![]() Paul Talbot (Philip Terry) and his forty-ish wife June (Coleen Gray) are in a mutually hateful relationship. ![]() The unforgiving storyline aligns each 1.5 dimensional character with a basic human desire. Out of six major characters we have two murderous women, one male eager to use his wife as a guinea pig, two weak and foolish men and one more female who might be likable if she weren’t just as willing to kill for what she wants. With its bleak view of relationships the show resembles one of those films noir in which most every cast member ends up a murder victim. To what degree is it a gross distortion of reality? The main theme about women and aging is stated so bluntly that we have to pay attention. The basic idea of The Leech Woman would be offensively misogynist if the movie were more naturalistic. I believe writer David Duncan’s claim that he reorganized a bad screenplay in just two weeks, but have no idea from where he sourced the film’s consistent pre-feminist undertone. The project reportedly began with the unappealing title The Leech, making us wonder if somebody at Universal saw Fox’s The Fly and consulted an encyclopedia for another unappetizing wonder of nature. But I also like the movie quite a bit - I’ve seen it several times, when once was enough for Curse of the Undead and The Thing that Couldn’t Die. Gray, as an actress who carries the full weight of a dubious show and makes everyone look good. He asserts that it’s mostly a waste of time - except for the pleasure of admiring Coleen Gray’s performance. Author Tom Weaver identifies it as the last (and a lesser) entry in the third wave of Universal studio horror films, a budget-challenged, no-frills rejuvenation fantasy pre-planned as a disposable second feature. She has a reasonable part in the modest The Vampire, but our best advice for the dismal Phantom Planet is to steer clear. But most of the rest are lesser westerns, TV work and a trio of odd horror/sci-fi pix. She’s unforgettably tragic in Red River and unforgettably pitiful in Kubrick’s The Killing. She’s great in the noirs Kiss of Death, Nightmare Alley, The Sleeping City and Kansas City Confidential. Of all the promising starlets of the late ‘forties Coleen Gray takes the prize for appearing in the most interesting classics without becoming a first-class star. Written by David Duncan, story by Ben Pivar, Francis Rosenwald Starring: Coleen Gray, Grant Williams, Phillip Terry, Gloria Talbott, John Van Dreelen, Estelle Hemsley, Kim Hamilton, Arthur Batanides, Murray Alper, Paul Thompson. Street Date Aug/ Available from Scream Factory Jeez, the characters are even nastier than the people I know! Lovely Coleen Gray takes a chance on a downmarket Universal programmer and proves how well she can carry a movie, even when performing through several dubious horror make-ups.ġ960 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 77 min. Back when ‘warped’ wasn’t a prerequisite for ALL filmed entertainment (my exaggeration) this murderous rejuvenation tale could be appreciated as something unusual, even quirky. Her death is met with regret but not real grief from a zombified Andre Toulon ( Who was in fact at the time trying to resurrect Elsa through different methods ), which raises some questions as to his mental state upon his resurrection.Why do we like horror and monster movies that routinely get labeled as ‘bad?’ Because many of them have great story ideas and look at the world from odd, warped viewpoints. In Puppet Master II, Leech Woman was thrown into a fire by one of her intended victims, supposedly killing her for good ( Supposing Curse of the Puppet Master is not canon, or indeed comes before part 2 ). As a puppet, Leech Woman is usually calm and only attacks targets that are already helpless, many times not fighting at all. After reanimating Elsa in her doll and seeing what pain and shock she was in, Toulon pushed a leech into her mouth, transforming her into the seductive hag-like puppet she is usually seen as (Whether this is the fault of the leech, or whether this is what Elsa truly was like on the inside is unknown). Elsa was Toulon's main reason for using his puppets for revenge against the Nazis When Andre came across jars full of leeches he was inspired to get this revenge. Leech Woman is Toulon's only female puppet, created first as a present for his wife Elsa, in her image, and later inhabited by her soul after she was killed by the Nazis.
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