HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND (1960)
(a.k.a. IT’S HOT IN PARADISE)
Article #617 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-22-2002
Posting date: 4-17-2003

A troupe of dancers is stranded on an island, and their manager is bitten by a giant spider and turns into a hideous monster.

The original name for this foreign film was EIN TOTER HING IM NETZ, which translates as “A body hangs in the web”; yes, there is a body hanging in a web, and this kicks off the horror part of the story, but this is one of those movies where you wondered why they bothered with the horror at all. Actually, of all the titles, IT’S HOT IN PARADISE is the most accurate; the movie is a lot more interested in the dancers in various states of undress than in any monster. The DVD notes describe the movie as almost being a nudie, and it’s an apt description. The movie largely consists of badly dubbed dancers talking, fighting, dancing, etc. And for anyone who thinks this sounds like a real treat, I do feel the need to point out that the guy who cast this likes his women big; there’s not a Twiggy in the bunch here. In fact, they don’t look so much like dancers as they do female wrestlers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you, but you might find yourself disappointed if you don’t share his tastes.