It's hard to hate anything with Gale Sondergaard in it. This subpar Universal thriller is light on thrills or chills. It's not much fun either. It does move quickly, however. As I realized the film was reaching its climax I was surprised as I thought it had only been on maybe half an hour. Outside of Sondergaard and (visually, at least) Rondo Hatton, the cast is pretty forgettable. The script is riddled with holes, too. When the villain reveals their big master plan I guarantee you'll say "Wait, what? Really? But what about..." It's that kind of movie. Still, it's watchable enough. Fans of Universal's horror classics from this period will enjoy it more than most.

1946's "The Spider Woman Strikes Back" has no connection to the 1943 Sherlock Holmes feature "The Spider Woman" (a series was intended then wisely dropped). Gale Sondergaard is back of course, this time as Miss Zenobia Dollard, faking blindness as she milks her varied nurses of blood on a nightly basis (food for her poison-producing plants), making any number of excuses to explain away their absences. Brenda Joyce ("Strange Confession," "Pillow of Death," "Danger Woman"), best remembered as a very chaste Jane in five Sol Lesser Tarzan entries, makes for a dull heroine indeed, slow to catch on as to why she's developed a habit of sleeping in late, with former Creeper Rondo Hatton reduced in stature as mute manservant Mario, billed on the posters as 'The Monster Man,' doing little except skulk around in the dark, plus a bit of sign language (there is an indication that he may have some interest in this current nurse, but nothing comes of it). Kirby Grant is a colorless hero, and dependable Milburn Stone is wasted as an agricultural expert. Gale Sondergaard later acknowledged this film's reputation as a campy cult classic, but it never lives up to such high ideals; watchable, but far too slack in its pacing. Either overrated or underrated, this SHOCK! title made an astounding 8 appearances on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater (only the fourth Universal to debut in the fall of 1965, last appearing in 1983).