:Curse of the Black Widow
815:Curse of the Black Widow
746:DVD and Video Guide 2004
633:Martin & Porter 2003
518:Curse of the Black Widow
499:Curse of the Black Widow
436:as Marion 'Popeye' Sykes
413:credited as Irene Forest
237:Curse of the Black Widow
23:Curse of the Black Widow
1142:American monster movies
1030:The Long Days of Summer
501:was first broadcast on
408:Tracy Curtis as Gymnast
35:Promotional film poster
1132:1970s television films
442:Howard Honig as Harker
405:as Oakes, zoo watchman
200:Dan Curtis Productions
966:The Great Ice Rip-Off
958:The Turn of the Screw
934:Bram Stoker's Dracula
910:Night of Dark Shadows
902:House of Dark Shadows
411:Irene Cagen as Rita (
1182:1970s American films
1127:1970s monster movies
1070:Trilogy of Terror II
950:Melvin Purvis: G-Man
785:R. G. Young (2000).
749:. Ballantine Books.
188:Production companies
146:Production locations
1157:Films about spiders
1046:War and Remembrance
918:The Night Strangler
242:made-for-television
240:is a 1977 American
1147:Films about curses
942:Scream of the Wolf
888:Films directed by
853:TCM Movie Database
473:. You can help by
307:black widow spider
128:Executive producer
1122:1977 horror films
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1103:
974:Trilogy of Terror
926:The Norliss Tapes
798:978-1-55783-269-6
777:978-1-4766-1101-3
756:978-0-345-44994-8
735:978-0-7864-5514-0
714:978-0-7876-7470-0
544:The Night Stalker
513:Critical response
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694:Bibliography
684:Sherman 2015
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667:. Retrieved
663:Allmovie.com
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419:Bruce French
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370:June Allyson
357:
344:as Lt. Conti
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300:spider venom
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269:June Allyson
247:directed by
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180:Running time
174:Leon Carrere
164:Paul Lohmann
150:Piru Mansion
140:Steven North
87:June Allyson
59:Robert Blees
22:
1094:Our Fathers
665:. RhythmOne
425:Mari Gorman
390:as Ragsdale
348:Donna Mills
291:Los Angeles
257:Donna Mills
245:horror film
83:Donna Mills
65:Directed by
1117:1977 films
1111:Categories
890:Dan Curtis
609:Young 2000
382:Jeff Corey
376:Sid Caesar
354:Patty Duke
342:Vic Morrow
265:Vic Morrow
261:Patty Duke
249:Dan Curtis
226:1977-09-16
183:97 minutes
131:Dan Curtis
123:Production
101:Bob Cobert
91:Vic Morrow
69:Dan Curtis
55:Written by
1054:Intruders
1049:(1988–89)
645:Deal 2015
597:Deal 2015
572:Citations
507:Love Trap
494:Broadcast
482:June 2018
454:Reception
427:as Sophie
394:Roz Kelly
278:Love Trap
820:AllMovie
558:See also
539:Allmovie
396:as Flaps
388:Max Gail
136:Producer
97:Music by
75:Starring
851:at the
372:as Olga
224: (
219:Release
211:Network
118:English
48:Mystery
1097:(2005)
1089:(2005)
1081:(1998)
1073:(1996)
1065:(1993)
1057:(1992)
1041:(1983)
1033:(1980)
1025:(1979)
1017:(1978)
1009:(1977)
1001:(1977)
993:(1976)
985:(1975)
977:(1975)
969:(1974)
961:(1974)
953:(1974)
945:(1974)
937:(1974)
929:(1973)
921:(1973)
913:(1971)
905:(1970)
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669:May 4,
170:Editor
50:Sci-Fi
46:Horror
552:'
549:Curse
527:'
44:Crime
41:Genre
831:IMDb
793:ISBN
772:ISBN
751:ISBN
730:ISBN
709:ISBN
671:2020
329:Cast
285:Plot
267:and
840:at
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818:at
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273:ABC
214:ABC
192:ABC
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