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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!

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.

"The Leech Woman" is a film that's a lot better than its title. Coleen Gray plays the older wife of Phillip Terry, a doctor who's been experimenting with various mixtures in order to find the fountain of youth. The acting is quite good by a group of old pros, and the film throws in about everything: the older woman/younger man plot twist, alcoholism, tribal rituals, emotional abuse, love triangles, several murders, smart-mouthed cops, journeys into darkest Africa, revenge and betrayal, explosions, quicksand...well, you get the idea. Gray does quite well with a difficult role, with fine support from Terry, Grant Williams, Kim Hamilton, and Gloria Talbott. I thought the ending was a little weak, but otherwise it's an entertaining take on an unusual story regarding rejuvenation. Worth catching.

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 turned on to a youth potion by an ancient African woman that utilizes 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--wherein Gray, Terry and John van Dreelen travel 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 (it's 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 ****

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

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.

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.

A horror/sci-fi film, it is the story of June Talbot (Coleen Gray) a woman who seems about 37 who is treated horribly by her husband, endocrinologist Paul Talbot (Philip Terry), who wants to divorce his wife because she is "old"...even though he looks quite a bit older than her. It actually has lots to say about gender roles and aging for a B movie from the mid 20th century.

Paul finds the secret of youth deep in the African Jungle in a remote tribe, and ends up dying the most ironic of deaths. The secret involves drinking the pollen of an orchid found only in that part of Africa. What's the catch? You have to mix it with the pineal gland of a man, which causes his death. What's the other catch? The youth and beauty it bestows only lasts a short time, and seems to get shorter each time you take it. The final catch? After the beauty wears off you look about another decade older than you did before.

June went with Paul into the jungle on his trip, and finds out about catches two and three that I mentioned in the previous paragraph as she escapes the jungle with the pollen of the rare plant. She returns to America and pretty soon you find out WHY she probably married a guy who was such a drip as Paul. As a young woman under the influence of the potion, she is wanton, rash, and vain. These things really don't change with age if you never acquire wisdom, and so that is why as an older woman at the beginning of the film June hit the bottle and it is why towards the end of the film homicide in order to stay young seems increasingly easy for her. But I'm not going to rain all over June' s character without mentioning that just about everybody in the movie is wanton, rash, and vain.

This was made by Universal, so the production values are much better than you'd find in a film in the same genre and the same era as one from Allied Artists, but there are a few goofs. June doesn't get a matronly figure. Her aging seems to amount to some layers of some kind of wrinkled plastic over her face, gray hair and effects on her hands. A cop with a search warrant doesn't bother to search. He just asks a bunch of questions and behaves rudely. And for June to have no medical training, she sure knows how to hit that pineal gland every single time!

One more thing. I first saw this on the late show when I was 14 and babysitting. Now, remember that EVERYBODY over 30 looks old to a 14 year old. I even thought at the time that the initial "old" June did not look old. She just looked like she needed some hair dye, some sleep, and some makeup. I'd recommend this one.

1959's "The Leech Woman" marked the end of Universal's classic horror era begun by "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" in 1931 (three years later they would change hands yet again, from Universal-International to Universal City Studios). A companion piece to their previous femme fatale in "Cult of the Cobra," from a David Duncan script echoing his previous epic "The Thing That Couldn't Die," male characters easily dominated by their female counterparts (working title "The Leech"), Ben Pivar credited with cowriting the original story. Musical director Joseph Gershenson was the sole producer on this last batch of Universals, a studio nearly bankrupt filled with empty soundstages, quite a comedown from "The Incredible Shrinking Man" only two years before. Since Pivar was top dog during the 40s, responsible for the Paula Dupree series, Rondo Hatton's Creeper, plus the Mummy sequels, this was perhaps a nod to an old comrade in reviving a screenplay that was, according to Duncan, unfilmable, changing a few details but not much more. Even after its completion in March 1959 ("Curse of the Undead" still awaiting release with Hammer's "The Mummy"), this last gasp from a dying outfit proved an unloved orphan by sitting on the shelf for over a year before Hammer delivered Peter Cushing's "The Brides of Dracula," making for a suitable companion in gender, if not quality. Right from the start there is edgy, spiteful bitterness on display between Coleen Gray's middle aged yet undeniably attractive June Talbott, and her uncaring husband Paul (Phillip Terry), an endocrinologist whose specialty is milking elderly clients for the promise of youthful cures. His pretty young nurse, Sally Howard (Gloria Talbott), ushers in a most unusual patient, seemingly so aged she might crumble into dust at any moment, Old Malla (Estelle Hemsley) showing Talbott a powder derived from the orchid nipe, which successfully retards the aging process so that she has now reached 152. He willingly gives her enough funds to return to her tribe in Africa, the Nandos, Tanganyika the only location where the orchid can be found, for a celebration of youth performed at death's door. To this end he convinces his wife to accompany him on a journey to the Dark Continent to find the secret of eternal youth using luckless June as guinea pig. With the aid of guide Bertram Garvay (John Van Dreelen), they catch up to Malla in the village of her birth, and are allowed to witness the transaction that no outsiders have even seen, the witch doctor donning a ring with a curved spike that pierces the pineal gland of a male victim to extract enough fluid to transform the nipe into a potion that turns the old crone into a young beauty (Kim Hamilton), allowed to enjoy the worship of men one last time before life's inevitable end. Talbott insists that June be next to try the potion, and though reluctant at first, she willingly accedes by stipulating that her unloving hubby be the donor. Now that she too has experienced this fountain of youth, Garvay decides the time is right to use dynamite to make their escape into the jungle (the nipe and ring now in his possession), but after a few days she reverts back to her former self only now even older, demanding the rejuvenation pouch before pulling her savior out of a bog of quicksand and killing him with the ring. June's handsome attorney Neil Foster (Grant Williams) is taken aback by the arrival of his client's gorgeous 'niece,' making excuses for June while making it clear to nurse Sally (now Neil's fiancee) that she's no longer a woman to be denied. Her bedroom is enough enticement for him, even with Sally impatiently waiting in the car, but June's sudden reversal forces Neil out the door to his obvious chagrin. A different kind of leech attaches himself to the now elderly June, an accomplished thief (Arthur Batanides) whose pineal gland restores her beauty yet again, but one final play for marriage minded Neil must proceed after dispatching his jealous Sally, her extract saved for later. The picture's greatest weakness is its African midsection, aping the structure of Karloff and Lugosi's "The Invisible Ray" and failing to get down to business until the home stretch with only 25 minutes left. Coleen Gray is by far its finest asset, dealing with multiple age brackets and varying makeup appliances in carving out her most unique characterization, earning equal measures of pity and sympathy before literally giving up the ghost for a haunting finale.

