Reviews (12)

Get a real buzz on.
Quickie-flick exploitation master Roger Corman produced and directed this epic example of schlock cinema. A forty-something cosmetics magnate takes experimental injections derived from royal wasp jelly to look twenty years younger. Impatient to achieve the desired results, she overdoses on the stuff. The massive jolt of wasp juice causes sporadic "insect girl" transformations that lead to murder. We doubt that Corman intended this little sci-fi thriller to be camp entertainment, but that perspective works best in viewing this film. The fright "makeup" consists of a bug-eyed head mask complete with antennae and goofy looking mittens with claws (or is it stingers?) that leave the human wrists conspicuously visible. Regardless of logic, the apparently wingless creature makes an insect wing buzzing sound, raised by several decibels. The acting, dialogue, and production values are typically low budget. The comic relief provided by Maureen "The Princess of Flatbush" is worth the purchase price alone. Die-hard fans of cheesy movies will recognize the slow-witted janitor as Yvette Vickers' slow-witted husband in "Attack of the Giant Leeches." This guy has very bad luck with women in both films. Collectors need this one, regardless. To others out there: get a buzz on. ;-)

A beautiful woman by day - a lusting queen wasp by night.
From Roger Corman, one of the most prolific director/producers in Hollywood, comes The Wasp Woman (1960), a film that was most probably influenced by 1958's The Fly, with Vincent Price. Hey, if Hollywood can turn a man into a fly, why not turn a woman into a wasp? Well, no one ever accused Corman of originality.

The movie opens up with a scientist getting fired from a company the produces honey as he is doing some strange experimentation. Seems the Scientist, Eric Zinthrop, played by Michael Mark, has been exploring the notion of using royal jelly to create a rejuvenation formula. After getting fired, Zinthrop contacts Janice Starlin, played by Susan Cabot, the head of Starlin Cosmetics. Starlin Cosmetics is losing sales due to the fact that Ms. Starlin was the only spokesperson for the cosmetics, and now that she is aging, sales are falling off.

After talking to Zinthrop and seeing his success on turning back time with various animals, she hires him on, sets him up in a lab, and they begin treatments on her. The process appears to be working, but Ms. Starlin becomes impatient, wanting more results quicker, so she secretly starts injecting herself with the formula. What happens? Take a guess...I mean, the movie is titled The Wasp Woman.

The acting wasn't bad, but we didn't even see the wasp woman until almost an hour into this rather talky feature. There are some bloody deaths, and the make up to create the wasp woman isn't all that bad, but the movie would have benefited from not making us wait so long in seeing the creature, filling up the 73 minute run time with nonsensical plot threads that don't develop.

Alpha Video provides an exceptionally poor print here, as the film has all kinds of blemishes and even drops out briefly at a couple of points. The picture appears washed out, and the audio is pretty poor. No special features here in this barebones release, not even a trailer, but for under ten bucks I wasn't expecting much. Now that I've experienced the quality of Alpha Video, I doubt I will buy any more of their releases. I would recommend someone interested in owning this movie on DVD to do a little research, as I have since found out a number of companies have released a version, some even on double bills with other movies. I will say the cover art on the Alpha Video release looks enticing, but, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for here.

Cookieman108

CAMPY HORROR AT IT'S BEST!!!
THE WASP WOMAN, ORIGINALLY RELEASED IN 1959, IS A CLASSIC CAMP HORROR FILM.
IT'S PLOT AND ACTING WERE VERY GOOD.
THE SPECIAL EFFECTS WERE JUST LIKE MANY OTHER FILMS OF IT'S TIME, FOR EXAMPLE, THE FLY, WITH VINCENT PRICE.
VERY TAME BY TODAY'S STANDARDS, BUT FOR SOME GOOD CLASSIC HORROR ENTERTAINMENT, CHECK THIS ONE OUT!!
IT'S VERY GOOD!!

The Leech Woman
"The Leech Woman" with Colleen Gray (also Grant Williams and Gloria Talbot) was the film you saw. In it she plays a woman with a wish to grow younger and finds the answer in the necks of young men! She uses a ring with a sharp point to puncture (I think) the spinal cord and drink the fluid. In "The Wasp Woman" Susan Cabot finds the answer to youth by injecting wasp enzymes into her blood stream thus making her beautiful by day and not so beautiful by night! "The Wasp Woman" was released in 1959.

