User Reviews

Tales from the Darkside: Black Widows is set in California where Audrey Webster (Theresa Saldana) & her mother Mildred (Margaret O'Brien) live together in a trailer park. Audrey brings home Robert (Joe D'Angerio) whom she intends to marry & does, on the night of their wedding Audrey discovers a nasty family secret that her mother has kept from her until now...

Episode 6 from season 3 this Tales from the Darkside story originally aired in the US during November 1986, directed by Karl Epstein one has to say while Black Widows is watchable it's a pretty forgettable episode generally speaking. The script by Michael McDowell is really rather odd & suggests that the Webster family can turn into Black Widow spiders & drink the blood of males just like the arachnid equivalent in reality for no reason in particular. It's not much of a story to be honest, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, it's pretty predictable, there's not much of a twist ending & it's all rather forgettable. Even at only twenty minutes in length it can a bit dull but it is strangely watchable on a silly sort of level.

We don't actually get to see the Websters in their true Black Widow spider forms, just a couple of pincers shown in close-up. There is one amusing idea though in that Audrey spins a web in her room to hang her washing on to dry! Set entirely inside one trailer. The acting is OK but the raw material isn't really there.

Black Widows is a fairly watchable if ultimately forgettable Tales from the Darkside episode, it's all rather strange & a bit pointless too.

BLACK WIDOWS is a straightforward horror story from season three of TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE. In it, an innocent young woman discovers that there's a strange curse affecting the women in her family, namely that they're not actually human but instead giant black widow spiders who prey on the unsuspecting men who become involved with them.

There's no more to the story than that, but I enjoyed the simple effects of the '80s era in this one, and some of the stuff like the giant webs filling bedrooms is effective. Hardly a classic then, but BLACK WIDOWS does have some of the atmosphere of a cheap and cheerful B-movie from the period.

Margaret O'Brien and Theresa Saldana are mother and daughter living together in what appears to be some dinky trailer in California somewhere. Robert (Joe D'Angerio) is adamant about marrying Audrey (Saldana) with Mildred's (O'Brien) blessing. He's too "skinny" for her taste, demanding he put some meat on his bones…why? Meanwhile, spiders are considered precious to these women; a book salesman learns this the hard way. A reverend (Paul Eiding) loves to eat, as food is offered at Mildred's house regularly. Fatting 'em up is what the Ladies Webster do best: gotta remain good and fed (I'm not just talking about the men!).

This is one real sickie from the fine folks at The Darkside. Reminded me of the succubus…when hungry, desirable ladies (not necessarily here, but don't tell that to Anthony!) transform into something quite dangerous. The budget must have been scant this go around for the show as we only really see cheap claws on less than convincing spider-like arms. One victim enters a tightly confined clothes room also working as the bedroom for Audrey, noticing that the dresses are held in place by a large spider web. A few moments later, the poor guy is trapped in a webbing, pulled up towards (we're led to believe) a spider monster. A dried-up corpse of a drained victim is the best makeup effect of the episode, and its creep factor is impressive due to the screams heard from Audrey's room (and the blood on her mouth and wedding dress register a good bit of shock value due to how the direction seems to indicate the married couple was having rough sex). The missing eyes, and the petrified look of the collapsing body as Audrey complains to her mother about not being told of what happens when she's hungry sells the threat these women are to anyone (men, it seems are the intended targets for "food") that comes in contact with them. Besides the revelation of what they are, I was less than spellbound by this episode. It is one of those episodes really burdened by a less than stellar budget. It looks so paltry and the setting is claustrophobic and poverty row. Its warped premise does help, though, but not by much. It needed a real monster to save it: not seeing one hurts its value, I think. Clever title, though.

Sweet young Audrey (a winningly perky portrayal by Theresa Saldana) lives in a trailer park with her mother Mildred (sharply played with considerable pluck by Margaret O'Brien). Audrey is just about to get married to the scrawny Robert (a lively and likable performance by Joe D'Angerio). However, Audrey doesn't know about a nightmarish family secret that makes itself apparent on her wedding night. Director Karl Epstein, working from a nicely quirky script by Michael McDowell, relates the enjoyable story at a steady pace, maintains an engaging tongue-in-cheek tone throughout, and elicits a few solid laughs from the amusing sense of cheery gallows humor (a gag involving spider webs being used as clotheslines in a bedroom in particular is quite clever and funny). Moreover, O'Brien and Saldana display a charming and unforced chemistry. The (not so) special effects are pretty goofy and unconvincing, but nonetheless possess a certain lovably ramshackle charm. A fun show.