The Leech Woman (1960)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

What do you expect from a film called The Leech Woman? It is by definition one of those sci-fi "B" movies strung together as a support feature that played whilst theatre patrons were still necking, chatting and eating etc.Plot follows in the tradition of something like The Wasp Woman (1959), that plays on the theme of a woman striving to stay young as the advent of time catches up with her. Cue bonkers science, where here it involves a trek to the jungles of Africa to unearth the secret of eternal youth. Naturally things get very bent out of shape and pain and misery are sure to follow.Thematically it has mixed messages, on one hand it dares to say, unappealingly so, that a woman is only viable for love and happiness by being young and beautiful. On the other hand it is possibly having caustic observations on the dangers of vanity? The makers intentions are not clear so really the viewers are left to their own devices on that one.It's never scary and some of the latex effects work is poor and befitting the minuscule budget. While the first half hour feels awfully padded out. But all things considered it's not a bottom feeder of the genre, and actually would make a nice companion piece with The Wasp Woman. 5/10

The Leech Woman is a depressing and turgid low budget melodrama. It reminds me of a lot of English movies in the fact that none of the characters have any redeeming qualities whatsoever. Mala lures Doctor Paul and June with a sample of the precious "naipe" and fully intends to kill them after granting June one last night of beauty. Dr. Paul is a smug, callous creep who cons his aging, alcoholic and mentally unstable wife into not divorcing him so he can use her as his guinea pig. June has absolutely no moral qualms about killing men to get their even more precious pineal juice; the secret ingredient that keeps her young and desirable. Neil, their lawyer, is engaged to Sally, Dr. Paul's nurse, but he's instantly ready to dump her after getting a load of the rejuvenated June. Sally thinks that it's entirely appropriate to pull a gun on June and threaten her with her life in order to hold on to a man who apparently feels no real commitment to their looming marriage. And of course the hired African guide is all set to settle in with the restored June until she reverts to an aged nutball, upon which he flees and abandons her in the jungle. Sounds like a bunch you'd want to waste 90 minutes of your life with, eh? About the "special effects". Nifty? Not! There are puffs of dry ice smoke and Ms. Gray's old age make-up is a nylon stocking pulled over her head that creates wrinkles where it is bunched up around her neck! Estelle Hemsley as the ancient Mala looks like she's had oatmeal sprayed all over her face. Only the MST3K version is really worth a look.

Perhaps the very last gasp of the Universal horror classics and, consequently, one of their least offerings – especially since the plot is virtually a copy of Roger Corman's THE WASP WOMAN (1959) which, while no masterpiece in itself, is undeniably superior to this and, at least, does feature a monster! In fact, for the first three-quarters of an hour, the film could almost be mistaken for a parody of an overwrought "woman's picture" (of the type Universal itself churned out to the masses at the time) with its central married couple incessantly hurling insults at one another – the fact that she is ten years older than he has driven her to seek solace in drink! All of this changes when a wizened old woman reveals the existence of a rejuvenating potion, so they embark on a trip into the jungle at the end of which thy hope to remain together; there is a catch, however, in that the concoction requires the fresh blood of a sacrificial victim and, as a means of vindication, the woman chooses none other than the understandably disgruntled hubby to bring about her much-desired youthfulness! Unfortunately, the effect of the drug is only temporary (not to mention the fact of its user growing gradually older when she reverts back to 'normal') and, having pilfered the mixture and the deadly ring used in the rite (despite having a small blade, it can apparently lop off heads with one blow!) from under the re-invigorated old woman's nose, she returns home posing as her own niece and immediately catching the attention of her lawyer (a stiff Grant Williams from THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN [1957]) much to the chagrin of his girlfriend (Gloria Talbot of DAUGHTER OF DR. JEKYLL [1957] and I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE [1958]). Needless to say, the woman is forced to prowl the streets in search of prospective blood donors and, in a fit of rage, even murders Talbot (who had turned up at her house for a showdown) to this end…but it is all in vain as, in a manner reminiscent of Jekyll & Hyde, changes to her natural state in front of Williams and the Police and subsequently hurls herself out the window! Cheap (the African footage is mainly composed of stock footage and even the transformation is hidden, for no very good reason, behind puffs of smoke!), talky and derivative, it all makes for a rather dreary affair – watchable enough in itself but, much like THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956) from the first Universal Sci-Fi set, clearly a substandard product.

I sat down to watch this movie expecting to see a woman with a big rubber leech head chasing people around but it turns out Leech Woman offers something slightly more sophisticated. The story is that a scientist and his estranged wife head off to Africa to search for the fabled elixir of hokum which turns women young again. Obviously these days it would be a waste of time because every second advert I see for toothpaste or shampoo offers time renewal, time protection and suchlike whatever that means.One thing I liked about this movie was the way that every single character is awful in some way. There's a good story though it is a bit slow to start with. Some viewers have moaned about the rather obvious stock footage but anyone who is a fan of movies of this era will recognise it as just par for the course on a quick cheapie like this.Give it a try, despite the tacky name it's quite a good story and worth a watch.