The Wasp Woman (1995)

Such a frustrating disappointment

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

In the "so bad it's good" sweepstakes, this "Wasp Woman" remake is a strong contender. First off the acting is all over the map, but Jennifer Rubin and Geritt Graham, are totally acceptable. More good news the movie has some real "eye candy" and nudity, which always helps toward "cult status". The wasp creature with breasts certainly qualifies as one of the most bizarre rubber suit monsters ever. We even have a real cave setting for some added wasp fun. Sure the few C.G.I. images are antiques, but the film has an actual story that holds things together, rather that the C.G.I. extravaganzas trucked out today. As a throwback to the old time monster movies, "Wasp Woman" succeeds. - MERK

This was part of a series of Showtime produced remakes of Roger Corman classics. I don't know if the world was clamoring for a remake of WASP WOMAN but we got it. Jennifer Rubin stars as the owner of a cosmetics company who starts to depend on the experimental work of an discredited doctor (Daniel J. Travanti) in order to maintain her youth. Hey, that is the exact same plot as CATWOMAN! Only this cost about $84 million less. Director Jim Wynorski fares well enough with this entry in his extensive filmography. The movie is filled with bad acting (most notably from Rubin), cheesy effects and bad dialogue. But it moves fast enough, contains plenty of nudity (courtesy of Maria Ford) and features some B-acting greats (Gerrit Graham, Jay Richardson). And, at the very least, you get to see Emmy award winner Travanti get attacked by a big wasp that used to be his pet cat.

Here's another pretty faithful redo of the 1960 Roger Corman camp classic. The story is still fun but I prefer the original. Jennifer Rubin (who knows she's in a B-movie, and acts accordingly) is Janice Starlin, owner and "the face" of Starlin Cosmetics. She's also approaching middle age and her job modeling her own product is threatened when company execs bring in sexy, blonde Caitlin (Maria Ford) to take her place. An experimental youth serum created using wasp hormones by Dr. Zinthrop (Daniel J. Travanti) is taken by Janice and restores her beauty, but there's a price to pay as she periodically transforms into a giant, murderous wasp (with cleavage!). This never aspires to be more than a cheesy exploitation movie and works in its own realm; if your apt to rent a movie called WASP WOMAN in the first place you shouldn't be too disappointed with this. Plus, whoever designed the wasp/monster costume has a terrific sense of humor. It's hilarious! Same goes for a memorable death scene featuring Gerrit Graham that the makers of the 1960 version wouldn't have even conceived filming! Corman served as executive producer.

An aging model/cosmetics executive (Jennifer Rubin) finds a way to reverse the aging process through an experimental wasp drug, but it has deadly consequences as she morphes from time to time into a giant man eating wasp. Much better then you would expect remake of the original Roger Corman camp classic, though this remake is dead serious. It features a very appealing turn by Jennifer Rubin, and actually focuses more on characterization then cheap scares (even though it does have its share of them). However, the film does feature poor monster effects.Rated R; Nudity, Violence, Sexual Situations, and Profanity.