VOODOO WOMAN (1957) Reviews and overview

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‘Creeping terror… striking from the depths of Hell!’

Voodoo Woman is a 1957 American horror film produced by Alex Gordon and directed by Edward L. Cahn (It! The Terror from Beyond SpaceInvisible Invaders; The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake) from a screenplay by actor Russell Bender and V.I. Voss.

The movie stars Marla English (The She-Creature), Tom Conway (Cat People; I Walked with a Zombie), Mike Connors (Nightkill; Too Scared to Scream), Lance Fuller (This Island Earth; Scream, Evelyn, Scream!), Mary Allen Kay (Francis in the Haunted House), Paul Dubov (Day the World Ended; Crash!).

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Voodoo Woman was released by American International Pictures (AIP) on a double feature with Roger Corman’s The Undead. In 1966 it was loosely remade by Larry Buchanan into a TV film, Curse of the Swamp Creature.

A pair of treasure hunters, which includes the beautiful but ruthless Marilyn Blanchard (Marla English), discover gold in the voodoo idol of a tribe of the African jungle. Hoping to find more such treasures, they con the innocent Ted Bronson (Mike Connors) into acting as a jungle guide and leading them to the tribe that made the idol.

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Meanwhile, Doctor Roland Gerard (Tom Conway), a mad scientist who has exiled himself deep in the same jungle, is using a combination of native voodoo and his own biochemical discoveries in an attempt to create a superhuman being. He hopes that this being, possessing the best of man and beast, will be the mother of a new perfect and deathless race which he will control with a mixture of hypnosis and telepathy…

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Reviews:

‘Talky, slow-moving, set bound, cheap and obviously rushed, this is a pretty typical low-budget B picture of the era destined for the bottom half of double bills. The film ran into numerous production difficulties, like much of the cast and crew coming down with the flu while on a tight deadline and money wasted on an earlier monster mask designed by Harry Thomas that was so terrible it couldn’t even be used.The Bloody Pit of Horror

‘As a voodoo film, Voodoo Woman is rather silly (in fact, as a plain old film it’s very silly). Still, it contains enough bizarre occurrences, occasionally effective ambiance, and wacky monsters to make it mildly entertaining (in the poverty row vein of Voodoo Man, for instance) 60 minutes. Too bad it actually runs 77 minutes.’ Bryan Senn, Drums of Terror

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Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

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‘Its cheapness aside, Voodoo Woman has an undeniable vigour that makes it highly entertaining. One of the great pleasures is Marla English’s performance. English plays the part as a real tough cookie where everything she says is a snarl and a taunt. Tom Conway plays opposite with a wonderful arrogance and madness. It is these performances and the often amusing dialogue that gives Voodoo Woman an undeniable pulp energy that makes it hard to dislike.’ Moria

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Choice dialogue:

“It isn’t that he’s so smart, it’s just that you’re stupid. How did I ever get mixed up with a guy like you anyway?”

“We’re going into the jungle to bring back a secret recipe for borscht!”

“I knew you were poison the minute I laid eyes on you.”

“You’re insane! You’re a maniac!”

Trailer:

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