I was too young to see "The Leech Woman" in 1959/'60 at the theater but I saw it on tv in the late 60s or early 70s, and I loved it! I saw "The Wasp Woman," in the late '60s, on TV as well.

prepubescent horror
Ok, slipstream back almost a half century ago. A coupla boys (me an Donnie) each plunk down our quarters at the Aggieville Campus Theater and enter into the forbidden world of cinema. First stop: the concession stand where I choose the usual Mike & Ike jellys (it was a game to see what flavor you put in your mouth by the shape but really they mostly tasted the same). Donnie (died in 1969 from leukimia) always chose malted milk balls because he knew I hated them. Next stop: the drinking fountains, one for adults and one for kids. I wonder how many chipped teeth was the result of us kids trying to jump up and to hang on just to look grown up to our peers, not to mention getting a good face washing. Third stop: right next to the drinking fountains was an Art Deco statue of a naked lady. Full sized as I recall, black granite carved. I knew I wanted it but not sure why, perhaps it was her smile when she looked at me. Last stop: Wasp Woman, the movie. I was young and the memory fades into the unsure since. But if this "Wasp Woman" movie is about a woman killing people with a special ring and then drinking their blood to achieve youth let me tell you it scared the beejeesus out of me. This movie and "Invaders From Mars" was the reason I was a bedwetter. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Audie Murphy stars in this cookie-cutter revenge Western as a squeaky-clean Boy Scout hunting the man who killed his family, but it only crackles to life when black hat Dan Duryea steps onscreen with his hyena laugh and troublemaking high spirits. A corrupt sheriff and a scheming lawyer send eager beaver Murphy to arrest Duryea, a wanted killer and a devious foe, and are astounded when Murphy delivers--he was never intended to survive the experience. But Duryea takes a liking to the kid who orders a glass of water in a tough bar ("To drink?" asks the bartender incredulously), and tags along on his quest as a grinning shadow sidekick, leading him through the underworld and stirring things up just to see the fireworks. The rest of the film is often plodding and predictable, and the second-rate cast never makes an impression. It's Susan Cabot's third turn as Murphy's love interest, but there's hardly a spark between them. A stiff Russell Johnson--theProfessor from Gilligan's Island--shows up as a hard-drinking henchman. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (2)

One of the best Audie Murphy westerns.
Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier of World War II. After the war he made a career in movies, mostly westerns. Because some of Murphy's westerns were routine B movies, the good ones he made have often been overlooked or under appreciated. Ride Clear of Diablo was one of Murphy's best. In it Murphy plays a man out to find the gang of cattle rustlers who killed his father and brother. A crooked sheriff -- who is involved with the rustlers -- sends him to a seedy town called Diablo to seek out a dangerous killer (played by Dan Duryea) with the expectation that Murphy's character will not come back alive. To everyone's surprise Murphy survives his encounter with Duryea, who eventually takes a liking to him. After various twists and turns of plot Murphy finally learns that the sheriff and town lawyer are the leaders of the gang of rustlers and -- with some unexpected help from bad-guy Duryea -- gets his revenge. Admittedly, this is not a great movie, but it is an exciting, well-done western which should please most western fans. I hope that someday it will be released in DVD, but I wouldn't count on it. If you're a western fan, I suggest that you get this VHS while this little gem of a western is still available.

