Customer Reviews

The Astounding She-Monster

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The most astounding thing about the she-monster is the very
well-endowed (37-26-36) former stripper/nude model Shirley
Kilpatrick's slinky, sexy walk in her skin-tight, glowing spandex
body suit. She looks almost naked, the suit is so form-fitting (not
surprising, since the original title was going to be The Naked
Invader.) In fact, according to the liner notes, it was so tight she
couldn't sit down in it, and had to rely on a back-board to lean
against between takes.

She certainly doesn't look like a "monster!" She has not a single
line of dialog in the film, not even a snarl or hiss, just a scream at
the climax. This movie was evidently not only her debut on screen
but also her final appearance. She doesn't seem to have ever been
in anything else. I first saw this movie on late-night TV back in
the `60s, I think, and she's the only thing I ever remembered about
it! Well, that, and the final scene where star Robert Clarke reads a
lengthy, ludicrous speech from a tiny scrap of paper!

The whole movie is ludicrous, with bad acting, inane narration and
dialog, silly plot, inept direction, and homemade special effects
that Ed Wood would have been ashamed of, but it's still fun, a
perfect example of how an enterprising wanna-be film-maker can
borrow money (in this case just $18,000!) and locations, and using
his friends and relatives and a few professionals, can churn out a
movie in a few days that makes a tidy little profit.

Writer/producer/director Ronald Ashcroft studied under the
master, Roger Corman, on Day the World Ended, and learned
how to do it. Actor Clarke learned from Ashcroft and he, too,
went on to try his hand with The Hideous Sun Demon.

This DVD edition has just average image and sound quality, a
chapter index, and the theatrical trailer, but there's also two pages
of liner notes by film historian Tom Weaver that's very
informative, with quotes by Ashcroft. Add this one to your `50s
cult classic collection!

Here is a brief synopsis, followed by some of the other miscellaneous reasons I like this flick so much:

The AS-M (who kills with a mere touch) stalks a geologist, a pretty socialite, and three kidnappers who are hiding out at the geologists's isolated hilltop cabin during what may loosely be deemed "night." Suffice it to say, some of them don't live through it. Then there's an ironic sort of ending that achieves absolutely no irony whatsoever because it is all wrong for a number of reasons. Essentially, it's an extremely poor man's 'Key Largo' meets an equally impoverished man's 'Alien.' Or you could look at it as a precursor to 'The Beast From Haunted Cave,' only quicker and sillier. (I guess I could add that it makes more sense than Plan 9, and is perhaps equal in coherency to Bride of the Monster. But somehow is more enjoyable than either, at least to me.)

The spaceship is represented in flight as a lit match; the actress playing the spacebabe split her skin-tight suit early during shooting, so she has to back away from the camera for the entire movie (actually, this is oddly effective); blaring chords sound when nothing is happening; people keep referring to the shapely alien lady as a horrible monster; everyone keeps returning to the cabin for safety, even though the AS-M can and repeatedly does enter at will through a huge (and broken-out) window.

The funniest bit of all is revealed in the liner notes: the saga of the bear(s) used during filming. I won't ruin it for you, but it will make me laugh and cry forever. It is one of the most pathetically messed-up things I have ever heard happen in moviemaking, Battlefield Earth not withstanding.

If these things sound like a fun time to you, buy this movie posthaste. Others beware.

I personally only wish I could have witnessed them making this movie at the time. That had to have been even MORE entertaining.

P.S. The DVD transfer is just OK, but I'm quite sure that's only because the original film itself was pretty shaky.

First off, unless you're a bad film aficionado (which you probably are if you're reading this) The ASM will probably be a disappointment. It's likely not quite wacky (think Ed Wood) or lurid (think any late-50s AIP flick) enough even for bad film fans either. This is one of those (like Mesa of Lost Women, Beast of Yucca Flats, or The Creeping Unknown) whose illogic and strange, minimalist atmosphere will either cast their spell over you or bore you to tears. There is little "action," lots of static dialogue scenes, no special effects, and a "monster" that's pretty much just a babe in tights (and not nearly as luscious or exciting a babe as the one portrayed in the film's advertising materials). As far as the DVD itself, it's better than the movie, but not perfect either. The tonal values are good and it's sharp enough, but the print is somewhat worn. There is a near-constant light flecking, and light vertical scratches are quite common. Not to the point of major distraction, but not as clean as most of the Image discs I own. Am I sorry I bought the DVD? No. I cued up my VHS copy (recorded off late night TV 10+ years ago) for comparison and felt vindicated. The print shown by the TV station was awful in comparison to the DVD, in fact some scenes were so dark that people further back in the frame were rendered invisible by the murk, and driving scenes revealed little more than moving headlights! All this time I thought the film was badly photographed! So this turned out to be a substantial upgrade for me, but I have not owned a VHS pre-record of this title so I can't make that comparison. Bottom line: if you love this movie you probably won't feel burned... Mainstream motion picture consumers-caveat emptor!

