Series: Film / TV

The Leech Woman: A fun Sci-Fi/Horror outing with a surprising feminist subtext

Coleen Gray, who passed away this week at the age of 92, was an actress best known for her work in the film noir genre, but did dabble on occasion in the sci-fi and horror fields. Here is a review of one of her more sci-fi/horror-oriented projects, the cult item known as The Leech Woman (1960).

On a recent TCM special presentation entitled Cruel Beauty, four great actresses of the film noir genre — Marie Windsor,

Creature With The Atom Brain: It should certainly stimulate YOUR amygdalae

Perhaps no other actor of the late 1940s throughout the ‘50s squared off against as many sci-fi monstrosities on screen as Poughkeepsie, NY-born Richard Denning. In 1948’s Unknown Island, Denning battled a T. rex and other prehistoric nightmares; in Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954), he grappled with the most famous amphibian in cinema history; in Target Earth (also from ’54), his problem was invading aliens and a humongous, lumbering robot; in The Day the World Ended (1955),

The Tingler: This movie really IS a scream!

In 1958, director William Castle delivered to the world a film that has been chilling the collective backbones of horror buffs for over half a century now: House on Haunted Hill. And the following year, in one of the greatest one-two punches in horror history, Castle came up with a film that is certainly every bit as good, and perhaps, arguably, even better. In The Tingler, Castle brought back much of his team from the previous picture — leading man Vincent Price,

The Deadly Mantis: DEW or die

By the time the sci-fi shocker The Deadly Mantis premiered in May 1957, American audiences had already been regaled by a steady stream of giant-monster movies on the big screen, starting with 1953’s classic The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. In 1954, Them!, with its monstrously large ants, kicked off a subgenre of sorts, the giant-insect movie, and Tarantula would follow in 1955. After The Deadly Mantis, The Beginning of the End (giant grasshoppers),

Jurassic World: Immensely satisfying, with a surprising message

If you are a big fan of the first Jurassic Park film, you’ve probably been waiting on pins and needles for the latest installment in the franchise, Jurassic World. After seeing the trailer, I felt very anxious: would this live up to my lofty dreams, or would it be another Jurassic Park III? I can now say with pleasure that I laughed, and gasped, and oohed and aahed throughout the movie. The chase and fight scenes are intense,