Womaneater (1959)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Perfect cast and a good story

Absolutely the worst movie.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

A mad doctor discovers a man (well woman) eating plant in the Amazon, brings it back to England & feeds it on beautiful young women in order to raise the dead! If you enjoy horror/sci fi from the 1950's then this is great fun. Yes, the plot is barmy and the plant looks rubbish but the acting, camerawork and music are all decent and the film is played straight. OK, it may not frighten viewers in the 21st Century but it probably did back in the 50's. It also offers a glimpse into Britain from that time, including a somewhat sleazy Soho.

On an expedition to a remote part of South America, Doctor Moran (George Coulouris) discovers a savage tribe who worship a carnivorous plant that feasts solely on young, beautiful, curvaceous women. No 'plain Janes', oldies, uglies, skinnies or fatties for this lean, green killing machine: it's only interested in attractive babes with impressive curves (quite how the plant has developed this discerning attitude towards its food is never explained).Having devoured it's prey, the plant produces a liquid that can purportedly restore life to the dead, something that greatly interests the doctor, who arranges for the ravenous shrub to be transported back to his home in England, along with one of the tribesmen, Tanga (Jimmy Vaughn), to help him with his work (quite how Moran came to this arrangement with the bloodthirsty natives is also never explained). Luring women back to his secure, basement laboratory, Moran sets about feeding the plant in an effort to create enough of the sap to revive the dead.Womaneater is made of the stuff that monster B-movie fans live for: there's the mad scientist with his creepy ethnic assistant, a ropey old tree creature with flailing limbs and tentacles, a bevy of buxom beauties in skimpy sacrificial robes, a pneumatic blonde heroine (sexy ex-funfair worker Sally, played by Vera Day), and a brave but chauvinistic mechanic hero, Jack Venner (Peter Wayn). As one might expect from a low budget '50s B-movie, the film is no Oscar winner, but what it lacks in logic or technical merit it sure makes up for in cheeze 'n' sleaze, with big helpings of both being served up by director Charles Saunders.The shonky monster is guaranteed to illicit more laughs than screams, as will the sight of Tanga in his adult-sized nappy banging the bongos; the seedier content includes Moran prowling the streets and bars of London for suitable victims and his misogynistic treatment of devoted ex-lover/housekeeper Margaret (Joyce Gregg).There's also an unexpectedly tacky moment when Sally helps Jack to fix a car: while Jack is in the foot-well, he eyes up Sally's impressive breasts (her '50s torpedo chest blatantly occupying the foreground), after which he rudely berates her for her inability to follow simple instructions. Considering how he has just asked her to marry him, the scene leaves the viewer wondering just how badly he might abuse her once the ring is actually on her finger.A fun finalé adds even more sleaziness, with sexy Sally narrowly avoiding becoming a meal for the monstrous weed, but not before her blouse has been torn to give viewers a tantalising glimpse of her bra (this being 1958, I imagine that's all audiences needed to get hot and flustered!).7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for the very lovely Vera Day as Sally.

The 1950's produced almost everything in sci-fi/horror and The Womaneater is the one about the flesh eating tree. I quite liked this.A mad scientist brings a flesh eating tree back from the Amazon that the natives used out there. This tree only eats women and he has to look round the local area for these. After it has eaten its "meal", the scientist then gets a serum and uses it to resurrect the dead. He employs a native to help him. The victims includes his housekeeper/lover and nearly her replacement too. The tree is burned at the end.The cast includes Gorge Coulouris (Citizen Kane), Vera Day (Quatermass 2) and Robert MacKenzie (Feind Without a Face). With Jimmy Vaughn as the Native assistant.If you wish to see another movie about a killer tree, take a look at From Hell It Came.The Womaneater is a must see for all 1950's sci-fi fans. Great fun.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

I suppose it is a banal observation that movies both reflect and perpetuated stereotypes.And we do have stereotypes here, as with all of this era and kind.But watching this reminded me of a more subtle and interesting phenomenon. The political dialog in the US (and likely elsewhere) is dominated by the successful party's mastery of the cinematic narrative. We just cannot help ourselves; we like to be shown that the world is so.But once you start that locomotive going, you inherit ALL the baggage of the cinematic narrative, Vincent Price comes uninvited with your John Wayne. This has nothing at all to do with conservative values; it is just a result of adopting the movie world as the basis for your beliefs.This is the purest example I know of a huge class of similar movies. In this movie, the scientist is a madman whose "science" has no resemble to real science. Instead, he has stolen a ritual and plant from Africa, with the unavoidable association with the dark race and inexplicable VooDoo.This scientist doesn't mind a bit "saving life by taking life," a catchphrase that is in my newspapers every day. And it is all driven by sex: he is replacing his aged mistress by a younger model. A torpedo bra of course and chirpy British accent denote that she really is dumb. But get this, she was an "exotic dancer" at a carnival. She, in fact, would be representative of the over half of the US population that believes in astrology and nearly half that believes in creationism.I can understand this thread of influence and consequence when it applies to nuclear energy: the US makes and uses a bomb, many, many movies are made showing the evil side. And we end up with a public that has an unnatural fear of all things radioactive.But this thread is more interesting and profound and has stifled stem cell research in the US.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.