One of Audie's best westerns!
If you like Westerns, (and even if you don't) this is a throughly enjoyable little film featuring the underrated Audie Murphy. Directed by Jesse Hibbs (who also directed Audie in his biographic film "To Hell and Back"), from the very beginning, the film never gets boring. Audie plays a young man out to search for the murderer of his brother and father, and is led by the sheriff and local lawyer to search in a seedy place called Diablo. There, he runs into 'bad guy' Dan Dureya, and this is where the film really takes off, as the screen team of Murphy and Dureya just really 'click' which is more than you can say for the romance between Murphy and Susan Cabot -- but that does not spoil this movie one iota. There's lots of shooting, intrigue and fancy riding by Murphy (who did his own stunts). Not to mention the supporting role of Russell Johnson as another local 'bad guy' and a good number of Universal's film cowboys make appearances as well. You can safely watch this film with the kids...hopefully, Universal will release Audie's 1955 film "Destry" soon! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The only time I draw is when I'm crowded
I've been avoiding Audie Murphy for years, copping the attitude Howard Cosell had for the Frank Giffords of the world. Cosell devoted a good portion of at least one book attacking "jockocracy," the invasion of the professional broadcasting booth by unqualified ex-jocks. Audie Murphy was a war hero but the bits and clips I've seen of his work always made it look like he was in over his head. Murphy's appearance in a movie meant one unemployed real actor.
So I was a little trepidatious when I hit the play button on DUEL AT SILVER CREEK. I hung with it through the slow opening exposition scenes (a pod of claim jumpers are terrorizing silver miners, forcing them to sign over their deeds and then shooting them.) By the time Murphy's pa was kilt and he morphed into the poker playing Silver Kid I was hooked. DUEL AT SILVER CREEK is a fun little flick.
Look, this movie made me laugh at things decent folks don't laugh at, but I believe these elements were put in deliberately. This is director Don Siegel's first western and his first Technicolor production. He would go on to work with the likes of Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry) and John Wayne (The Shootist.) Siegel knew what he was doing.
One of the humorous elements, to me at least, was the proliferation of nicknames. Murphy's Luke Cromwell is the "Silver Kid," or just "Kid." Sheriff Stephen McNally is "Lightning," there's a character called "Rat Face." Lee Marvin plays a heavy nicked "Tinhorn." The lovely Faith Domergue (Opal Lacy) is nicked "Brown Eyes" early on by "Lightning."
Then there's mondo-heavy Eugene Iglesias, who plays Johnny Sombrero. I honestly couldn't refrain from laughing every time he was on screen. Dressed in red and white striped pants and wearing an impossibly large sombrero pushed back off his head he was a caricature of... something. How can a guy in candy stripe pants and a balloon hat intimidate?
Wisely the film-makers don't overload Murphy in this one. Although he's the nominal star, McNally does most of the heavy lifting. Murphy is along more as a wise-cracking (!?) sidekick. My uninformed take on Murphy was that he was a Roy Rogers/Gene Autry type. Squeaky clean, you know. Siegel gives the Silver Kid an edge, and to Murphy credit that edge remains sharp. Still and all it was a bit of a surprise to see Lightning and The Kid interrogating Brown Eyes and hearing The Kid impulsively say "I bet I can get it out of her." Heeheehee. I was half expecting The Kid to call her a punk and ask her if she was feeling lucky.
DUEL AT SILVER CREEK is a dandy little horse opera. It will satisfy without offense those who love traditional westerns, and sate those with less conventional tastes.

Overlooked but very good....
I had forgotten just how enjoyable this little Audie Murphy Western was until I recently purchased this handsome Universal DVD release. Murphy in this venture is "the silver kid," and his co-star Stephen McNally actually steals the show. The action is fast-paced and believable, the plot way above average. There are shoot outs, claim jumping, and some humor thrown in--Audie has some droll lines. Universal-International made a number of fine Murphy Westerns in the 1950s into the mid 1960s. DUEL AT SILVER CREEK is one of the better ones. Now let's hope that Murphy's finest outing in the genre, NO NAME ON THE BULLET, and some of his other, better films---RIDE CLEAR OF DIABLO, GUNSMOKE, SEVEN WAYS FROM SUNDOWN, TUMBLEWEEDS, get the nod from the engineers at Universal. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Early Corman junk approaches sublimity.
The movie begins with the Viking Women limply throwing spears at a tree to vote whether or not they wish to go search for their men, who went on an excursion and have been missing for two years. There is one man watching, but his presence with them is unexplained. Also unexplained is why he would ever let the group go search for other men. The Viking Women include such B-queens as Sally Todd, Abby Dalton, June Kenney and the Wasp Woman herself, Susan Cabot, looking really good as their "Dark Priestess," the only brunette among them.

Questions yet remain, which the script (and budget) have no intention of answering. We know why there are no viking men around, but where are the old vikings? Where are the infant vikings? Where are the ugly vikings? Does the entire society consist only of that small group of chicks? How can I get there?

They "construct" a boat, using "tools" of light plastic, in a montage that plays a little bit like those good-ol' A-Team come-together plans. There are continuity issues within scenes as far as the boat goes; sometimes it appears that they are packed in tightly just to fit. At other times it affords them space to lean back or to hide the lone man from the others. They set sail, and immediately- I mean immediately- lose their rudder. Never fear, though, because the script calls for them to reach the land where their men are being held captive quite simply. They are attacked by "The Beast of the Vortex," which as we all know, is a Viking word, along with "gnarly" and "antidisestablishmentarianism." This Sea Serpent (likely a hand puppet held by someone under water) of the title, accompanied by tossing waves and strong winds, casts them from their ship and they wash ashore, luckily right where they needed to be.

