The Wasp Woman
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The Wasp Woman | |
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Directed by | Roger Corman |
Screenplay by | Leo Gordon |
Story by | Kinta Zertuche |
Produced by | Roger Corman |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Harry Neumann |
Edited by | Carlo Lodato |
Music by | Fred Katz |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Allied Artists |
Release date |
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Running time |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $50,000 (estimated) |
The Wasp Woman (also known as The Bee Girl and Insect Woman) is a 1959 American
Plot
In the prologue, scientist Dr. Eric Zinthrop (Michael Mark) is fired from his job at a honey farm for experimenting with wasps.
The founder and owner of a large
Janice continues her clandestine use of the serum and sheds 20 years in a single weekend, but soon discovers that she is periodically transformed into a murderous, wasp-like creature. Eventually, Zinthrop throws a jar of
Cast
- Susan Cabot as Janice Starlin
- Fred Eisley as Bill Lane
- Barboura Morris as Mary Dennison
- William Roerick as Arthur Cooper
- Michael Mark as Dr. Eric Zinthrop
- Frank Gerstle as Les Hellman
- Bruno VeSota as Night Watchman
- Roy Gordon as Paul Thompson
- Carolyn Hughes as Jean Carson
- Lynn Cartwright as Maureen Reardon
- Frank Wolff as Delivery Man
- Lani Mars as Secretary
- Philip Barry as Delivery Man
- Roger Corman as Hospital Doctor (uncredited)
Production
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The film was originally known as Insect Woman.
The film was made for an estimate budget of $50,000.[3]
In 1962,
Release
The film was the third released by Filmgroup. It was released as a double feature with Beast from Haunted Cave.[6] The film's theatrical release poster shows a creature with the head of a woman and the body of a wasp, but the Wasp Woman depicted in the film is exactly the opposite of this.
According to Tim Dirks, The Wasp Woman was one of a wave of "cheap teen movies" released for the drive-in market. They consisted of "exploitative, cheap fare created especially for them [teens] in a newly-established teen/drive-in genre".[7]
The film was re-released as part of the "100th Anniversary of Monster Movies" in March 2010.[8]
Soundtrack
The Wasp Woman's musical score, written by Fred Katz, was originally composed for the film A Bucket of Blood. According to Mark Thomas McGee, author of Roger Corman: The Best of the Cheap Acts, each time Katz was called upon to write music for Corman, he sold the same score as if it were new music.[9] The score was used in a total of seven films, including The Little Shop of Horrors and Creature from the Haunted Sea.[citation needed]
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 45% rating based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 4.7 out of 10.[10]
Parodies
On April 6, 2008, Cinematic Titanic did a live riff on the film to a theater audience. It was released on DVD on August 7.[17] In the Courage the Cowardly Dog episode "Night of the Weremole", Muriel can be seen watching The Wasp Woman, which she describes as "her favorite show".[18]
Cinema Insomnia
In 2007, The Wasp Woman was shown on the horror hosted television series Cinema Insomnia.[19] Apprehensive Films later released the Cinema Insomnia episode on DVD.[20]
Remakes
Rejuvenatrix (also known as The Rejuvenator) was inspired by Corman's film, with some critics calling it "a 1988 version of The Wasp Woman".[21]
In 1995, a remake of The Wasp Woman was produced for the Roger Corman Presents series. The remake was directed by Jim Wynorski, and starred Jennifer Rubin as Janice Starlin.
See also
- The Fly (1958 film)
- The Wolf Man (1941 film)
- List of American films of 1959
- List of films in the public domain in the United States
References
- ^ "Golden Age of SciFi". Archived from the original on 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
- ^ December 24, 1959 issue of The Plain Speaker from Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Page 37
- ^ Alan Frank, The Films of Alan Frank: Shooting My Way Out of Trouble, Bath Press, 1998 p 65
- ISBN 978-0786436095.
- ^ Hartl, John (June 20, 1996). "Not Yet Over The Hill -- Director of Campy 'Sisters' in Comeback". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on November 1, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
- ^ "Roger Corman Sets 10 to Nourish Filmgroup". Variety. 18 February 1959. p. 3.
- ^ Dirks, Tim. "Citing Website" The History of Film - The 1950s: The Cold War and Post-Classical Era, The Era of Epic Films, and the Threat of Television, Part 1. Accessed March 16, 2015,http://www.filmsite.org/50sintro.html
- ^ Monster Movies Celebrate 100th Anniversary With Marathon Webcast
- ISBN 0-89950-628-3.
- ^ "The Wasp Woman (1959) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ "Film Reviews: The Wasp Woman". Variety. March 23, 1960. 6.
- ^ Stinson, Charles (March 18, 1960). "'Wasp Woman' Fair Science Fiction Effort". Los Angeles Times. Part III, p. 8.
- ^ "The Wasp Woman". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 27 (314): 41. March 1960.
- ISBN 978-0-452-29577-3.
- ^ "The Wasp Woman Review". TV Guide. TV Guide.com. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^ "The Wasp Woman (1959) - Roger Corman | Review". Allmovie. AllMovie.com. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^ Joel Hodgson's CINEMATIC TITANIC Sets Sail Live And One Of Our Spies Was There! - Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news
- ^ "Night of the Were-Mole" Courage the Cowardly Dog Dir. John R. Dilworth, Stretch Films, 1999.
- ^ "Cinema Insomnia". Cinema Insomnia. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
- ^ "Wasp Woman DVD". Apprehensive Films. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
- ^ Time Capsule: Reviews of Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films and TV by Judy Harris
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-89950-032-3.
External links
- The Wasp Woman at IMDb
- The Wasp Woman on YouTube
- The Wasp Woman at AllMovie
- The Wasp Woman at the TCM Movie Database
- The Wasp Woman at the American Film Institute Catalog
- The Wasp Woman is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive