Review of The Wasp Woman (1959) by Heist ! — 17 Apr 2007

Hello all...I have been trying to make movie blogs on Blogger, Wordpress - but it just hasn't cut it. And I've only just realized how cool RTs blogs are. So here's my first review in a LONG time...

Recently I went through a phase of downloading public domain B-movies and trying to burn them to disc...the only ones that worked together was The Wasp Woman and Creature from the Haunted Sea. The former I will review first:

[size=3][b]The Wasp Woman[/b][/size].

I think I'll be coming back to this one quite a lot - it's ludicrous, silly, but Susan Cabot and her supporting cast members play it so seriously which makes it very fun to watch. The film itself is about a head of a beauty agency who is getting old visually, and the first character you see in the film is the key to getting her youth back. But alas! Everythign goes awry, by night, she's a 23, maybe 22, year-old woman, by night...A LSUTING QUEEN WASP! And I love when she becomes the wasp woman because the make up is so stupid but it has the hairs and everything - I want it!!!

It reminded me a lot of Halle Berry's Catwoman, with the whole silly aspect, and the beauty cream that is evil...but even though I enjoy both films, I enjoy this one above Catwoman - Susan Cabot is this graceful and kind beauty mogul who when she becomes a wasp is absolutely evil as all hell. It's just so silly but very very fun to watch!

So just because I enjoyed this film so much, I'm giving it an [b]eight out of ten[/b] (or 4/5).

[b]Trailers:

The Amazing Transparent Man.

[/b]This was the first trailer in between the two films and this looks absolutely stupid, but funny!! The part where the narrator claims he is pure evil, and then he slaps the woman (which is thoroughly wrong) but it's the noise she makes which is funny and the abrupt cut to the next scene. I don't think I'd want to see this - I've already seen a bad movie called Hollow Man.

[b]The Flying Saucer.

[/b]This looks gold - what it's about I'll never know but it has all the essential qualities to make a silly sci-fi 50s film.[b].

[size=3].

The Creature from the Haunted Sea[/size][/b].

Let's just say I'm disappointed. This is a Roger Corman film poking fun at movies like...Roger Corman films. This is probably one of the earlier parody films which I give a lot of credit to, but the way it was executed was a bit ... let's be honest here - half-arsed. Some of the jokes I enjoyed, but it's just the plain fact I had the rotten chance to have seen movies that did the same jokes before this one that came after this film...so the viewing value went down a little bit...but I liked the design of the creature ... sort of...but absolutely loved the Daughter called Mango! That's classic. But this film is probably only for real die-hard Corman fans, whereas I'm just a Corman fan...not die-hard. I think the problem as well is that b-movie monster movies don't need parodying - they are already stupid and laughable, which is what makes them so charming to watch. So I will say that I am disappointed with this film for the aforementioned reasons...so am giving it a harsh [b]three out of ten[/b] (or 1.5/5).

[b]Last thought:[/b].

But all in all I thoroughly enjoyed watching both and must give credit to Corman for making these films on shoestring budgets at an extremely quick pace, and seeming to get some sort of profit - coz they just keep coming!!!! And it is also to his credit that he can make fun of not only 50s sci-fi monster movies, but also himself, which I think is one of the best gifts you can have is to make fun of yourself.

And we, the movie fans, must not take these sorts of films for granted, really, because they say a lot about the time of the 1950s - nuclear wars and all that sort of stuff, as well as these sorts of monsters (for example, the giant leeches in [i]Attack of the Giant Leeches[/i]) can be seen as metaphors for spies, or communists. So I think it's really important to view these films both laughably and seriously.