Katakomben des Grauens

Plot-- people go disappearing mysteriously in a backwoods swamp leading the authorities to a guessing game while the missing continue to pile up.

So how did I miss this drive-in special back in '59; maybe I had a back-seat 12-pack that made me forget. Anyhow, I'm glad to catch up with this Corman special. Okay, I'm in a minority, but the flick's on the whole competently made. The monster is the only really cheesy part (surprise, surprise). Still, it's wisely kept in shadow so we never get a really good look. Otherwise, the script, acting, and staging are all credibly done. For a cheap budget, the Cormans got their money's worth, especially with the LA Arboretum. Then too, was there ever a better screen vixen than the great Yvette Vickers. Here she grabs us guys in the first part with her seductive specialty and a lot of leg. No wonder the leeches were saving her for their vampire dinners. And catch the hillbillies. Their backwoods lingo and grimy looks are really colorful and well acted.

Anyway, I can't say the cheapo's a campy laugher like most Corman monster flicks. On the whole, however, it is a quality cut above and held my interest all the way through, Vickers or no.

The local hillbilly population is being sorely depleted, due to the huge invertebrates of the title (aka: grown men in black, plastic trash bags). Due to this onslaught, the swamps just aren't what they used to be. Game Warden, Steve Benton (Ken Clark) tries to get to the bottom of the mysterious deaths.

Meanwhile, rotund retailer, Dave Walker (Bruno VeSota- WAR OF THE SATELLITES) watches as his manhood is incinerated by his wild wife, Liz (Yvette Vickers- ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN). Liz just won't stay home with her hulking husband in his tiny grocery store, choosing the allure of the swamps instead.

In all honesty, the real reason to watch this movie is Ms. Vickers. She's hot enough to start a forest fire with her big toe!

WATCH! As she applies her leg lotion like nobody's business!

SEE! Her make brushing her teeth into a sensual experience!

Oh my!

Liz is far too much for either Dave, or her man-on-the-side, Cal (Michael Emmet- NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST) to handle. It's just a good thing that she's in this movie. Without her, we're left with Benton's yeti chest hair, Cal's overblown ego, Dave's blubber, and / or the sheriff's (Gene Roth- SHE DEMONS, THE SPIDER) gargantuan bowl of baked beans to draw our attention! Oh, and those bulbous bloodsuckers!

ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES is among the upper levels of the schlock pantheon.

EXTRA POINTS: For Cal's quick change from macho lover-man to quivering coward! A singular sight to behold!...

My imagination ran riot when, at the age of 12, I read this movie's title in TV Guide. When it came on a few nights later, it fell a bit short of what I was anticipating (imagine my disappointment when I saw THE BEAST WITH 1,000,000 eyes!)but I did enjoy the cheap creepiness of it. The concept and its execution were pretty gruesome,if not entirely convincing, for the time. I also liked the idea of combining the "swamp trash" and monster genres. The theme music,which director Kowalski also used in NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST was genuinely eerie as were the sounds the giant leeches made. The underwater scenes also had a neat sound and look to them. There was a general ambience of dread throughout the whole film. The characters seemed to have things bad enough already,before some monsters came along to cause trouble. Thirty years later, I have this movie on video. I enjoy the sleazy subplot involving poor Bruno VeSota and his cheating(sexy)tramp of a wife(Yvette Vickers) more than I did back then. My only real complaint, now and as a 12 year old is the abrupt ending(which I won't reveal here). Oh, well. There's nothing worse than a movie that overstays its welcome.

I have yet to see the MST3K version, and I'm sure it will be hilarious, but frankly, this sticks out as a movie that is not quite bad enough for their taste, and as much is admitted in their book. Yes, the Leech is obviously two guys in painted raincoats, yes some of the acting is wooden and the southern characters stereotyped and hilarious, but the plot moves along fairly well, and for a Corman production, the screenplay is pretty tight. I enjoyed this. Worth a serious watch. One of the few pieces of MST fodder that it is possible to watch by itself. Oh, and that Liz character is hottest women I've seen in a black and white movie EVER. Until the end of course: she looks pretty rough at that point.

Another of the many giant creature movies from the '50's, this one being somewhere in the middle of the bunch. This time, it's swamp hicks who are being menaced by leeches. Not just leeches, but big, mean leeches! I tell you, it's a load of cheese from beginning to end, but this is what one would expect from a genre movie of this era. It's a movie that leaves you asking, "why don't the fools just get a pound of salt and waste 'em?" Anyway, it's an OK effort with some decent acting. But those leeches, oh boy! The monsters are strictly tongue-in-cheek! So, B-movie fans should love this one, it's a wonder it took four years for this movie to make it to Mystery Science Theater 3000. In any event, proceed with caution into the boggy swamps of schlock.

** out of ****