Voodoo Woman (1957) by #EdwardLCahn
w/#MarlaEnglish #TomConway #MikeConnors #MaryEllenKay
A mad doctor combines science and voodoo to create an indestructible woman.
“A woman by day… a monster by night!”
“We’re doing it Chaka. White man’s science and the black voodoo.”
#SciFi #Horror
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn
We can thank executive producers Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson for Voodoo Woman (1957). They are, of course, the founders of American International Pictures. And they have given decades of joy to B-movie fans all around the world. Together – and apart – they are responsible for so many classics (or Not Quite Classics), and personal favourites of mine, that I can’t even begin to list them.
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), Blacula (1972), The Legend of Hell House (1973) — just to name a few.
Voodoo Woman (1957) is not a film I’d ever seen before, and I didn’t know anything about it. Could it be a lost classic? Doubtful, but I decided to give it a shot…
We open with traditionally attired native people dancing in the jungle. There are obvious voodoo symbols scattered around, including a doll on display. A screaming woman is dragged to a table and forced to lie down next to the voodoo symbols. Is she about to be sacrificed?
A chicken is sacrificed overtop of her, and then the priest sticks pin into the doll causing the woman to scream again. He turns to a man who is dressed in more modern. western looking clothes and says “She is now ready,” or something like that.
The western man says “Now it’s my turn,” and begins to stick her with a needle…
Wow. What the hell am I watching?
What the hell are you watching?
It’s a convoluted story with a lot of characters. The western man with the syringe is a doctor, who seems to want to combine science and voodoo. We meet his wife, who seems to want to escape this jungle, but she’s being held like a prisoner in her own home, guarded by one of the local men.
We meet some other people in a bar where a woman named Yvette sings songs to entertain the patrons. The bartender seems shifty, and the customers are even more so. A woman and her fiancé seem determined to steal from or cheat another man. The woman apparently killed her first husband and is now engaged to this new guy. The other man warns the fiancé not to turn his back on her. Very shortly after that, she shoots the other man dead.
Confused?
Never mind the plot. is Voodoo Woman any good?
There is some campy B-movie fun to be had in Voodoo Woman. especially when sticking to the monster movie plot. For example…
The doctor, it seems, wants to create some sort of hybrid between human and beast, and once he’s successful, he will take this woman/beast back to civilization and shake up science (?!)
The woman eventually transforms into a monster, and he orders her to destroy a hut in the village – and also all of the people who run out of the hut. “You must kill to survive!” he shouts at her.
Huh?
As a side note, I couldn’t help but wonder why the mad doctor insists on keeping his wife there with him. She clearly doesn’t want to be there, and every now and then she calls him insane – which he does not like. And yet he refuses to let her leave.
But there I go trying to understand the plot again…
So what’s the final word on Voodoo Woman?
Voodoo Woman (1957) is a reasonably entertaining artifact of hopelessly outdated #NotQuiteClassicCinema. Full of stereotypes from a bygone era, it’s a movie that certainly won’t be for everyone. But if you can laugh at outrageously inappropriate moments, then there might be some so-bad-it’s-good gold in there. It’s no masterpiece like, say, The Giant Claw (1957). But it might be worth a look for those who appreciate that sort of thing. And if you are one of them, just keep your expectations low and give it on a shot on some #FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn.
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn
Voodoo Woman (1957) by #EdwardLCahn
w/#MarlaEnglish #TomConway #MikeConnors #MaryEllenKay
A mad doctor combines science and voodoo to create an indestructible woman.
“A woman by day… a monster by night!”#SciFi #Horror #NotQuiteClassicCinema pic.twitter.com/42VPGAJqcC— Angus Kohm (@AngusKohm) August 3, 2024
