The Astounding She-Monster (1957)

i must have seen a different film!!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Others have commented upon the similarities between this and an Ed Wood film. I submit to you that these are more than mere similarities...First of all, the box copy on the DVD from Image states: "Producer-Director Ronnie Ashcroft's first feature film venture guided by his friend and mentor Edward D. Wood Jr., whose "uncredited" help gives this film that unmistakable "scent" of Wood." Quote by Wade Williams. The box also states: "Consultant: Edward D. Wood Jr. (uncredited)." Just what exactly are we trying to say here, Mr. Williams? Just come out with it! Could it have anything to do with the fact that Ed Wood stock player Kenne Duncan appears here? How about the film's writer, the alleged Frank Hall? He has no other credits at all on the IMDb. Could that be one Edward Wood under a pseudonym? Ed almost always put his own name on films he either directed or wrote, but he was known to use pseudonyms on many of the paperback novels he wrote in the 1960's and 70's.I have not checked Ed's biography for any possible information on this film, but could it be that this film was actually written by the Anti-Master himself? And what does Wade Williams have to say on this theory? Clearly, the matter needs further investigation.Anyway, this is a hilariously bad film. If Ed didn't write this film, it's right in his wheelhouse. Ridiculous dialog and lots of scenes with no dialog at all since they were shot with no sound. Lots of scenes that drag on (did I say drag? In a discussion about Ed Wood? That was a bad pun, I guess) and on and go nowhere. In other words: prime Badfilm. Ed Wood fans, be aware. You may want to give this one a spin in the old machine. Normal people will not enjoy it though. If you are normal, stay away.

Gangster: "Shut up, you lousy drunk!" Floozy: "I prefer to be referred to as an alcoholic!" If you view this as a sci-fi movie, it doesn't rate. As existentialist film noir, it's off the scale. Two aging gangsters and their gin-soaked moll kidnap a Beverly Hills socialite who looks like the cadaverous victim of a 1930's vampire movie. Through a series of misadventures, they end up in a remote geologist's cabin being stalked by an iridescent stripper from outer space. Every time the alien enters the cabin, they run outside and get in the jeep. Then she corners them on the road and they run into the woods. Then she finds them in the woods and they go back into the cabin. This sequence is repeated three or four times as characters are killed one by one. Imagine "Ten Little Indians" if it had been written by Sartre instead of Agatha Christie. The socialite gets lines like, "But, Dick, isn't radium in solid form a metal?" and my favorite, "I had no idea that a geologist used so many acids in his work." The hyper dramatic voice-over for several long sequences reinforces the idea that the plot for the film was actually developed in post-production. But then, existentialist film noir should be improv, shouldn't it?

One of the most amusing aspects of watching these low budget-to-no budget pieces of hackwork from the past is watching the director and the costume and set designers struggle to make their limited funds stretch far enough to make something palatable on screen. Plot, script, blocking, makeup, editing, special effects (or lack of them), performances, 2nd or 3rd takes...can all go through the most fantastic contortions to make up for lack of big bucks (or decent ideas) and to try to entice the viewer to accept the proceedings as a 'real' movie."Astounding She Monster" twists, bends and slithers like a Slinky going down a flight of stairs in an attempt to disguise the fact that it was shot with practically no budget, and absolutely no talent.ASM has exactly two classy elements done right: the movie poster (which looks as if it might have been done by Kelly Freas) and the double-exposure effect on the girl in the silver leotard, which is pretty cool for a film from that time. It's at LEAST as convincing as any special effects from a Republic Serial series or a K. Gordon Murray Mexican/English hybrid film like "Robot Vs. the Aztec Mummy".Unfortunately, you can't watch a movie poster, and the one little special effect can't carry a film for 62 minutes. And every other aspect of the film is hilariously, blitheringly incompetent.I suggest you play the following drinking game while watching ASM: 1)Take a drink every time the cast steps outside the one room shown in the movie in an attempt to leave the area, but then are forced to go back inside that room (for whatever reason); and 2)Take a drink whenever the She Monster crashes back into the room through the apparently unlock-able door, and attacks yet another cast member. You will be completely smashed by the time the film ends, and thus much more bemused by the astounding idiocy of what you are watching. In short, a classic piece of crap, worth watching to see just how stupid movies movies from this time could get.

This is the type of movie that if you were watching it when it first came out in 1957, you probably would have had the pants scared off you.Looking at it today, this is a movie that you can sit and watch with a bunch of friends and laugh. It's so ludicrous!!The 'special effects' surrounding our monster heroine are so bad and very erratic. Sometimes you see them and sometimes you don't.It's supposed to be night time, so how come when they are driving the jeep to try to escape, there is sunlight on the surrounding hills and sometimes our friends are driving right through the sunlight.My favorite character in this movie is the head thug, Nat Burdell. He's so 'tough', he's almost lovable. Looking at the list of movies that he has participated in since the early 1940's, he seems to be an accomplished actor. Things really must have been very bad in his personal life to wind up in a film like this. Who said that good acting was a requirement for this film???But all in all, if you're looking for some light-hearted movie to enjoy (don't expect anything great), either by yourself or with some friends, and you're just passing the time, RENT THIS MOVIE!!!!! YOU WON"T BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!!