In 1958, I was a seven-year old boy, scared as I munched popcorn and watched this movie at the local moviehouse. When you're that age, it seems like an eternity between appearances of the monster on screen and this flick really makes you wait for interminably long stretches, probably to heighten the suspense. Unbelievably, the whole film is only 62 minutes long! I was elated when I found out that this was available on DVD and wasted no time in buying it.
As an adult, I noticed other things I missed the first time around: the endless and funny narration, the day/night montages, the way that one gal really blows down the booze, and the constant overacting of the kidnapped woman. So many bad things to enjoy!
The people go endlessly out of the cabin and come back into it, evading the shapely babe with the jet-propelled eyebrows. During all of this, the music track just goes bananas, in a sort of negative-counterpoint with the often-boring visuals. If you've ever wondered what they mean when they say "it's so bad it's good", then by all means, get this movie. It's entertainly inept.
I am greatly satisfied with the DVD picture quality. The sound level is awfully low at times and super-loud at others, but I suspect that it's the sound editor's fault, and not that of the DVD engineers.

"The Astounding She-Monster" was made by directorial genius Ronnie Ashcroft for an amazing $18,000. He and star Robert Clarke did so well that Clarke netted enough to fund his own masterwork, the equally horrible "Hideous Sun Demon." Later Clarke stooped to new lows by conspiring with Grade Z film legend Jerry Warren to foist the unbelievable "Frankenstein Island" on an unsuspecting world with the help of superstar John Carradine. (If you haven't seen "Frankenstein Island" and you like bad movies, go order it now!)

"The Astounding She-Monster" is an astounding tale of a stripper in a skin tight Lycra outfit with Mr. Spock eyebrows and a deadly touch. The film also contains subplots about geology (Typical line of dialogue: "I just never realized that a geologist used so many kinds of acid in his work." In other words: yawn.), and kidnapping, which are used to ensure that all the action takes place on one set out of concern for the budget.

This movie has all the horrible black and white devices of convenience used: silly stock footage of animals, inappropriately used; very cheesy special effects (The She-Creatures spaceship is represented by a lit match. Really.); the depiction of her 'radium covering' by merely not focusing the camera; 'day for night' effects far worse than any ever used by Ed Wood (yes, even in "Plan 9"); and perhaps most annoyingly, narration provided by a voice who can't stylistically decide if he wants to sound more like Rod Serling or Criswell. Not to be confused with stock footage, they actually shot film of a bear. When the bear became unavailable for some shots they dressed costar Kenne Duncan in a bear suit to finish out the required footage. This is genius on the level of Ed Wood! I also particularly liked the music, which is of the 'all trumpet fanfare' variety, performed by the Stuttgart (Germany) Symphony Orchestra!

Forget the plot, it's a standard atomic cautionary tale from space done in thousands of other films, but be prepared to laugh at the incredibly inept package as it comes together in a 62 minute extravaganza of hilarity and non-scariness. I deducted a couple of points for the tedium of the wandering around in the woods scenes, which are interminable. Still, all told, it's a fun slice of yesteryear. The only special feature is the original trailer, though the DVD does have excellent liner notes by Tom Weaver, the noted sci-fi historian.

If you're a sci-fi b-movie buff this is right up your alley. Saw this for the first time around age 4 or 5 in the mid-60s. Lost it's initial impact of course, but good for turning the sound down and making up your own dialogue when viewing it for the 2nd, 3rd time round. Enjoy!

For some reason Image Entertainment used a different print for their DVD version as opposed to their earlier VHS release.

I have this film on both media and the print used for the VHS is cleaner, with the exception of a loss of dialogue occurring at the thirty-eight-minute-mark due to an abrupt splice/jump in the film. The line of dialogue is clean and clear on the DVD. For those who only own or have seen the VHS the dialogue delivered by Nat, the lead kidnapper is as follows: "It's a synch someone survived because that thing wasn't from this world."

You would think that Image would at least use a print as good or better than what they previously used for their VHS release. Kind of defeats the whole purpose of the DVD format to use lower grade source material on a higher grade of media.

I would eat a bowl of rusty fish hooks before I would watch this movie again. Please don't spend your money on this tripe, give it to an alcoholic panhandler instead.