We meet the King of the Grimwalts (not the Griswalds of European Vacation, I soon came to realize), played by Corman regular Richard Devon, looking silly and decidedly un-Scandinavian in his furry hat and costume. He seems to rule over precious few subjects (Die Nibelungen this is not). We are also introduced to a very sparse Great Hall, in which drinking and a dance occur, and we meet his whiny, wimpy son, Prince Jonathan Haze, who is cornered by some footage of a wild boar and rescued during a hunt by Dalton. Eventually the movie gets less deliriously silly and focuses more on melodrama and court intrigue. Will jilted lover Cabot betray them out of jealousy?

A typical, wondrously bad (badly wondrous?) scene is where pig-tailed June Kenney sneaks out of their cell- between the bars- to find and rescue the menfolk. (She is wearing a leather bra, a miniskirt and knee boots with occasionally visible zippers. I've had dreams kind of like this scene.) She drops a rock on the head of a guard, and out the men and she go, only to be shortly thereafter recaptured. Corman, known at this point in his career for padding, had a couple of such lazy tangents in this already only 70-minute film.

Professions of undying love, slow-burning sacrificial fires, religious debates, invocations of Thor, Crimson Pirate-style fisticuffs, death, betrayals, redemptions, changes of heart and vicious tracking dogs follow, as the movie reaches its feverish climax and the Viking Women rush to escape with their men, in longboats conveniently sitting for them at the shore. The Grimwalts give chase, and the Sea Serpent lies in wait...

Maybe you can guess the outcome. Anyway, when "The End" appeared onscreen I was left with this thought: in retrospect, it seemed that the voyage covered so short a distance that the Viking Women could almost have yelled over to the men from their home shore.

Corman made campier movies, but on the whole not too many. I might compare this to Gunslinger, but this is funnier.

In summary, The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent is a must for Corman devotees and for fans of the cast, especially of the ladies. But if Beverly Garland, Bruno VeSota, Dick Miller and Vincent Price had been in this, too... well, it's just best not to think about such things as we can't have.

(Sigh) ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good of kind
Was not as good as I remembered as a kid. I was told this was the movie where Piper Laurie wiggled thru the bars. But if it was, it was cut out of this print.

tony is a babe
Far out Tony Curtis is a babe. I'm so obssessed with him that I wish I was alive at the time of this movie ... Read more

Reviews (1)

CHANDLER gets my VOTE any day
Pretty mediocre stuff here. The best asset of this movie is the presence of Jeff Chandler. Chandler gets my vote any day, but not this film. If you like costumes deserts and horses you might otherwise enjoy this film. Gossamer filming at its best. Jeff Chandler was an American icon. Jeff Chandler was a rugged, virile leading man characterized by his steel gray wavy hair, high cheekbones and a muscular physique. He starred in action films from the late 1940s into the early 60s, often as American Indians, hoodlums and cavalrymen. Not an obliging star, Chandler often rebelled against Universal's mediocre action projects he was often relegated to and was suspended on several occasions. Chandler deserved better roles than he was given in the likes of "SIGN OF THE PAGAN" and "YANKEE PASHA." In his best roles Chandler was the introverted enigmatic and stoic leading man of high uncompromising character. This can be seen in his performances in "AWAY ALL BOATS," "FOXFIRE," "RAW WIND IN EDEN," "THE JAYHAWKERS," "RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE" and "MERRILL'S MARAUDERS." He left us much too early at age 42. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Yawn.
Christy, owner of a seedy nightclub, loves Natalie. But Natalie loves a clean-cut gambler, and Christy is going a bit mad because of it. Yawn. Well, this is a forgettable film. If you're going to see it at all, see the Exploitica version.

