Tonight I watched the fifth and final film from my Ultimate Sci-Fi Collection Volume Two dvd set. It was called "The Leech Woman" (1960), which turned out to be a misleading title because I was expecting another Insect Extravaganza. Not the kind where the military fights a Giant Bug, but more along the lines of a movie called "The Wasp Woman", where A Woman does indeed morph into A Wasp. I figured : "Wasp Woman", "Leech Woman". Gotta be the same genre. In retrospect I am glad I guessed wrong, because "The Wasp Woman" isn't a very good movie. It's a Roger Corman cheapie, which tells you all you need to know.
I should've trusted the folks at Universal, who'd presented me with mostly stellar movies thus far in my Ultimate Collection, in both Volumes One and Two. Especially on their label "Universal International", the flicks have been uniformly good and even great in a couple of cases (see "The Deadly Mantis").
I would rate "The Leech Woman" as good, if for no other reason than that it's unusual. Once again I hesitate to call it sci-fi, and definitely not of the Atomic Age variety. Instead, it's equal parts domestic drama, African jungle adventure, and a murder mystery set in Los Angeles.
The movie opens at the office of an endocrinologist (Phillip Terry) who specializes in anti-aging treatments for women. He is in the middle of a bitter argument with his wife (Coleen Gray), who has shown up asking for a divorce. She is several years his senior and is a hopeless alcoholic, but we sympathize with her because we see how he treats her; condescendingly and with contempt. He married her when she was younger and very beautiful, but now that she has aged he has no more interest. So, she drinks and wants out of the marriage.
Outside in the hallway, an old woman enters the doctor's office. Unlike his wife, who is in late middle age, this woman is very elderly. His nurse, who announces her presence to the doctor, describes her in a whisper as "looking like a mummy", and indeed she does.
The old woman has a cryptic persona. She wants some tests done to prove her age, which turns out to be......hold on to your hats......152 years old!
Good Jeeminy Christmas and Great Googley Moogely! But the thing is, she looks it. She, or the makeup department, or a combination of both, did an admirable job.
So now that she has proven her age, she wants to demonstrate to the doctor the she, in fact, already has access to a superior anti-aging formula, discovered long ago by her tribe in Tanganyika. This herbal concoction, prepared from the extract of an orchid that only grows in that region, will extend life well beyond it's statistical expectation. But it will only do this for women.
In addition to it's life extension properties, the extract also has the capability of returning women to a state of youth, but only when combined with a secret ingredient, which the old woman is not willing to divulge to the doctor. Instead, she relays a message to his distraught wife, by way of a Weird Pronouncement on her way out the door. She tells the wife that her abusive husband will soon be dead, and that she - the wife - will have her youth restored as a result.
Everyone in the office is creeped out by the old lady, and the doctor tries to smooth things over by apologizing to his wife for his callousness. But in the interim, what we know that the wife doesn't is that the 152 year old woman has given the doctor a private demonstration of her youth-restoring powers. He is so excited by what he has seen that he decides to mount an expedition to Tanganyika on the spot. He cozies up to his wife because he needs her to come along. His apology is fake.
The next thing you know they are on safari, accompanied by an English guide (a Big Game Hunter by trade) and several Tangyanikan natives as carriers.
I can't tell you any more about what happens in the jungle, because it involves the discovery of the old woman's Secret Ingredient for her youth formula, and her method of extracting it.
However, suffice it to say that the action eventually returns to Los Angeles. The alcoholic wife no longer seeks to divorce her husband, but has started dating other men, one of whom happens to be her husband's lawyer (Grant Williams of "The Incredible Shrinking Man"). He is engaged to another woman, which puts him - and the doctor's wife - in quite a fix when his fiancee finds out.
Meanwhile, the cops are asking around about a murder that has taken place nearby. A local con-man has been found dead in his car, with a certain business card in his possession.
Is that convoluted enough for ya? That's why "The Leech Woman" is a good movie, because of the strange plot and different settings. It keeps throwing curveballs at you. So, despite the misleading title and lack of a Giant Bug, I am giving "The Leech Woman" Two Solid Thumbs Up. It has the added advantage of being shot in black and white, and as a bonus is has a lively jazz score, used creatively by the filmmakers.
Give "The Leech Woman" a look, but don't go on a date with her! And be sure to check out both Volumes of The Ultimate Sci-Fi Collection. There are eleven movies total, almost all of 'em good, a few even great and classic, and for probably around twenty bucks for both dvd sets, total. /////
That's all for now! To the produce market I go. Gotta get a new jar of turmeric while I'm there. It really helps my sore hiking knees, a highly recommended product.
See you tonight at the Usual Time. Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment