The Leech Woman (1960)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Best movie of this year hands down!

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Poor June Talbot (Coleen Gray). She's committed the unpardonable sin of growing old, and now, her jerk-of-an-idiot husband, Paul (Phillip Terry) is ready for a divorce. Luckily, June has booze to numb her pain, while Paul has his endocrinology practice and his lovely nurse, Sally (Gloria Talbott- I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE) to keep him busy. When an ancient African woman arrives at Paul's office, her tale of super-longevity intrigues the sociopathic scientist to no end. It seems the woman is in possession of a mysterious rejuvenation powder. In no time at all, the divorce is off, and Paul and June are on their way to Africa! Of course, events take a rather unexpected turn, leading to despair, death, and doom. THE LEECH WOMAN is a somewhat clunky, sci-fi / horror morality tale, involving impure motives, greed, and endless jungle stock-footage. Extra points: for using Grant Williams (THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, THE MONOLITH MONSTERS) in a throw-away role as June's lawyer!...

Enjoyable low-budget horror schlock from Universal-International has Colleen Gray giving a juicy performance as the hard-drinking wife of doctor Phillip Terry, an endocrinologist who is tipped off by an ancient African woman to a youth potion utilizing orchid pollen and the secretions of the male pineal gland. Unfortunately, the male has to be killed to get the chemical from the gland--plus, the youthful effect is only temporary. First-half of the movie, with Gray, Terry and John van Dreelen traveling through the jungles of Africa, learning the secret of the potion before being told they will be killed in the morning, looks and sounds like a reel from a Tarzan adventure. Second portion, with Gray using the youth serum on herself and pretending to be her own niece, is far more entertaining (rather like a straight-faced precursor to "Death Becomes Her"). Pulled together quickly by the studio, "The Leech Woman" is better than it has any right to be, with a good cast and fine make-up effects helping to bolster its shaky structure. ** from ****

Ah, this film is a great example of a kampy B movie classic. I don't know if I would call it bad..but it definitely falls short of the 'good' realm. There's the breakneck change of place: first we're in the city, then next we're in the wild safari. Edward Dein must've had a great travel agent. Plus, you can't have a low budget flick without stock footage. Worst quicksand ever.There's a moral to this tale...I think. The pursuit of beauty can come at a price. This is not the most original concept (I prefer Twilight Zone's 'Eye of the Beholder') covered before, but there is a dark texture present throughout the story. Bad deeds go unpunished and good isn't so clear cut. I really thought Jerry Lando stole the show in this one. Played by Arthur Batanides (who plays a great kook in The Unearthly and Mr Kirkland in Police Academy 3!), his character's seediness is disturbing and yet, a very amusing example of the depths that a person can sink to. I wouldn't trust this guy if I saw him standing out on the street on a foggy night. Would you?So, if you're into latex aging masks, the Leech Woman is one to watch. I still feel this wasn't better than the swamp thriller Attack of the Giant Leeches.

"The Leech Woman" was part of a package deal on some DVDs I bought. I had planned to keep the ones I wanted and get rid of this one, but after watching it, I've about decided that it's one of my favorites of the lot. OK, Leech Woman may not be Lady MacBeth, but this movie's really not too bad. When a wizened old African woman offers an ambitious endocrinologist the secret of eternal youth, he decides to take his estranged and no-longer-young-and-beautiful wife along with him on the safari (I didn't think she looked all THAT bad to start with.) But when she finds out the true reason for their sudden reconciliation is so that she can serve as a guinea pig, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially one with a stolen pineal gland tapper. But once you try Nipe, there's no going back...This movie is better than anything named "The Leech Woman" has a right to be. Although the first few minutes drag a bit as the unhappy couple are introduced (the dialog stops just short of parody) from there on it's a snappy little story that moves along pretty well for the rest of its short 77-minute run time. A cast of semi-familiar B-movie faces (plus a terrific performance by Estelle Hemsley as the creepy old woman) also help to hold your interest.The movie plays out as a light-weight "Double Indemnity" with aspects of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", and while it never rises to the level of either of those, it's firmly in the mainstream. Sure, there's a lot of stock footage of jungle animals, and the depictions of the African natives are about five decades away from modern political mores. But the production values are good, the acting, while not Oscar-caliber, is at least earnest, and the story is interesting. As a flick on the tail end of the golden age of Universal sci-fi and horror movies, this one certainly holds its own. "Leech Woman" will never be on anyone's top ten list, but it's well worth a bag of popcorn on a rainy afternoon.