A "Fast Forward" Button Video
The story is silly and d-r-a-g-s on much too long with a lot of melodramatic corn. For Rockabilly fans this one is worth watching to see Bob Luman perform. Note a very young, pre-Elvis James Burton playing hot licks in Bob's band. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Get a real buzz on.
Quickie-flick exploitation master Roger Corman produced and directed this epic example of schlock cinema. A forty-something cosmetics magnate takes experimental injections derived from royal wasp jelly to look twenty years younger. Impatient to achieve the desired results, she overdoses on the stuff. The massive jolt of wasp juice causes sporadic "insect girl" transformations that lead to murder. We doubt that Corman intended this little sci-fi thriller to be camp entertainment, but that perspective works best in viewing this film. The fright "makeup" consists of a bug-eyed head mask complete with antennae and goofy looking mittens with claws (or is it stingers?) that leave the human wrists conspicuously visible. Regardless of logic, the apparently wingless creature makes an insect wing buzzing sound, raised by several decibels. The acting, dialogue, and production values are typically low budget. The comic relief provided by Maureen "The Princess of Flatbush" is worth the purchase price alone. Die-hard fans of cheesy movies will recognize the slow-witted janitor as Yvette Vickers' slow-witted husband in "Attack of the Giant Leeches." This guy has very bad luck with women in both films. Collectors need this one, regardless. To others out there: get a buzz on. ;-)

A beautiful woman by day - a lusting queen wasp by night.
From Roger Corman, one of the most prolific director/producers in Hollywood, comes The Wasp Woman (1960), a film that was most probably influenced by 1958's The Fly, with Vincent Price. Hey, if Hollywood can turn a man into a fly, why not turn a woman into a wasp? Well, no one ever accused Corman of originality.

The movie opens up with a scientist getting fired from a company the produces honey as he is doing some strange experimentation. Seems the Scientist, Eric Zinthrop, played by Michael Mark, has been exploring the notion of using royal jelly to create a rejuvenation formula. After getting fired, Zinthrop contacts Janice Starlin, played by Susan Cabot, the head of Starlin Cosmetics. Starlin Cosmetics is losing sales due to the fact that Ms. Starlin was the only spokesperson for the cosmetics, and now that she is aging, sales are falling off.

After talking to Zinthrop and seeing his success on turning back time with various animals, she hires him on, sets him up in a lab, and they begin treatments on her. The process appears to be working, but Ms. Starlin becomes impatient, wanting more results quicker, so she secretly starts injecting herself with the formula. What happens? Take a guess...I mean, the movie is titled The Wasp Woman.

The acting wasn't bad, but we didn't even see the wasp woman until almost an hour into this rather talky feature. There are some bloody deaths, and the make up to create the wasp woman isn't all that bad, but the movie would have benefited from not making us wait so long in seeing the creature, filling up the 73 minute run time with nonsensical plot threads that don't develop.

Alpha Video provides an exceptionally poor print here, as the film has all kinds of blemishes and even drops out briefly at a couple of points. The picture appears washed out, and the audio is pretty poor. No special features here in this barebones release, not even a trailer, but for under ten bucks I wasn't expecting much. Now that I've experienced the quality of Alpha Video, I doubt I will buy any more of their releases. I would recommend someone interested in owning this movie on DVD to do a little research, as I have since found out a number of companies have released a version, some even on double bills with other movies. I will say the cover art on the Alpha Video release looks enticing, but, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for here.

Cookieman108

CAMPY HORROR AT IT'S BEST!!!
THE WASP WOMAN, ORIGINALLY RELEASED IN 1959, IS A CLASSIC CAMP HORROR FILM.
IT'S PLOT AND ACTING WERE VERY GOOD.
THE SPECIAL EFFECTS WERE JUST LIKE MANY OTHER FILMS OF IT'S TIME, FOR EXAMPLE, THE FLY, WITH VINCENT PRICE.
VERY TAME BY TODAY'S STANDARDS, BUT FOR SOME GOOD CLASSIC HORROR ENTERTAINMENT, CHECK THIS ONE OUT!!
IT'S VERY GOOD!!

The Leech Woman
"The Leech Woman" with Colleen Gray (also Grant Williams and Gloria Talbot) was the film you saw. In it she plays a woman with a wish to grow younger and finds the answer in the necks of young men! She uses a ring with a sharp point to puncture (I think) the spinal cord and drink the fluid. In "The Wasp Woman" Susan Cabot finds the answer to youth by injecting wasp enzymes into her blood stream thus making her beautiful by day and not so beautiful by night! "The Wasp Woman" was released in 1959.

