Örümcek: Turkish Spiderman (1972)

A gang of smugglers are searching for a hidden Buddha statue, which contains a cache of priceless jewels. On their trail is hero Örümcek-The Spider, who fights them at every turn. Also in the mix is a rival gang that has interests in turning the Spider to their side. Will they succeed? Or will both sides fall before his unpredictable strength?...

Örümcek is a more obscure entry in the gift that just keeps on giving-Turkish knock-offs of popular superheroes!

There's some confusion over what's what, since there are three adjacent Turkish movies with similar names. There's Örümcek from 1972 (today's film. I know, it's very black-and-white for 1972, it's Turkey), then spy/crime(?) caper Örümcek Adam from 1966. There's also Öldüren Örümcek (also 1972). Then another film altogether, starring Cuneyt Arkın, 3 Tatlı Bela (1979), which pops up a lot in searches due to its apparent alternate title Öldüren Örümcek! Confused yet? So was I! Hopefully I'm able to clear this all up for anyone else.

Let's get into the film itself. Örümcek is your typical Turkish comic book film. A tough hero runs around fighting a band of ruthless villains after treasure. Likewise, its connection to the 'source material' is minimal. The insignia is Spiderman-ish, but there's otherwise nothing. Although at least he's a good guy this time, not a madman who shoves propellers into faces!

This obviously isn't high art or anything, but it's a competently made picture. No poor directing, special effects failures, nor editing or music hiccups. You might think that'd make it less fun, but it's entertaining regardless. It's kooky in a general way, but not quite as zany or ridiculous as others of its kind. However, Örümcek has an ace up its sleeve, in that it seems to have more thought put into it than others! I'm not saying it's a hidden masterpiece or anything, but it all seems very consistent, like it wasn't just a bunch of cheap stuff and random ideas thrown together in 5 minutes.

The plot is fairly basic, with a gang of villains after a Macguffin, routinely beating up others, and get the piss beaten out of them by friendly neighbourhood hero Örümcek. Where things get interesting is in their rivalry and machinations, like trying to lure the hero into their employ through his 'Peter Parker' persona.

The Spider is a good hero. No backstory to speak of, and no real introduction. We just begin the film with this hero already active, and there's not really anything we're missing. His secret identity is mild mannered Erol, and he interacts well with the characters both masked and un. It's nice seeing a Turkish superhero whose mask actually seems to mean something.

His love interest is lounge singer Ayfe, who discovers Erol and nurses him back to health after an attack. And she ends up falling for him, while also admiring her masked savior, not realising yet they're one and the same. There's also a comic relief buddy, who mercifully doesn't get directly involved in the action. He's not terrible, but he does a good enough job on the sidelines.

The villains here are plentiful. First is head smuggler Renzo. He's a bald 'Sicilian' with a villainous moustache, and never without a woman, while his second-in-command is a younger fella with a smarmy look and weird blonde hair. Then there's a rival gang headed by a devious femme fatale, who takes the stage in the middle act with her plan of seducing and enlisting Örümcek. She's more ambiguous. There's also a duplicitous cohort and an evil blonde, who prove to be the perfect match for each-other. I figured they'd kill each-other over the treasure, but our hero gets there first.

The climax is the film at its best! The Spider gets a phone call from the villains saying they've got his girlfriend hostage. He doesn't waste any time, and immediately busts into their hideout all guns blazing, blasting away until one goon after the other falls dead, and the ringleader can do nothing but desperately run with his one remaining trump card in tow, before Örümcek unleashes an eight-legged Turkish beatdown on his ass!

Then we get individual battles for each of the remaining villains, with the first being beaten to death from our hero bashing his head into a sandy beach. Then Renzo gets a surprisingly graphic knifing! The ending is short, but satisfying, and feels like a legit ending! Instead of cutting immediately from the villain's death to SON, we get a final scene with the hero and allies, including a sweet interaction with his ladyfriend.

The action here is fun! We've got some good dust-ups, gunplay, and more. The leading man pulls of some good athletics, jumping and swinging around enough befitting his name. And the motorbike attack is fantastic and unexpected, not only because of how crazy it is, but also just the logistics of seeing something like this in such a zero-budget film!

The effects are pretty good. Namely there's the hero's costume. It's less a spandex outfit and more like Evil Knievel (or a Power Ranger as some say). No real resemblance to Spidey, though he plasters his insignia wherever he can.

Once you get your head around it being different, the costume is a pretty neat one! It's got a good uniformity, neat spider emblem, and he's even got a snazzy cowl under the helmet, which is a nice touch. His distinct face isn't disguised in the slightest, but naturally that's of no concern in a superhero film. Even a domino mask can hide your identity.

The cast here is fine for what this is. Hüseyin Zan is a surprisingly paunchy leading man. Although this is Turkey, where such body shapes were to be expected. Hülya Darcan is a pretty love interest, while Yeşim Yükselen is genuinely good as the femme fatale, giving some icy cold expressions with stylish cigarette smoke. Altan Günbay and Istemi Betil are alright as the other villains, though don't get as much time to shine. Interestingly enough Altan, who usually played second-in-command, is head honcho this time!

The soundtrack here is standard action stuff, with a few surprises. The first is In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida over the opening credits, which...certainly sets a mood! Not sure what kind. Then there's a nice instrumental of...Wild World?? Talk about unexpected!

The direction in Örümcek is decent. It captures the action and stunts well, the motorbike shot particularly. There's some frenetic editing in places. And the locations are pretty good, namely the old cavern that we keep returning to. Complete with an obviously new bricked up spot. Also, day and night are clearly distinguished here, barring one notable exception!

To answer where you can even watch the film, Archive.org has it, but for me it's always acted funny and not played the picture. Through a little searching I found it on youtube, and it's in better quality!...But is missing about 3 scenes. The rock-themed opening credits, a sex scene between our hero and the gang lady (wonder what his girlfriend thinks!), and the fatal confrontation between blondie and whatsisface. No idea why these are missing, but hopefully the channel restores them. The film can be found in full elsewhere too for those who know how/where to look.

Örümcek may not exactly live up to the sobriquet of Turkish Spiderman exactly, and it's not the best of the Turkish pulp hero cycle, but in some ways it outclasses the others, and is still an entertaining and blissfully short offering, well worth watching to kill an hour!...