This Roger Corman B- horror film isn't bad. It good have been better with a little more action earlier on. When you advertise a film featuring a monster, you don't want to wait for over three-quarters of that film waiting for it. That was the case here with the Wasp Woman who doesn't become that and start killing people until the last 15 minutes of the 72-minute film.
However, it wasn't totally boring up to then. It was still fairly interesting as it showed an eccentric scientist inventing a serum that would reverse the aging process. He finds a willing subject in the head of a cosmetics firm that is falling on hard times. The owner, who was the centerpiece of the company's advertising for so many years, is no longer young and attractive, and sales of their products have fallen off.
But once she begins to take this serum, after being convinced it works because she's seen the effect on rabbits and cats, she slowly begins to look young and prettier again. However, she gets greedy and takes too much. The result: when angry, she turns into a wasp, killing and devouring its prey - whoever is in her way at a particular moment. Worse things happen: the scientist is a victim of a hit-and-run, is in a coma for about a week and our lady exec is just about out of serum. It's panic time. The rest of the select circle of employees, meanwhile, have been suspicious of this whole thing from day one and have spied here and there. One of them was the Wasp Woman's first victim. The guy nosed around too much in the lab. The rest of the crew, however, is still alive and now pretty much knows what's going on as the doctor begins to slowly snap out of it and warn them about "Janice Starlin," aka The Wasp Woman. A confrontation with all of them ensues in a violent, dramatic ending.
Susan Cabot does a nice job playing the cosmetics CEO and ''Michael Mrk" isn't bad as the scientist, "Eric Zinthrop." None of the actors are terrible, actually, which I usually except in these kind of B-films. They aren't Laurence Oliver or Meryl Streep, but they're competent enough.
Corman's goofy music score was very reminiscent of his 1960 hit, "The Little Shop Of Horrors." This movie didn't have that pizazz to it but, as said in the first sentence, wasn't bad. It certainly is worth a look for sci-fi or horror films of the '50s and '60s. With its short running time, even if you don't like it, it didn't take up the whole night.
However, it wasn't totally boring up to then. It was still fairly interesting as it showed an eccentric scientist inventing a serum that would reverse the aging process. He finds a willing subject in the head of a cosmetics firm that is falling on hard times. The owner, who was the centerpiece of the company's advertising for so many years, is no longer young and attractive, and sales of their products have fallen off.
But once she begins to take this serum, after being convinced it works because she's seen the effect on rabbits and cats, she slowly begins to look young and prettier again. However, she gets greedy and takes too much. The result: when angry, she turns into a wasp, killing and devouring its prey - whoever is in her way at a particular moment. Worse things happen: the scientist is a victim of a hit-and-run, is in a coma for about a week and our lady exec is just about out of serum. It's panic time. The rest of the select circle of employees, meanwhile, have been suspicious of this whole thing from day one and have spied here and there. One of them was the Wasp Woman's first victim. The guy nosed around too much in the lab. The rest of the crew, however, is still alive and now pretty much knows what's going on as the doctor begins to slowly snap out of it and warn them about "Janice Starlin," aka The Wasp Woman. A confrontation with all of them ensues in a violent, dramatic ending.
Susan Cabot does a nice job playing the cosmetics CEO and ''Michael Mrk" isn't bad as the scientist, "Eric Zinthrop." None of the actors are terrible, actually, which I usually except in these kind of B-films. They aren't Laurence Oliver or Meryl Streep, but they're competent enough.
Corman's goofy music score was very reminiscent of his 1960 hit, "The Little Shop Of Horrors." This movie didn't have that pizazz to it but, as said in the first sentence, wasn't bad. It certainly is worth a look for sci-fi or horror films of the '50s and '60s. With its short running time, even if you don't like it, it didn't take up the whole night.