Customer Reviews

Woman Eater [VHS]

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

 

 

There is something strangely appealing about this low-budget, nearly forgotten British horror film from 1957. It made the US rounds on the B side of horror double features in the late 50s and then pretty much dropped out of sight. Most movie review tomes dismiss it as a waste of time, but the horror genre (apart from a few "monstres sacres") is generally dismissed as a whole by these surveys. If approached within the confines of the late 1950s monster/horror movie genre, "Womaneater" holds it own quite well.

In terms of acting, there is really nothing to criticize. George Coulouris seems, for better or worse, born to play a faustian madman. He can achieve a wide-eyed look that is frankly rather disturbing. Joyce Gregg, as the housekeeper and frustrated former lover, is also successful at suggesting turmoil under the surface.

The film has the perfect horror-film look of its period: stock jungle footage plus shadowy studio interiors. Edwin Astley's soundtrack is heard to advantage on the DVD, and it's appropriately creepy. There is an overall luridness about this film that is just plain compelling. We first experience it in the so-called "dance of death", during which the native girl victim (Marpessa Dawn) does no dancing whatsoever, but rather swoons to an intoxicating drum beat. Later, a potential victim has her blouse ripped just enough so that we may glimpse her bra-strap. And when the mad doctor needs more plant food, he visits what looks like a seamy district of Soho (a highly effective location sequence, by the way). Such little concessions to a prurient audience add to the charm of the film. In addition, there is a walking dead scene that harkens back to the 1930s Universal horrors.

On to the monster. Here is where the film makes a tiny claim to immortality. This is no vampiric stalker, resurrected dinosaur, or bloodthirsty alien. It is, quite simply, a tree. But what a sinister, malevolent-looking tree it is! This fairly nightmarish invention is covered with shaggy tendrils and has two kinds of apparently powerful tentacles with which to grasp its prey. Of course, the prey must be placed into, or forced to enter the clutches of the tree, but that contributes to the originality of the conception.

This little gem has been out of circulation for many years. Previous video incarnations have been extremely shoddy, using broken elements with nearly inaudible sound. The DVD issue presents "Womaneater" in what must be the best condition possible, which is pretty good. See it, if you dare.

This is obviously a small budget British horror film. There's only mild tension when the young beauties are being fed to the flesh eating plant, and it doesn't rate the 5 Stars of say "X-The Unknown" or "The Quatermass Experiment". But you could do worse, for instance, say with the majority of American made films made with the same low budget. The British cast in this is talented, and the story is character driven instead of monster driven, so somehow works in a way that's like reading a short story from a black and white pulp science-fiction magazine in the fifties.

The "slightly" mad scientist is played by George Couloris, a veteran stage and film actor. You can also see him in a bit part that's a "bit" more colorful in Hammer's "Blood from the Mummy's Tomb". He does a good job here of giving at least a little meat to a stock mad doctor role. The real eye candy is not the man eating plant, but the gorgeous actress Vera Day, who plays Sally, a young girl who looses her job swinging her hips in a traveling fair dance show and hooks a job from the good doctor via a local car mechanic who meets her and falls in love in apparently ten seconds or less. But who can blame him. Vera Day was undoubtably a gorgeous blonde bombshell.

The monster plant is cheesy enough to give the film that comforting Saturday Matinee feel. And Image Studios has released this DVD in widescreen, though it doesn't appear to be anamorphic. The packaging says the sound is Dolby Stereo, but I had to turn the sound up, as it seemed a little low and fuzzy at time. I have to say all-in-all, if you like black and white monster movies that take place mostly in old English manors, complete with dank cellar laboratory and volumptuous girl victims, you can't pass on this one, not for this low price.

George Coulouris and Vera Day star in this silly tale of obsession and plant monsters. British explorers witness an African tribe sacrifice a maiden to a plant monster. Five years later, with no explanation, one of the explorers has the monster and priest on his estate where he is doing experiments on raising the dead.

Women are given to the plant (it apparently does not like men) and fluid is drawn that become the elixir of life. The explorer, actually a doctor, falls for a new employee at his estate and appears to go slightly mad as his experiments near completion.

But add the girl's boyfriend (possible fiancé), madness, love, hate, a fanatic priest and a killer plant and you wind up with a film that climaxes and stops suddenly. It could have been better by simply explaining how things went from jungle to estate. One scene would have done it. It would have been in character for the doctor to gloat some more and give the explanation of his genius.

The ending is not what one expects but it does work into what little story there is. A must see movie for fans of bad monster films as this is one of the worst, but don't expect much.

WOMANEATER is a mildly enjoyable waste of time. The rather humdrum storyline has been covered before and in better pictures. So many elixirs to discover and so little time! Thankfully, the picture is only 70 minutes. How many "scientist gone awry" pictures do we need? Looking for cooky special effects to entice you? Well, if you find a man in plant suit cooky, then you will see this as a great achievement. For others looking for camp value, there is little to see here. As for the technical qualities of this DVD, the sound is actually quite clean and brilliant. The picture suffers from an aged print and some visual artifacts (though these are not terribly distracting, just annoying). As for the price of this DVD, its a bit steep for what you get. No extras on this disc. But with such a terrific cover, you might be able to forget this. Fun for a late night view once and a while.

Fairly typical movie from the period. I enjoyed the offbeat performance of the "servant".

Actor George Coulouris stars as the demented mad scientist in this little known and seldom seen British Horror from 1957. Coulouris who featured in Citizen Kane is pretty much wasted in this production but thats still no reason to put you off. Compare it with other Horror/Sci-fi/Adventure plot lines from the same era and with the same budget (The Monster from Green Hell / Mesa of Lost Women / Teenage Caveman) and you will get a good idea of what you are letting yourself in for, but this has to be one of the best of a crop of English and American productions from the same time. Trying to distill the formula that would produce a vaccine for death or even better bring the dead back to life our happy go lucky doctor set's up his lab and goes to work. Like most Scientist's however he doesnt call up the wholesalers and ask for assorted minerals and vitamins, no that mass produced rubbish cant hold a candle to the freshest things that he can get his hand's on and sadly for the locals it happens to be the ladies of the town. Formula mayhem ensues but if you like your films a bit wierd and twisted, have a good sense of humor and don't mind the set moving when the door's a shut this is a must for you.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I love this movie. Lurid title and all. It's a b&w low budget British pot boiler about a crazed scientist who brings a big cheesy looking "tree" back from the Brazilian Amazon that eats women---but only pretty ones. Mumbo jumbo about tribal rituals have intoxicated the doctor (George Coulouris) into believing the serum derived from the tree can restore the dead to life. But AFTER it's eaten a pretty woman. So, he lures young women home---drugging one (Joy Webster from "Burn Witch Burn") with a "funny cigarette"---to his laboratory/dungeon. There, his whacked out "Brazilian native" assistant Tanga (Jimmy Vaughan) dresses them in a sexy outfit complete with bracelets and puts them in a trance by wildly beating bongos. Tanga gets VERY turned on (and sweaty) and pushes the girls into the writhing lobster claw arms of the tree. Will the doc's blonde and pretty new "housekeeper" (Vera Day) be the tree's next meal? And will the nosy OLD "housekeeper" wind up a zombie? Turn your brain off and watch this 70 min. wonder and just enjoy. Nice DVD print from Image makes this rainy day flick a keeper for lovers of old b&w cheesy horror movies like myself. Oh, and that's beautiful Marpessa Dawn (from the Oscar winning "Black Orpheus"---also 1959) at the beginning as the jungle sacrifice to the tree. Interesting career leap. Thanks Image.

surprise surprise
good story and plot and good actors
interesting english horror movie
was weary about getting the movie but was pleasantly surprised
good little movie
have a look

This 1957 Columbia Pictures release stars George Coulouris and Vera Day. Dr. James Moran (Coulouris) returns from the Amazon jungle with a mysterious plant which if its sap is extracted, can extend life or even bestow eternal life. Accompanying Moran back from the jungle is a native of the tribe which gave the plant to the scientist and he assists the mad doctor in sacrificing women to the plant. You see, the plant can only live and grow and provide sap if it consumes beauteous ladies. Vera Day plays Moran's lovely young housekeeper Sally, who draws the attention of the native (Jimmy Vaughn, no not of the Fabulous Thunderbirds). The doctor plans to do Sally in when he finds that she knows too much. Will the police arrive in time? This 50's sci/fi horror yarn isn't bad as these low budget thrillers go. This review applies to the VHS version only..This a redo of a review I did earlier.

This DVD from Image uses a pretty good print of a fun little B-movie. It all looks pretty good except for one bad splice.