‘A beautiful woman by day – A lusting queen wasp by night.’
The Wasp Woman is a 1959 sci-fi horror film about the head of a major cosmetics company experiments on herself with a youth formula made from royal jelly extracted from wasps, but the side effects have deadly consequences
It was produced and directed by Roger Corman from a screenplay written by Leo Gordon (The Terror; Tower of London; Attack of the Giant Leeches).
The movie stars Susan Cabot, Anthony Eisley and Barboura Morris.
The Wasp Woman‘s musical score, written by Fred Katz, was originally composed for 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. The score was used in a total of seven films, including The Little Shop of Horrors and Creature from the Haunted Sea.
Corman remade the film for cable television in 1995.
Plot:
The founder and owner of a large cosmetics company, Janice Starlin (Susan Cabot), is disturbed when her firm’s sales begin to drop after it becomes apparent to her customer base that she is ageing. Scientist Eric Zinthrop (Michael Mark) has been able to extract enzymes from the royal jelly of the queen wasp that can reverse the ageing process. Starlin agrees to fund further research, at great cost, provided she can serve as his human subject.
Displeased with the slowness of the results she breaks into the scientist’s laboratory and injects herself with extra doses of the formula. Zinthrop becomes aware that some of the test creatures are becoming violent and goes to warn Janice but before he can reach anyone he gets into a car accident. Janice continues her clandestine use of the serum and sheds twenty years’ in a single weekend, but soon discovers that she is periodically transformed into a murderous queen wasp…
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“The Wasp Woman is seen by some as Roger Corman’s heart-felt protest at how society undervalues women over the age of forty, as true today as ever. Others argue The Wasp Woman is evidence of Roger’s sincere belief that a shameless rip-off of The Fly (1958), a big money-earner for 20th Century Fox the previous year, would earn similar profits for him.” HNN
“A passably well-made B movie but there is nothing remarkable to it. Most of the action is static and talky and the film drags, even though it only has a 73-minute running time. Indeed, The Wasp Woman is surely the first monster movie where the action is entirely limited to the confines of an office.” Moria
“Clearly influenced by the massive success of 1958’s The Fly, one has to give Wasp Woman credit for attempted ingenuity. Corman could have easily gone for the “man mutates” formula that made the Al Hedison horror show a hit. Instead, this narrative goes gaga for entomology, providing us with a precursory prologue where the benefits of royal jelly and all other bug butt extracts are explored.” Pop Matters
“The makeup that Cabot wears when she transforms is wisely kept in the shadows, but we see enough to know that she’s in a bad way – but not as bad as her victims. Mention of the film Dr Cyclops by Janice’s secretary (Lynn Cartwright) alludes to the filmmakers’ ambitions, but The Wasp Woman is otherwise pretty limited all the way, both in effects and suspense.” The Spinning Image
“Even though this movie is about a woman who de-ages and transforms into a wasp-human hybrid, it’s surprisingly realistic, both in its portrayal of a sympathetic villain and in its understanding of how the beauty industry affects and pressures people. The performances are likewise compelling, and, despite the obvious camp of the script, the actors give it their all.” Syfy Wire
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Release:
In the USA, The Wasp Woman was originally released by Filmgroup on a double bill with Beast from Haunted Cave
Film Facts:
To pad out the running time when the film was released on television two years later, a new prologue was added by director Jack Hill (Spider Baby).
Cast and characters:
Susan Cabot … Janice Starlin – War of the Satellites
Anthony Eisley [as Fred Eisley] … Bill Lane – Evil Spirits; Deep Space; Monstroid; Dracula vs. Frankenstein; The Mighty Gorga; The Witchmaker; The Navy vs. the Night Monsters; et al
Barboura Morris … Mary Dennison
William Roerick … Arthur Cooper
Michael Mark … Doctor Eric Zinthrop
Frank Gerstle … Les Hellman
Bruno VeSota … Night Watchman
Roy Gordon … Paul Thompson
Carolyn Hughes … Jean Carson
Lynn Cartwright … Maureen Reardon
Frank Wolff … Delivery Man
Lani Mars … Secretary
Philip Barry … Delivery Man
Gene Corman … Mr Barker
Roger Corman … Doctor in the Hospital
Aron Kincaid … Beekeeper
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