RESOURCES

Spider

The movie Spider was based on the book Spider.

Which one did you like better, the movie or the book?  There are 3 votes for the book, and 7 votes for the movie.

Movie details for Spider

The movie was released in 2002 and directed by David Cronenberg, who also directed Naked Lunch (1991) and A History of Violence (2005). Spider was produced by Sony Pictures. More information on the movie is available on Amazon.com and also IMDb.

Actors on this movie include Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne, Lynn Redgrave, John Neville, Bradley Hall (II), Gary Reineke, Philip Craig, Cliff Saunders (II), Tara Ellis, Sara Stockbridge, Arthur Whybrow, Nicola Duffett, Jake Nightingale, Alison Egan, Donald Ewer, Joan Heney, Peter Elliott (IV), Alec Stockwell and Scott McCord.

 

Read More About This Movie

Internal madness is hypnotically externalized in David Cronenberg's Spider, a disturbing portrait of schizophrenia. Adapted by Patrick McGrath from his celebrated novel, this no-frills production begins when "Spider" Cleg (Ralph Fiennes, in a daring, n... Read More
Internal madness is hypnotically externalized in David Cronenberg's Spider, a disturbing portrait of schizophrenia. Adapted by Patrick McGrath from his celebrated novel, this no-frills production begins when "Spider" Cleg (Ralph Fiennes, in a daring, nearly nonverbal role) returns to his childhood neighborhood in London's dreary East End, where a traumatic event from his past percolates to the surface of his still-erratic consciousness. Released from a mental institution and left to fend for himself, he pursues elusive memories while staying in a halfway house run by a stern matron (Lynn Redgrave), unable to distinguish between past, present, and psychological fabrication. The distorting influence of Spider's mind is directly reflected in Cronenberg's cunning visual strategy, presenting a shifting "reality" that's deliberately untrustworthy, until the veracity of nearly every scene is called into question. With an impressive dual-role performance by Miranda Richardson, Spider falls prey to its own lugubrious rhythms, but like the acclaimed 1995 indie film Clean, Shaven, it's a compelling glimpse of mental illness, seen from the inside out. --Jeff Shannon

Book details for Spider

Spider was written by Patrick McGrath. The book was published in 1990 by Companhia das Letras. More information on the book is available on Amazon.com.

Patrick McGrath also wrote The Grotesque (1989) and Asylum (1996).

Read More About This Book