I watch this on DVD as part of a set. They must have remastered the film as it is not scratchy or blurry. Parts of the film are steamy in more ways than one.

Dr. Paul Talbot (Phillip Terry) is working on an anti-aging formula. On the side, he wants to dump his older aging wife (Coleen Gray.) That is until he needs her to help with his experiment.

We get an African experience of the jungle Jim type. Wild animals, lots of dancing, and many secrets. Looks like they may become native-chow.

By the way, Gloria Talbott plays a doctor's assistant. You cannot miss her from 26 films and 81 T. V. appearances. I remember her best in "Perry Mason" (1957 TV series).

If you like this type of movie then your next victim...oops, viewing should be "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" (1958)

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.

Once upon a time Coleen Gray was in some great films like Red River, Kiss Of Death, and Kansas City Confidential. But sadly like so many actresses the good films and the good parts in them disappeared and she was reduced to starring in The Leech Woman. And you know this is bad because there aren't any leeches in this horror epic.

Coleen was getting older and the zing has gone out of her marriage to Philip Terry who once was married to Joan Crawford in real life. But Terry is a scientist who hears that some hidden African tribe has a queen reputed to be ageless. He resolves to find the secret and use his wife as a guinea pig for the experiment.

I won't go into the details, but Terry finds the secret, but Coleen steals it and flees. I will only say that the male of the species has to die to keep Coleen beautiful and sexy. It's the dream of every cougar out there.

There are some similarities to that other drive-in classic The Attack Of the Fifty Foot Woman. As for Coleen Gray this kind of ended her big screen career, but she transferred to television and kept working for another quarter of a century.

But not in films like thank the Lord.

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.

Is it even possible to find these movies unless they are on MST? This is yet another bad movie with bad acting, bad filming, and certainly a bad message. Women must be young to be attractive. It was fun to watch all the "Africans" and especially the smooth, seamless transitions from stock footage to the movie footage. However, this movie had too many bitter or jealous women to be truly entertaining. The lead male is such a bad actor (if you have seen this without MST, watch it with and see what they think) and his fate so non-shocking you will probably cheer as I did when he gets it. Kudos to booze, though. It was the best performance in this stinker. Stay far away, unless its on MST. Then stay less far away.

Coleen Gray plays June Talbot, an aging alcoholic stuck in a toxic marriage to Paul Talbot (Phillip Terry), an endocrinologist. But he insists on taking her along on an African trip after he gets wind of a process used by a tribe over there to retard, even reverse, the aging process. Once she reacquires her youthful good looks, she finds that she doesn't mind that she was made a guinea pig. The only problem is, she now has to keep killing in order to remain young and gorgeous.

The title makes this unmemorable but still entertaining movie sound like utter schlock, which of course is not such a bad thing. But what the viewer gets is actually something a little more interesting and thoughtful, a commentary on the desperate, aggressive need to pursue youth and beauty. Don't go into this expecting a high body count, or an actual "leech woman".

The primary assets are a wonderful performance by the lovely Gray, who gets to sink her teeth into a real character role, and the rather convincing makeup effects by Bud Westmore. Gray is ably supported by a cast also including The Incredible Shrinking Man, a.k.a. Grant Williams, as a roving-eyed attorney, Gloria Talbott as a nurse who gets deadly jealous, the striking Hemsley (73 or so at the time of filming), Kim Hamilton as the beautiful young version of Hemsley, and Arthur Batanides as a sleazy con artist.

This would make an apt double feature with Roger Cormans' "The Wasp Woman", which this viewer watched just the other night.

Seven out of 10.

It seems that for some women the quest to retain their youthful beauty is an almost full-time undertaking where they seem to spend their whole life in desperate pursuit of preserving it.

And, with that in mind - Just wait till you see what sort of lengths that June Talbot goes to in "The Leech Woman" in order to remain as pretty as a picture with her peaches'n'cream complexion.

Anyway - If you are totally willing to cut this low-budget horror film from 1959 some serious slack, then, its unintentionally laughable story-line (and its old-school make-up effects) is certain to offer you a bit of enjoyable tongue-in-cheek entertainment, in the long run.