Review: The Wasp Woman (1960)

Michael Mark plays a disgruntled scientist specialising in wasps who gets fired from his job. Mark discovers that the royal jelly created by wasps has greater rejuvenating properties than that of bees, and takes his services to New York and the cosmetics company owned by Susan Cabot. Cabot even tries the stuff herself, and it works wonders on her aging skin. There are side effects, however… 

 

Although much closer to a B-movie than a Z-movie, this 1960 film from director Roger Corman (“Little Shop of Horrors”, “A Bucket of Blood”, “Fall of the House of Usher”, “Tomb of Ligeia”) still isn’t quite good enough to get a B- rating or full recommendation from me. The performances by Susan Cabot, Michael Mark, and Barboura Morris stand out, and the plot and dialogue aren’t too shabby, either. Scripted by actor Leo Gordon (who also wrote “Attack of the Giant Leeches” and “The Terror” for Corman), the setting in the beauty/rejuvenation world is clever, and certainly better handled than in the later “Catwoman” disaster. Low bar? Sure, but true nonetheless. The first attack is quite creepy, it reminds me a little of the attacks in “The Reptile”, if not as effective here. It’s a pretty grisly film for 1960, actually. Also effective is the makeup used to have Cabot appear older in the early section of the film. It’s a rather subtle job in an otherwise unsubtle film.

 

The big issue here is that although solidly directed by Corman (who has a cameo as a doctor) for the most part, it’s a bit slow with a couple too many dead spots in there unfortunately. It’s not far from getting a better grade, just shy in fact. I watched the TV cut of the film with an added 11 minutes of prologue that frankly runs too long (the film itself is about 70 minutes which is just about right, just that it’s too slow to start). The green tint on this version is an unwelcome eyesore as well.

 

Campy, silly fun, reasonably well-done on an affordable budget. Call this one an unofficial recommendation, and even then for a select audience. Grades are kind of useless with this kind of film so don’t take too much notice of that here. Watch the movie and judge for yourself, or take this review as sign that the film is not going to be for you most likely. 

 

Rating: C+

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