I was too young to see "The Leech Woman" in 1959/'60 at the theater but I saw it on tv in the late 60s or early 70s, and I loved it! I saw "The Wasp Woman," in the late '60s, on TV as well.

prepubescent horror
Ok, slipstream back almost a half century ago. A coupla boys (me an Donnie) each plunk down our quarters at the Aggieville Campus Theater and enter into the forbidden world of cinema. First stop: the concession stand where I choose the usual Mike & Ike jellys (it was a game to see what flavor you put in your mouth by the shape but really they mostly tasted the same). Donnie (died in 1969 from leukimia) always chose malted milk balls because he knew I hated them. Next stop: the drinking fountains, one for adults and one for kids. I wonder how many chipped teeth was the result of us kids trying to jump up and to hang on just to look grown up to our peers, not to mention getting a good face washing. Third stop: right next to the drinking fountains was an Art Deco statue of a naked lady. Full sized as I recall, black granite carved. I knew I wanted it but not sure why, perhaps it was her smile when she looked at me. Last stop: Wasp Woman, the movie. I was young and the memory fades into the unsure since. But if this "Wasp Woman" movie is about a woman killing people with a special ring and then drinking their blood to achieve youth let me tell you it scared the beejeesus out of me. This movie and "Invaders From Mars" was the reason I was a bedwetter. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Get a real buzz on.
Quickie-flick exploitation master Roger Corman produced and directed this epic example of schlock cinema. A forty-something cosmetics magnate takes experimental injections derived from royal wasp jelly to look twenty years younger. Impatient to achieve the desired results, she overdoses on the stuff. The massive jolt of wasp juice causes sporadic "insect girl" transformations that lead to murder. We doubt that Corman intended this little sci-fi thriller to be camp entertainment, but that perspective works best in viewing this film. The fright "makeup" consists of a bug-eyed head mask complete with antennae and goofy looking mittens with claws (or is it stingers?) that leave the human wrists conspicuously visible. Regardless of logic, the apparently wingless creature makes an insect wing buzzing sound, raised by several decibels. The acting, dialogue, and production values are typically low budget. The comic relief provided by Maureen "The Princess of Flatbush" is worth the purchase price alone. Die-hard fans of cheesy movies will recognize the slow-witted janitor as Yvette Vickers' slow-witted husband in "Attack of the Giant Leeches." This guy has very bad luck with women in both films. Collectors need this one, regardless. To others out there: get a buzz on. ;-)

A beautiful woman by day - a lusting queen wasp by night.
From Roger Corman, one of the most prolific director/producers in Hollywood, comes The Wasp Woman (1960), a film that was most probably influenced by 1958's The Fly, with Vincent Price. Hey, if Hollywood can turn a man into a fly, why not turn a woman into a wasp? Well, no one ever accused Corman of originality.

The movie opens up with a scientist getting fired from a company the produces honey as he is doing some strange experimentation. Seems the Scientist, Eric Zinthrop, played by Michael Mark, has been exploring the notion of using royal jelly to create a rejuvenation formula. After getting fired, Zinthrop contacts Janice Starlin, played by Susan Cabot, the head of Starlin Cosmetics. Starlin Cosmetics is losing sales due to the fact that Ms. Starlin was the only spokesperson for the cosmetics, and now that she is aging, sales are falling off.

After talking to Zinthrop and seeing his success on turning back time with various animals, she hires him on, sets him up in a lab, and they begin treatments on her. The process appears to be working, but Ms. Starlin becomes impatient, wanting more results quicker, so she secretly starts injecting herself with the formula. What happens? Take a guess...I mean, the movie is titled The Wasp Woman.

The acting wasn't bad, but we didn't even see the wasp woman until almost an hour into this rather talky feature. There are some bloody deaths, and the make up to create the wasp woman isn't all that bad, but the movie would have benefited from not making us wait so long in seeing the creature, filling up the 73 minute run time with nonsensical plot threads that don't develop.

Alpha Video provides an exceptionally poor print here, as the film has all kinds of blemishes and even drops out briefly at a couple of points. The picture appears washed out, and the audio is pretty poor. No special features here in this barebones release, not even a trailer, but for under ten bucks I wasn't expecting much. Now that I've experienced the quality of Alpha Video, I doubt I will buy any more of their releases. I would recommend someone interested in owning this movie on DVD to do a little research, as I have since found out a number of companies have released a version, some even on double bills with other movies. I will say the cover art on the Alpha Video release looks enticing, but, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for here.

