The Leech Woman (1960)

The Leech Woman (1960) is a late entry in Universal's fifties cycle of science fiction and horror b-movies, shot toward the end of 1959 and released the following year, when such productions were looking ever more antiquated.  In common with al of Universal's b-movie output, the film combines better than average production values, thanks to its studio origins - it has the distinctive Universal 'look' - with a paucity of budget reflected in the familiar sets, small cast of second string studio 'talent', lack of exterior shots and hurried plot.  Lots of stock footage of wildlife is on view to represent 'Africa' in the film's middle portion, combined with an over familiar studio jungle and native village.  The most interesting aspect of the film is the way in which its direction and character focus shifts radically part way through.  The film starts off as a seemingly standard over-reaching scientist b- movie, with an unhappily married (to an older woman) endocrinologist learning from an incredibly aged patient that life can be extended and youth temporarily restored via a plant extract known only to the woman's tribe in Africa.  Seeing an opportunity to profit by learning the tribe's secrets and selling it to a pharmaceutical firm in the US, he and his wife set off for Africa, his intent being to use her as a guinea pig.  The twist comes when they find the tribe, with it being revealed that an extract of the human pineal gland, from a freshly killed victim, is also required.  At which point, the wife nominates her husband as the sacrificial victim and he is swiftly dispatched, despite, up to this point, having seemed to be the main character.

After which, the newly rejuvenated wife decides to steal the ceremonial ring used to kill the victims and extract the required fluid and the plant extract and flee the village with her guide.  To cover their escape they burn down the village.  The guide now seems to be shaping up to be the new male lead, but when the wife finds that the rejuvenation is short lived, he too has to give up his glandular secretions.  Returning to the US in the guise of her own niece, the woman continues her murder spree while also trying to seduce the family lawyer, in between her bouts of rapid aging.  She's so ruthless she even kills his fiancee, who again, had looked as if she was going to become the main sympathetic character, before the police catch up with her and it all rolls to an abrupt ending.  It's this streak of ruthlessness with regard to the fates of the supporting cast, along with the refusal to present viewers any strong sympathetic characters, which distinguishes Leech Woman not only from many similarly-themed b-movies, but also most of Universal's other b horrors of the period.  While definitely a minor entry in the horror cycle, it is, as with most studio-produced b-movies, quite slickly made, with effective, if uninspired, direction, clean looking monochrome photography, good lighting and adequate performances.  Leech Woman isn't particularly original, either in its subject or its execution, but it is surprisingly watchable.  The dated approach of the film, however, was highlighted by the decision to release it in the US as the bottom half of a double bill with Hammer's full colour Gothic horror, Brides of Dracula (1960), which served the audience a considerably more stylish dose of female vampirism, complete with undertones of sex and incest.