A cult horror flick is for sale. Not the costumes, the sets or the models (with the exception of one giant spider), but the entire film and all rights associated with it. Yes, you can own The Giant Spider Invasion.
The lot at Julien*s includes “four vintage reels of 35mm Eastman stock film footage with 1975 date codes, containing the original edited negative of the film and four corresponding reels of optical audio containing the soundtrack and dialogue for the film, with accompanying storage cans.”
The movie did not win any Oscars when it was made in 1975, but it was a success for “exploitation film” maker Bill Rebane.
Rebande spent just $325,000 on the film, which featured a spider “bigger than Jaws”, built into a VW Beetle.
Despite the low-rent production, drive-in watchers loved the film, spending nearly $25 million.
That was enough to put it in the top-50 grossing films of 1975, earning much more than classics like John Wayne’s Brannigan.
You can also buy the Giant Spider itself. Ferocious, isn’t it?
It went on to find an international audience, especially in Japan, where it inspired a Manga.
Since then it has been a fave for b-movie and cult-film obsessives.
Like author Stephen King, who wrote in 1981: “Although the film actually had only one giant spider, it is a dilly. It is impossible to see such a budget-conscious special effect without feeling a wave of admiration.”
Producer Rebane, and his company Transcentury Pictures, are the sellers in this auction: Julien*s next Hollywood Legends: Sci-fi, Horror and Action sale.
The film carries a $75,000 to $95,000 estimate, with a starting bid of $60,000 sought.
More conventional lots in the December 12 sale include that giant spider prop, with a $15,000 estimate.
A Bruce Lee nunchaku from Fist of Fury is expected to make as much as $40,000.
Fans of the kitschier end of sci-fi will love the Forbidden Planet costume ($20,000 top estimate), and a statue of the Creature from the Black Lagoon that has an opening bid of $8,000.
There are few precedents to this sale, so the Julien*s estimate is as good an answer to a mystery worthy of any b movie – how much are the Giant Spiders worth?
