‘From Beauty to BEAST!’
She Demons is a 1958 American horror film directed by Richard E. Cunha (Missile to the Moon; Frankenstein’s Daughter) from a screenplay co-written with H.E. Barrie. The movie stars Irish McCalla (Hands of a Stranger), Tod Griffin, Victor Sen Yung (TV’s Night Gallery), Rudolph Anders (The Snow Creature; Frankenstein 1970) and Gene Roth (Attack of the Giant Leeches).
The film was distributed by Astor Pictures as a double feature with Cunha’s Giant from the Unknown.
Plot:
During a tropical storm, a pleasure boat is shipwrecked on an uncharted island and presumed sunk with all hands. The radio possessed by the four survivors can only receive but not transmit and they discover the island will soon be used by naval aircraft as a bombing target.
Finding strange human footprints and hearing the sound of drums, three of the party explore the island that they discover is populated by deformed humanoids who are the product of scientific experiments by a party of Nazis led by a mad scientist war criminal who rules the island…
Reviews:
“Richard Cunha has packed a lot of schlock into his 76 minutes of low-budget mayhem – laughable dialogue, Nazis who flog girls, a mad scientist called “The Butcher”, a hurricane, ugly female monsters wearing cheap rubber masks, island castaways, a volcanic eruption, a henchman named Igor (played by Gene Roth, one time Three Stooges villain), stock footage from One Million BC, bombs, female sex serum, stereotypical racist gags, campy dancing by cute native girls, a not-too-hunky hero who just happens to be a scientist, and Irish McCalla in a cocktail gown… ” Terrororstralis
Buy She Demons on DVD from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
“Slow pacing intrudes during the final third … but don’t let that keep you from the many highlights, including scantily-clad dancing jungle girls, stock footage of every possible natural disaster you can think of, a “stone” wall that shakes when somebody slams into it, an obvious stunt double, a disappearing/reappearing bikini top on a torture victim, and, of course, the ridiculously disgusting-looking “demons”. David Ellroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers
“It’s all there: silly native dances that look like watered-down burlesque, the stunt double for Tod Griffin who has completely a mismatched build and hair, and stock Germans that prance around in shiny uniforms that should have worn out years before.” DVD Talk
“Far better production values than the majority of drive-in jungle pictures, but with all the clichés thankfully intact; ominously distant drums, choreographed blue-eyed native dancing slave girls in skimpy outfits, the love-hate guy/girl thing, a mad German scientist, a rich-bitch blonde in tight-fitting clothes, zombies washing up on shore…” Willard’s Wormholes
Choice dialogue:
“These footprints go in a circle — maybe the natives down here are getting onto this rock ‘n’ roll kick?”
“That was your fatal mistake, American swine!”
“Who’d want a wife with your face?”
Buy She Demons and The Astounding She Monster soundtrack on CD from Amazon.com
Trailer:
Free to watch online on YouTube:
Cast and characters:
Irish McCalla … Jerrie Turner; Tod Griffin … Fred Maklin; Victor Sen Yung … Sammy Ching; Rudolph Anders … Colonel Karl Osler; Gene Roth … Igor; Leni Tana … Mona Osler; Charles Opunui … Kris Kamana; The Diane Nellis Dancers … The She Demons
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