Scott LeBrun Coleen Gray plays June Talbot, an aging alcoholic stuck in a toxic marriage to Paul Talbot (Phillip Terry), an endocrinologist. But he insists on taking her along on an African trip after he gets wind of a process used by a tribe over there to retard, even reverse, the aging process. Once she reacquires her youthful good looks, she finds that she doesn't mind that she was made a guinea pig. The only problem is, she now has to keep killing in order to remain young and gorgeous.The title makes this unmemorable but still entertaining movie sound like utter schlock, which of course is not such a bad thing. But what the viewer gets is actually something a little more interesting and thoughtful, a commentary on the desperate, aggressive need to pursue youth and beauty. Don't go into this expecting a high body count, or an actual "leech woman".The primary assets are a wonderful performance by the lovely Gray, who gets to sink her teeth into a real character role, and the rather convincing makeup effects by Bud Westmore. Gray is ably supported by a cast also including The Incredible Shrinking Man, a.k.a. Grant Williams, as a roving-eyed attorney, Gloria Talbott as a nurse who gets deadly jealous, the striking Hemsley (73 or so at the time of filming), Kim Hamilton as the beautiful young version of Hemsley, and Arthur Batanides as a sleazy con artist.This would make an apt double feature with Roger Cormans' "The Wasp Woman", which this viewer watched just the other night.Seven out of 10.

AaronCapenBanner Edward Dein directed this horror yarn that stars Coleen Gray as June Talbot, an alcoholic and unhappy older woman married to a heartless doctor(played by Philip Terry) who is having multiple affairs. When a very old African woman visits him, she promises him an anti-aging cure in her native land, so takes her(and June) along on the safari back there, and the formula works only by extracting a fluid from the back of the neck of a man, killing him in the process(guess who!) June brings the cure back home by subterfuge, but it proves only temporary, forcing her to kill young men to stay young and beautiful. Grant Williams plays her attorney. Good performance by Gray can't save this silly and absurd film, that is only good for unintended laughs.

MARIO GAUCI Perhaps the very last gasp of the Universal horror classics and, consequently, one of their least offerings – especially since the plot is virtually a copy of Roger Corman's THE WASP WOMAN (1959) which, while no masterpiece in itself, is undeniably superior to this and, at least, does feature a monster! In fact, for the first three-quarters of an hour, the film could almost be mistaken for a parody of an overwrought "woman's picture" (of the type Universal itself churned out to the masses at the time) with its central married couple incessantly hurling insults at one another – the fact that she is ten years older than he has driven her to seek solace in drink! All of this changes when a wizened old woman reveals the existence of a rejuvenating potion, so they embark on a trip into the jungle at the end of which thy hope to remain together; there is a catch, however, in that the concoction requires the fresh blood of a sacrificial victim and, as a means of vindication, the woman chooses none other than the understandably disgruntled hubby to bring about her much-desired youthfulness! Unfortunately, the effect of the drug is only temporary (not to mention the fact of its user growing gradually older when she reverts back to 'normal') and, having pilfered the mixture and the deadly ring used in the rite (despite having a small blade, it can apparently lop off heads with one blow!) from under the re-invigorated old woman's nose, she returns home posing as her own niece and immediately catching the attention of her lawyer (a stiff Grant Williams from THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN [1957]) much to the chagrin of his girlfriend (Gloria Talbot of DAUGHTER OF DR. JEKYLL [1957] and I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE [1958]). Needless to say, the woman is forced to prowl the streets in search of prospective blood donors and, in a fit of rage, even murders Talbot (who had turned up at her house for a showdown) to this end…but it is all in vain as, in a manner reminiscent of Jekyll & Hyde, changes to her natural state in front of Williams and the Police and subsequently hurls herself out the window! Cheap (the African footage is mainly composed of stock footage and even the transformation is hidden, for no very good reason, behind puffs of smoke!), talky and derivative, it all makes for a rather dreary affair – watchable enough in itself but, much like THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956) from the first Universal Sci-Fi set, clearly a substandard product.

retrorocketx Okay, This is a cheezy low budget movie. That comment needs to be stated up front so that unrealistic expectations are brushed aside.This is a fun movie! An aging woman, June Talbot, is abhorred by her successful doctor husband and has to deal with her fear of aging, loss of love, and alcohol abuse - while somehow she must navigate her soul past a lecherous husband, a predatory hunter, and a slimy lawyer. She fails, and turns to the dark side, attempting to destroy these men to maintain her youth and beauty. An old African woman holds the key to youth - juice from a rare orchid combined with a sacrificed male's pineal gland fluid. The husband takes the wife into the 'heart of darkness' (Africa) to meet with the old woman, learn the secret of youth, and experiment on his wife! Um, what is not to like about this? The dialog is snappy, no one pulls any punches, emotions are worn right on the shirt sleeves. Plus there's plenty of stock footage of African animals doing their thing (a cheezy but cool bonus to any film), a bunch of murders, and a hoot of an old woman. All this in about an hour. Coleen Gray, the lead in this film, does a reasonable job in portraying a once wholesome girl, now aging and neglected, transforming herself into a predatory, sexy, man-hunter. My only complaint is that the movie was too short, I really wanted June to run roughshod over 1950s suburbia. Too bad her new way of life was cut short...