La Femme sangsue

"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.

I remember watching "The Leech Woman" when I was twelve years old. There is something absolutely terrifying about this movie, but yes I agree it isn't Oscar caliber. For a movie made back in 1960 I don't think it's that awful. (Ever mindful that another movie one year later came out called "Psycho") There is something sensual in the way men and women are punctured in the back of the neck and then their blood is consumed by a woman. Or perhaps at twelve my testosterone was starting to make itself known. I vividly remember the very end of the movie with Colleen Gray laying flat on her back looking like some old tattered witch. It terrified me. Know why? Because the old woman that lived next door to us looked very similar! For a long time after seeing this movie I went outside wearing a turtle neck sweater!

Not a great movie but certainly not as bad as others .

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!

Leech Woman was a great flick,regardless of what anybody says about it.Colleen grays acting was powerful and convincing as the bitter alcoholic wife of an opportunistic rat who wants to use her as a guinea pig for his youth serum experiments.If you ask me colleen should have gotten a face lift instead.And dig that estelle helmsley,she looked like a human prune.Gloria Talbott also added interest to the film as the jealous rival.As for grant williams,he was just a cad,typical easily tempted weak male.To constantly have to kill people with a ring to stay beautiful,what,s wrong with makeup and hair dye? As for colleens killing it was a toss up,some of the people deserved it and some did,nt.

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.