Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

HeadlinesExotic Boring

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

emmerich-mazakarini Genre-addicts are and still will be happy enough to find treasures as well as garbage on the search for all kind of horror-, scifi- and fantasy-pics in our time - thanks to the 1950ies and the following decades having produced enough material to satisfy the fans. Corman's "The Wasp Woman" can undoubtedly be regarded as one of the worst movies of the decade and of the genre as well. Guinea Pigs turning into rats, bees appearing as wasps or vice versa, terrible performances of actors and actresses in even more terrible set designs. Annoying for all people with a lack of good humour, still entertaining for an open-minded audience.

Leofwine_draca An entertaining, if not exactly good, quickie from exploitation king Roger Corman at the tail-end of the 1950s, and one which has a nice concept behind it: an anti-ageing serum made from wasp jelly has the unfortunate side-effect of turning its user into a hideous monster periodically. Like a lot of Corman's early efforts, the director cuts corners by using only a couple of sets and redressing them and padding out the fairly minimal action with lots of talk and dialogue. Despite the padding, the movie is well-paced and offers up what fans want on a poverty-row budget: screaming heroines, a (briefly) rampaging monster, and a heroic leading character.The set-up of the story is quite interesting and features a nice supporting turn from Michael Mark as the eccentric scientist, Eric Zinthrop (gotta love those weird-sounding names in Corman's films). Susan Cabot handles the leading role of the inherently good woman turned bad through the side-effects of the wrinkle cream she uses and gives a commanding turn; in fact most of the cast are pretty good, as per usual for Corman, and put in solid if not remarkable performances. The only exception being the laughable comic-relief janitor and Barboura Morris' irritating secretary-in-distress. Here, the leading man is played by later exploitation stalwart Anthony Eisley, looking very young and fresh-faced compared to ten years later on in his career.The creature of the title is barely seen and perhaps this is thankful, because Corman's budget obviously didn't stretch to much in the way of make-up effects - the creation is simply a woman with a joke-shop fright mask on! Still, it's pretty funny. Although the themes, fashions, and characters have dated like in pretty much every '50s contemporary-set movie, THE WASP WOMAN is lively and entertaining fare which overcomes its budget limitations and is pretty good, if you view it kindly as I did. A cheesy remake with one-time screen queen Bobbie Bresee in the leading role was made in 1987, called METAMORPHOSIS for its video release in the UK.

Kingkitsch 1958 gave us a little movie called "The Fly". Filmed in Cinemascope and color, this movie mixing science and the world's most hated insect (no disrespect to cockroaches) went on to be one of 58's ten top money- making movies. Roger Corman, never one to shy away from riding the coattails of someone else's success, decided to rewrite "The Fly" in the simplest possible terms a year later in 1959. Hoping for some of the money "The Fly" brought in, Corman's solution was to switch out the male protagonist for a female, change the science to suit a woman's vanity, and most importantly, change insects. "Waspish" as a term, is usually aimed at a woman who is remote and has a sharp tongue. Susan Cabot (in her last film appearance) does stinging justice to her character, Janice Starlin, the CEO and founder of a cosmetic corporation.Miss Starlin is getting older and the usual beauty treatments aren't keeping her fresh. Therefore, she aids and abets a scientist working with "royal wasp jelly" as an ingredient for keeping you youthful and wrinkle-free. The gunk works, but has a nasty side effect: Starlin becomes a wasp woman when provoked. She's provoked a number of times in this short movie, "stinging" her provokers to death. We never see this delightful action, unfortunately. People die, and so does the CEO once it's discovered she has an aversion to Raid. "The Wasp Woman" has some interesting ideas for a late 50s drive-in flick. A female corporate head, using insect productivity and raw material from those insects as a profit-making substance. Naturally, Corman has to get in some shocks, but they come too late in the movie to do much good. While the iconic poster for this flick promised much, the budget couldn't give up the gigantic insect-woman stinging a man to death on a pile of skulls. American International called the poster an "artistic representation" knowing full well no such monster appeared on screen. The bug gal when eventually revealed, has drink coasters for eyes, pipe cleaner antennae, and oven mitts for hands. She's kept in the shadows, buzzing her displeasure until doing something to kill her victims.While a bigger budget would have helped the visuals here, the cast of Corman regulars give up respectable acting. There are no wasps seen at all here, the opening titles of swarming insects are bees, stock footage used a few times during this movie's short running time. Originally paired on a double bill with "Beast From Haunted Cave", another poster triumph by AIP's in-house illustrator Albert Kallis which sadly, showed something that the movie didn't have. Enraged patrons flocked to get their money back when the poster come-on didn't appear on screen, but canny Corman kept the monsters hidden until at least half the picture was over. You couldn't get a refund if you stayed too long. Roger, as always, laughed all the way to the bank.

LeonLouisRicci With Echoes of The Fly (1958) still Buzzing at the Box Office, Schlockmeister Roger Corman grabbed a couple of People and took a Week to make this Gloomy Monster Movie. The Cast, some Corman Regulars including B-Movie Babe Susan Cabot who was never Credited with an A-Budget Film but a lot of Bees, did a fine Job. The background Music is also quite Appropriately Uncanny.But the "Star" of the Movie is the Monster and for the few times It/She is on Screen there is some Tension and Gore that looks quite Bizarre. There are some glaring Missteps along the way, the kind that Corman never minded, at least in His Ultra Quickies. Like the Bumble Bees instead of Wasps Iconography, and the Guinea Pigs to Rats Mind Boggler. There are some others but Who cares?Overall, there is much Talk in this Thing and hardly Anyone moves in the Claustrophobic and Drab Sets, but there is enough Drive-In Movie Madness to make it Worth a Watch.