THE WASP WOMAN -- IN COLOR!

Wasp woman goes on the attack! 

THE WASP WOMAN (1959). Colorized. Directed by Roger Corman. 

Sales for Janice Starlin's (Susan Cabot) cosmetic company have been dropping since she stopped using herself in advertisements, but as she's on the wrong side of forty, she figures she has no choice. But when elderly Professor Zinthrop (Michael Mark) tells her that he has come up with an age-defying formula using royal jelly from wasps, she has hope and insists he use her as a guinea pig. At first the results are miraculous, with Janice looking as if she's in her twenties (Cabot was 32 at the time), but when she uses more and more of the formula to remain young, the results are less than felicitous. Janice turns into a horribly mutated wasp woman who attacks and feeds upon various people around her, including a solicitous nurse (Lani Mars) and a very obese night watchman (Bruno VeSota). 

Susan Cabot with Michael Mark

I have always gotten a kick out of this fun Corman cheapie-creepy, and I enjoyed it even more in well-done color! In addition to Cabot's excellent performance, this time around I appreciated Lynn Cartwright as the saucy secretary Maureen, who is given some amusing dialogue and runs with it. Fred Katz' jazzy musical score is a little odd, but it works well enough, and the film is full of a whole host of interesting B movie players: Anthony Eisley of Hawaiian Eye; Roy Gordon from Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman; Barboura Morris from Bucket of Blood; the aforementioned VeSota; and even Aron Kincaid [The Girls on the Beach] as a briefly-seen beekeeper, Roger Corman himself also shows up briefly as a doctor, so briefly that I didn't even notice him! I love the scene when Cabot and Morris have excited, happy girl talk over Janice's new youthful appearance. 

Verdict: Be careful what you wish for! ***.

WAR OF THE SATELLITES

WAR OF THE SATELLITES (1958). Director: Roger Corman.

As the head of a space project, Dr. Van Ponder (Richard Devon) and his associates Dave Boyer (Dick Miller) and Sybil Carrington (Susan Cabot) try to figure out what's destroying their rockets. Earth receives a message from aliens declaring that they are responsible and won't allow earthlings to "infect" the universe. Dr. Van Ponder is replaced by one of the aliens, who can split himself into two duplicate beings. Boyer decides that Earth can't be bullied into giving up its space program and therefore a new satellite, with most of the principles aboard, is launched ... Despite a couple of intriguing ideas, this dull script clearly did not inspire Corman to deliver one of his better directorial jobs, as the film hasn't got a single scintilla of flair or interest. The actors are all wasted as well. The production values are often laughable.

Verdict: Possibly Corman's most boring and forgettable movie. *.

SORORITY GIRL

SORORITY GIRL (1957). Director: Roger Corman.

"You were a brat the day you were born. It was in your eyes."

Co-ed Sabra Tanner (Susan Cabot) is a poor, misunderstood rich girl, essentially ignored by her mother (Fay Baker), who acts out in evil ways because she doesn't know what else to do. Her manipulations nearly lead to tragedy. This is a surprisingly entertaining low-budget"bad girl" movie that works not just because of a workable, if minor-league script, but good acting and Corman's brisk and adept direction. Although thirty years old at the time, Susan Cabot is excellent in the lead. She has a great scene with her mother [Fay Baker is as good in this as she was playing Bette Davis' parasitic sister in The Star; she was actually only ten years older than Cabot]. Learning that her mother is cutting off her allowance, Cabot pauses and gives a consummate, barely controlled, ever-so-patient rendering of "I Hate You!" There's also a lively scene when Sabra takes a paddle to the fanny of her moping dog and slave, Ellie (Barbara Crane), who seems to have a crush on her, not to mention the brief if zesty cat fight between Sabra and the much bigger Rita (Barboura Morris). June Kenney of Earth vs. the Spider has a role as a pregnant waitress that Sabra importunes to blackmail bar owner Mort (Dick Miller), who is not the father. Miller is as good as ever. Ronald Stein's score has a rich sound to it. Cabot was a fine actress who deserved a bigger career. Sadly her last film was The Wasp Woman; ten years later she had one TV credit. Corman may have given a lot of actors their start in show business, but appearing in his films didn't do most of them much good, Jack Nicholson notwithstanding. Barbara Crane had only one other credit.

Verdict: Swell melodrama. ***.

THE WASP WOMAN (1959)

THE WASP WOMAN (1959). Director: Roger Corman.

Very entertaining low-budget horror pic with a terrific lead performance from Susan Cabot as Janice Starling, the head of a troubled cosmetics empire. 40-year-old Starling, who was spokeswoman and chief model when she was younger, figures the answer to sagging sales is to get her youth back, which she does by employing wasp enzymes cultivated by Eric Zinthrop (Michael Mark, who appeared in everything from the original Frankenstein and sequels to Letter from an Unknown Woman). Unfortunately, the injections have the unforeseen side effect of turning her into a hideous, clawed monstrosity with a thirst for blood. Bruno VeSota of Attack of the Giant Leeches fame is one of the victims, and there's a nifty scene when The Wasp Woman attacks a screaming nurse. Anthony (Fred) Eisley is one of the board members and Barboura Morris is appealing as Starlin's secretary. Lynn Cartwright is fun as a receptionist named Maureen who is always bitching about her boyfriend, Irving (she was one of the Venusian gals in Queen of Outer Space). When Janice starts losing her youth you almost start to feel sorry for her. Fred Katz's musical score is effectively jangling.

Verdict: Cheap but zesty. ***.