Cookieman108

CAMPY HORROR AT IT'S BEST!!!
THE WASP WOMAN, ORIGINALLY RELEASED IN 1959, IS A CLASSIC CAMP HORROR FILM.
IT'S PLOT AND ACTING WERE VERY GOOD.
THE SPECIAL EFFECTS WERE JUST LIKE MANY OTHER FILMS OF IT'S TIME, FOR EXAMPLE, THE FLY, WITH VINCENT PRICE.
VERY TAME BY TODAY'S STANDARDS, BUT FOR SOME GOOD CLASSIC HORROR ENTERTAINMENT, CHECK THIS ONE OUT!!
IT'S VERY GOOD!!

The Leech Woman
"The Leech Woman" with Colleen Gray (also Grant Williams and Gloria Talbot) was the film you saw. In it she plays a woman with a wish to grow younger and finds the answer in the necks of young men! She uses a ring with a sharp point to puncture (I think) the spinal cord and drink the fluid. In "The Wasp Woman" Susan Cabot finds the answer to youth by injecting wasp enzymes into her blood stream thus making her beautiful by day and not so beautiful by night! "The Wasp Woman" was released in 1959.

I was too young to see "The Leech Woman" in 1959/'60 at the theater but I saw it on tv in the late 60s or early 70s, and I loved it! I saw "The Wasp Woman," in the late '60s, on TV as well.

prepubescent horror
Ok, slipstream back almost a half century ago. A coupla boys (me an Donnie) each plunk down our quarters at the Aggieville Campus Theater and enter into the forbidden world of cinema. First stop: the concession stand where I choose the usual Mike & Ike jellys (it was a game to see what flavor you put in your mouth by the shape but really they mostly tasted the same). Donnie (died in 1969 from leukimia) always chose malted milk balls because he knew I hated them. Next stop: the drinking fountains, one for adults and one for kids. I wonder how many chipped teeth was the result of us kids trying to jump up and to hang on just to look grown up to our peers, not to mention getting a good face washing. Third stop: right next to the drinking fountains was an Art Deco statue of a naked lady. Full sized as I recall, black granite carved. I knew I wanted it but not sure why, perhaps it was her smile when she looked at me. Last stop: Wasp Woman, the movie. I was young and the memory fades into the unsure since. But if this "Wasp Woman" movie is about a woman killing people with a special ring and then drinking their blood to achieve youth let me tell you it scared the beejeesus out of me. This movie and "Invaders From Mars" was the reason I was a bedwetter. ... Read more

Amazon.com

World War II hero turned baby-faced Hollywood cowboy Audie Murphyhides behind a little (very little) stubble to play a hired gun who wanders into town looking for a would-be assassin and wanders out the owner of a troubled ranch. Approached by a prissy gambler to scare tough old man Paul Kelly off his spread, he winds up winning cagey Kelly's property in a game of chance and leads a cattle drive through the high country while a gang of the gambler's mercenaries try to stop him. With more twists than your average Hollywood oater, a curiously shady cast of characters on both sides of the law, and gorgeous outdoor scenery, it's better than most of Universal's factory-produced Westerns. Chalk it up to producer Aaron Rosenberg, who put together some of Anthony Mann's and Budd Boetticher's best films for the studio, and director Nathan Juran (The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad). Tough-talking Murphy carries little menace no matter how much he grimaces, and love interest Susan Cabot tries hard to be tough but tender, to little avail. It's the taut (if abbreviated) action and swift pacing that make this picture ride. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A solid Murphy outing
When watching an Audie Murphy western, you have to overlook his baby face and small build and remember his service to his country. You know he was tough in real life, so that makes him more believable in his western outings.

Gunsmoke is a solid outing for Murphy. He moved well in a Western setting and he practiced quick drawing to the point where he could do it faster than his instructor. Therefore, no fancy editing was needed when he used his gun.

The scenery alone makes this movie worth watching as Reb Kittridge, played by Murphy, goes from outlaw to cattle ranch owner and drives the herd to market to sell them in time so the mortgage on the Montana ranch can be paid.

Charles Drake, a regular in Murphy movies, gives a solid performance as well, and Susan Cabot is a little sparkplug as she resists Kittridge's advances (but only for a while).

The ending is suspenseful as you don't know until the very end who is loyal to who. Very recommendable. ... Read more