The Leech Woman

While traveling through the African wilderness, an aging woman discovers the secret of youth, but she will have to kill to stay young.

A clever story and an outstanding performance from Coleen Gray uplifts this old B thriller. You've gotta give Leech Woman a little more credit for being a drive-in movie from the late 50's that doesn't rely upon some 'monster' to drive it. Leech Woman is instead a more thoughtful thriller that examines a woman's desperation. It's low budget indeed, but does have some decent makeup FX, a nice music score, and a better-than-average cast to hold it together.

** 1/2 out of ****

The low rating and numerous negative reviews around here as well as on external websites warned me to approach "The Leech Woman" with caution and an absolute minimum of expectations, but I honestly didn't think it was such a bad movie. Admittedly the script is incoherent and extremely predictable, but the rudimentary story lines are original and engaging and - unlike so many other contemporary cheap Sci-Fi movies - this one at least doesn't feature any overlong boring speeches and dull padding footage. The screenplay of "The Leech Woman" is already pretty stuffed as it is, with the tone of the film shifting no less than three times, so there really isn't any room for boredom. It may perhaps offer just a few surprises and even less shocks, but at least you won't constantly be staring at the timer, wondering when it'll be over. The film opens with a wondrous sequence of a married couple viciously bickering. He's a heartless and obnoxious scientist continuously preoccupied with his work (the secret to rejuvenation) and she's a depressed and alcohol addicted wreck due to his cruelty. When Dr. Talbot meets the 152 year old Malla, he realizes her native tribe holds the secret of eternal youth and follows his patient to the heart of the African jungle. There they witness a ritual that turns the old and wrinkled Malla into a stunning beauty with just a few drops of juice coming from a dying man's pineal gland. The slick Dr. Talbot wants the formula and attempts to win his wife back in order to use her as a guinea pig, but the joke turns against him when the rejuvenating woman needs to select a man to sacrifice and, obviously, June picks her beloved husband. She returns to the States as a young and stunningly beautiful young woman, but she needs to kill random men and milk their pineal glands in order to stay desirable.

"The Leech Woman" definitely has a pretty cool and eventful script; you just need to overlook a copious number of plot holes, improbabilities and continuity errors. There's no real suspense to enjoy, but nonetheless plenty of action and a handful of impressive make-up effects (especially the make-up that makes old women look even older). However, the movie's greatest achievement is presumably an unintentional one: pure and genuine irony! Although a story that constantly revolves on beauty and popularity, the cast of characters only includes shallow, substantially ugly and insupportable individuals. At least Dr. Talbot is a bastard right from the start, but all the others gradually turn into intolerable people. The pitiable and humiliated wife becomes a relentless killer, the fragile old lady becomes a stone-cold tribe leader, the helpful guide transforms into a shallow runaway lover, the devoted attorney becomes an adulterous jerk and the cherubic fiancée changes into a jealous fury. Honestly, I've rarely seen such an unpleasant and even downright misanthropic collection of people playing together in one film … and that's sort of fascinating!

Unlike a lot of movies given a good workover by the fine folks on Mystery Science Theater 3000, "The Leech Woman" is fairly watchable. The idea is that an aging woman who wants to restore her beauty finds a magic that will allow her to become young again- but only for a day at a time. The spell, unfortunately, also requires her to kill men.

Of course, she doesn't particularly care about the lives of men, which is where the main plot starts. I won't spoil it for you, because this is a film I think you might actually enjoy.

The movie suffers, unfortunately, from some drab performances by members of the cast. The main stars, however, play their roles pretty well, and the elderly priestess featured in the beginning of the film is particularly creepy.

Also, the plot, though good in theory, seems to get bogged down at times. The movie crawls along and can get very boring. But there are some excellent sequences in there that really bring the movie back from the gutter.

In any case, I recommend at least trying to find the MST3k version of the film...during the more boring sequences you'll appreciate the boys' humor, and even the good parts certainly aren't hurt by a little good-natured jesting.

This movie has gotten a bad rap, I think mainly because of the inane title. It conjures up a ridiculous image of a giant leech with a purse and high heels on. This movie is actually pretty good, given it's low budget.

Coleen Gray, a very pretty and capable actress in her day, gives a great performance as June Talbot, the alcoholic, middle aged woman married to Dr. Paul Talbott (portrayed as a total heel by Phillip Terry, better known as Joan Crawford's 4th husband). Dr. Talbott is a scientist who is trying to find a serum to counter aging and is willing to sacrifice his wife in order to find the answer.

The performances by Gray and Terry are solid, as is Gloria Talbott who plays Dr. Talbott's assistant and Grant Williams, Dr. Talbott's lawyer and Gloria's boyfriend who falls under the spell of "The Leech Woman". Estelle Hemsley is also good as an old African woman who looks like a human prune and offers to show the good doctor the secret to turn back the effects of aging, for a very steep price, of course.

I thought the make up of the Leech Woman was very affective, pretty scary stuff for it's day. Don't let the title of this movie keep you from watching...it's very entertaining, from start to finish.

Speedily put into production in order to offer exhibitors a second-feature lure with bookings of The Brides of Dracula, this little movie suffers from a tedious First Act. The initial scenes were obviously designed merely to fill in time, so that latecomers would not feel at any disadvantage. We're told absolutely nothing that doesn't develop later on in the plot. A bit of judicious trimming here would do wonders. And in any event, Coleen Gray doesn't seem nearly old enough in these early scenes to make her motives credible. Fortunately, she is marvelously made-up later on—and in these sequences she also gives by far the best performance of her career.

Despite Dein's flat-footed direction and the obvious constraints and inhibitions imposed by a tight "B" budget, interest is kept at a high level in the last half of the movie not only by Gray's forceful portrayal (and the skillful way she is lit and make-up) but by some neat yet unexpected plot twists

Alas, the film cheats on special effects, the transformations being accomplished without camera trickery in a most tame and disappointing manner.

Nonetheless, although horror devotees will find the going pretty dull until the halfway mark, the movie does eventually hit its stride. In fact, I'd describe it as a key item for any keen fan's personal collection.