Yes, she's landed her spacecraft on our planet and started walking.... no, sauntering.... Um, slinking along in her painted-on outfit from beyond space! She's the ASTOUNDING SHE-MONSTER! Why has she come? What does she want?? Look out! Her touch causes instant death to any living thing! It turns rattlesnakes into rubber and bears into rugs! Our only hope is in the person of a geologist (Robert Clarke) and his faithful collie. Oops! The ASM has dispatched poor Lassie to that big kennel in the sky! What's this? Three kidnappers have arrived at the geologist's house in the woods, with their pretty young victim in tow. What will our geological hero do now? Watch as the ASM sashays... no, moseys along at a horrible pace, touching and killing things along the way! Can the rock guy and his unwanted guests possibly survive? It's all in the deadly hands of THE ASTOUNDING SHE-MONSTER! See her wiggle... no, slither through the trees, coming closer, closer! If her suit were any tighter, she'd be bleeding! Pray that she keeps her grabby fingers to herself! THE ASTOUNDING SHE MONSTER is a schlocky ball of cheese with a gooey center. Would make a great double bill with MESA OF LOST WOMEN or THE ATOMIC BRAIN (which may have used the same droning narrator)! ...

Wow...I mean...wow...this was one awful movie. I cannot remember the last time I gave a one star review, as I can usually find a few good things about a feature, but not so here. I wasn't expecting excellence here in anyway, but I certainly wasn't prepared for what I was about to see, the pain I would endure...

The Astounding She-Monster (1957) was just incredibly bad. Directed by Ronnie Ashcroft, Mr. Peek-a-Boo's Playmates (1962), this low budget Z-grade film ranks right up there (or down there) with Ed Wood Jr.'s Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) which isn't surprising as Ronnie was involved with Wood's Night of the Ghouls (1959) as an assistant director or something like that.

Anyway, the movie starts off with some footage of outer space, and some really terrible voiceover by someone who shouldn't be doing voiceovers. We see some remote planet, and witness a bright light leaving the planet, presumably heading for Earth. We then find ourselves watching some well to do female leaving her posh home, and get treated to some more inane voiceover, basically telling us this woman is about to run into trouble. And she does. As she is driving to some party, a car containing two men and a woman stops her. The two men get out, force the well to do woman out of her car and into their car at gunpoint, and then drive away.

Around this time, in a different location, the bright light we saw earlier comes to Earth, and lands in the woods, and a shimmery, blurry female figure appears in an ultra tight body suit. The shimmer, blurred effect is created by some technique that keeps the subject slightly out of focus. Ooooh...we also get to meet Dick Cutler, played by Robert Clarke, who is a geologist of sorts and lives in a cabin in the woods where he works doing geologist type things. You may remember Robert Clarke as the writer, director, and star of the equally awful movie, The Hideous Sun Demon (1959) or the Jerry Warren shlockfest Frankenstein Island (1981). Lord knows I do...

Anyway, the kidnappers, driving to some unknown location, run across the female alien, get into an accident, disabling their car, and take refuge in Dick Cutler's shack. I forgot to mention that this astounding she-monster can kill with just a touch, as later we find out she is imbued with radium. She demonstrates this most awesoma power on a rubber snake. Okay, so now the kidnappers and their hostage are holed up in Dick's rock shack with Dick in tow. There's a lot of really inept dialogue, and some pretty unintentionally funny scenes with the female kidnapper, who seems to have a problem with the drink.

Soon the group finds themselves fighting for their lives, as the astounding she-monster finds the cabin. There are a lot of scenes with the characters being chased out of the cabin, running around in the woods, returning to the cabin, and then being chased from the cabin again. This happens like four of five times. Some people get killed, and we do get to find out why this creature came to Earth. The reason, which I won't divulge here, was so inanely posed, but is a staple theme of science fiction that I've seen in much better films. I think the revelation is supposed to be shocking, but only elicited laughter from this viewer.

The movie has a short running time of about 62 minutes, which I was thankful for...if you enjoy really bad, cornball movies, this one will suit you fine. The acting, dialogue, directing, editing, writing...all bad...so very bad. There are many laughs to be had, if you are willing to endure the pain. The print used on this disc was pretty bad but watchable, showing many flaws, major and minor, but given the material, I doubt anyone is going to rush off to do any type of restoration on this film. Special features? A horrible looking trailer (much worse for wear than the film), and trailers for some other Wade Williams/Image releases like Robot Monster (1953) and Teenagers from Outer Space (1959). Also included on the inside flap of the box is some excellent and detailed liner notes on Ronnie Ashcroft and the history of this movie. I actually found this to be more interesting than the movie. If you are not a connoisseur of cinematic cheese, enjoy the shiny, colorful cover of the DVD case and move on, but if you enjoy bargain basement filmmaking on par with Ed Wood Jr., then I've got a movie for you.

Cookieman108