The Leech Woman (1960) – Review

In an attempt to combine elements of science fiction, adventure and exploitation into a single bizarre and perplexing package – and who wouldn’t want that – Universal Pictures brought to the world one of their more off-beat entries in the form of The Leech Woman, a film that delved into the dark realms of obsession, eternal youth and the consequences of tampering with nature. You know, the usual.

Directed by Edward Dein, The Leech Woman takes us on a journey into the dark realms of a mysterious African tribe and the even darker realm of the human psyche. Where we are first introduced to endocrinologist Dr. Paul Talbot (Phillip Terry) and his alcoholic wife June (Colleen Gray) who have become rather estranged due to June being ten years older than Paul, and now showing her age. Paul is clearly ready to trade her in for a newer model but when recent research into the aging process results in the visit from a mysterious old woman named Malla (Estelle Hemsley), who claims to have been brought to America 140 years ago as a slave, things get interesting. She offers him the secret to a powerful elixir that can not only halt the passage of time but, when combined with a secondary element, it can reverse the aging process altogether. All Paul needs to do to receive such a reward is provide her with enough money so that she can return home to her tribe in Africa. Needless to say, things are a bit more complicated than that.

Skull decorations are a big red flag.

Paul manages to con his poor wife into joining him on this safari into Darkest Africa but his conniving nature is soon revealed, which is the fact that June was only brought along as “a guinea pig who could talk” and his heart remains as cold and hard as ever. They are allowed to witness the secret ceremony of the Nando tribe who utilizes orchid pollen and a sacrificial male’s pineal gland secretions. The secretions, extracted from the back of the neck via a special ring and mixed with the pollen, temporarily transform Malla into a young and beautiful woman. Unfortunately, this is to be the last thing our group of intrepid heroes will witness as they are quickly informed that they will be killed the following day, but when they are offered one final boon June agrees to be the guinea pig, only to then chose her louse of a husband as the sacrifice in a nice bit of revenge.

“Honey, this is a great opportunity for you to get rid of me.”

The most inciteful moment in the film is when Malla gives this nice monologue before the ritual is performed, where she explains to Paul and June “For man, old age has rewards. If he is wise, his grey hairs bring dignity and he’s treated with honour and respect. But for the aged woman, there is nothing. At best, she’s pitied. More often, her lot is of contempt and neglect. What woman lives, who has passed the prime of her life, that would not give her remaining years to reclaim even a few moments of joy and happiness and to know the worship of men?” And that’s the Monkey’s Paw element of this ritual as this miraculous youth-giving process is only temporary and requires the victim to take the life essence of men by literally leeching off their energy.

What price beauty?

This movie may depict the horrible lengths to which a woman would go to reclaim her youth, willing to commit multiple acts of murder, but it also shows the male of the species in a rather poor light. Not only is June’s husband a sadistic asshat, who certainly deserved to die in the jungle, but their guide attempts to abandon her when she suddenly ages, and later June is able to seduce her lawyer Neil Foster (Grant Williams) in a matter of moments despite the fact that his fiancée Sally (Gloria Talbot) is right outside waiting in their car. Later we have June wandering around town flashing jewels and money so as to lure a greedy and murderous suitor to his death like a spider into her web, basically, there aren’t a lot of nice people in this movie of either sex.

The OG Black Widow.

Stray Observations:

• The process to turn a woman young again involves the tapping of the pineal gland for hormones by stabbing the sacrifice at the back of the neck with a short sharp instrument, but the pineal gland is actually located deep within the brain so I’m not sure what exactly they were tapping into.
• The interior set of the Talbots’ ranch house living room was also used in the 1958 Universal horror flick The Thing That Couldn’t Die (1958).
• Much of the stock footage was taken from the jungle adventure Tanganyika (1954).
• This film’s portrayal of Africa is fairly typical of Hollywood in this era, with “savages” doing mystical rites and dancing to jungle drums, but the character of Malla is intelligent and well-spoken which is not typical of horror films of this era.
• Whether you are watching Tarzan swing through the jungles of Africa or The Creature of the Black Lagoon swimming in the Amazon River, you will hear the call of the kookaburra, which is a bird found only in Australia, and its cry is dutifully heard in the jungles of this movie.

“Look, there goes Tarzan now.”

The film’s concept is undeniably intriguing and plays nicely with the idea of immortality and the lengths people would go to achieve it, unfortunately, The Leech Woman fails to fully explore the moral and philosophical implications of such a theme and devolves into melodrama instead. The plot lacks depth and sophistication, often resorting to predictable twists and turns that leave little room for genuine suspense or thought-provoking moments but the film’s biggest shortcoming lies in its execution. The pacing is inconsistent, with more than half the film spent simply setting up the rejuvenation gimmick and these slow and tedious moments drag the story down, making it difficult to maintain interest.

“If I shoot you now, then we can all go home early.”

The performances from most of the cast are generally lacklustre, failing to inject the necessary energy and emotional depth into their characters and the dialogue is often clunky and stilted, making it challenging to connect with the film on an emotional level. I will credit the film for some genuine moments surrounding the violent bickering between our married protagonists, which has a very Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? feel to it, and as this film came out years before that Richard Burton/Elizbeth Taylor drama I’d like to believe Mike Nichols was inspired by this movie. Sadly, these moments of inciteful screenwriting are all too brief and are overshadowed by the film’s poor special effects, which can be described as rudimentary even by the standards of the time. The transformation scenes are handled behind either a cloud of smoke or off camera, saving a pretty penny on visual effects, and while one could argue that the low-budget nature of the film contributes to its charm, it does hinder the overall impact of the story.

We do get a nice classic E.C. Comic ending.

Despite its flaws, The Leech Woman has some redeeming qualities. Coleen Gray delivers a commendable performance as the aging June, effectively portraying her desperation and obsession with reclaiming her youth as well as her doomed marriage, and the film’s climax while somewhat predictable, manages to build suspense and delivers a satisfying resolution to the story. That a low-budget horror film would take a somewhat serious look at ageism and sexism in America was a surprise and while the overall end product may be on the weak side there are some noteworthy elements that should not be overlooked. It’s just too bad these elements aren’t enough to raise the film above its genre class.

Note: The film may have aged poorly but not the subject matter.

Ultimately, The Leech Woman is a product of its era, embodying the low-budget, B-movie charm that many cult film enthusiasts appreciate. It also serves as a time capsule, showcasing the cheesy and sometimes campy nature of 1960s horror cinema. While this film may hold nostalgic value for some fans of vintage horror, its lacklustre execution, underdeveloped plot, and mediocre performances prevent it from achieving greatness, sadly, its message of sexism and ageism remains pertinent to this day.