''She Demons'' is a 1957 American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

, produced by Arthur A. Jacobs and Marc Frederic, directed and co-written by Richard E. Cunha, that stars

Irish McCalla Nellie Elizabeth "Irish" McCalla (December 25, 1928 – February 1, 2002) was an American film and television actress and artist best known as the title star of the 1950s television series '' Sheena, Queen of the Jungle''. She co-starred with ac ...

, Tod Griffin, and

Victor Sen Yung Victor Sen Yung (born Victor Cheung Young or Sen Yew Cheung; ; October 18, 1915 – body discovered November 9, 1980) was an American character actor, best known for playing Jimmy Chan in the Charlie Chan films and Hop Sing in the western seri ...

. Made in the tongue-in-cheek style of

Men's adventure Men's adventure is a genre of magazine that was published in the United States from the 1940s until the early 1970s. Catering to a male audience, these magazines featured pin-up girls and lurid tales of adventure that typically were promoted as ...

magazines,

Nazisploitation Nazi exploitation (also Nazisploitation) is a subgenre of exploitation film and sexploitation film that involves Nazism, Nazis committing sex crimes, often as camp or prison overseers during World War II. Most follow the Women in prison film, wo ...

, and '' The Island of Lost Souls'', the film was distributed by

Astor Pictures Astor Pictures was a film distribution, motion picture distribution company in the United States from 1930 to 1963. It was founded by Robert M. Savini (29 August 1886 – 29 April 1956). Astor specialized in film re-releases. It later release ...

in December, 1957 as a

double feature The double feature is a Film, motion picture industry phenomenon in which theaters would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which the presentation of one feature film would be followed by various short subjec ...

with Cunha's ''

Giant from the Unknown ''Giant from the Unknown'' (working titles ''Giant from Devil's Crag'' and ''The Diablo Giant'' ) is a 1957 independently made American black-and-white science fiction-horror film drama, produced by Marc Frederic and Arthur A. Jacobs, directed by ...

'' (1957).

Plot

During a tropical storm, a pleasure boat is shipwrecked on an uncharted island and is presumed lost with all hands after the storm clears. The four survivors' shipboard radio can receive but not transmit, and they hear that their castaway island will soon be used by

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

aircraft as a bombing target. Finding strange-looking human footprints and hearing the sound of jungle drums, three of the party explore the island. They soon discover the island is populated by deformed, fanged women who are the product of scientific experiments of Nazis led by a

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insanity, insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabas ...

and

war criminal A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

, who rules the island with an iron swastika. The survivors eventually manage to blow up the island before the Navy jets can do so.

Cast

as Jerrie Turner * Tod Griffin as Fred Maklin *

as Sammy Ching *

Rudolph Anders Rudolph Anders (December 17, 1895 – March 27, 1987) was a German character actor who came to the United States after the rise of Hitler, and appeared in numerous American films in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Biography He was born Rudol ...

as Col. Karl Osler *

Gene Roth Eugene Oliver Edgar Stutenroth (January 8, 1903 – July 19, 1976), known professionally as Gene Stutenroth or Gene Roth, was an American film actor and former theater manager. He appeared in more than 250 films over three decades. Early ...

as Igor *

Leni Tana Leni may refer to: * Leni (name) Leni is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name Male and female: * Leni Alexander (1924–2005), Chilean composer * Leni Apisai (born 1996), New Zealand rugby union player ...

as Mona Osler *

Charles Opunui Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

as Kris Kamana * The Diane Nellis Dancers as The She Demons

Production

After completing ''

'', Astor Pictures told Richard Cunha that the film would only be accepted if he made another co-feature, to be released by Astor on a double bill. This led Cunha to make ''She Demons''. Astor advanced $80,000, with Cunha completing the film for $65,000. Filming locations for ''She Demons'' were at

Ferndale, California Ferndale is a city in Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 1,481 (2021 census), up from 1,371 at the 2010 census. The city contains dozens of well-preserved Victorian storefronts and homes. Ferndale is the northern ...

Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the Amer ...

, and Paradise Cove Pier in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

. David Koehler handled the special effects. H.E. Barrie, who co-wrote the screenplay, also wrote the scripts for two of Cunha's other 1950s films, ''

Missile to the Moon ''Missile to the Moon'' is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white science fiction film drama, produced by Marc Frederic, directed by Richard E. Cunha, that stars Richard Travis, Cathy Downs, and K. T. Stevens. The film was distri ...

'' and ''

Frankenstein's Daughter ''Frankenstein's Daughter'' is an independently made 1958 American black-and-white science fiction/horror film drama, produced by Marc Frederic and George Fowley, directed by Richard E. Cunha, that stars John Ashley, Sandra Knight, Donal ...

''.

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "The direction does nothing to enhance the lurid values of this impossible horror film, which unfolds on a jungle isle where the immaculately dressed villains live and work in a luxury mansion with fully equipped laboratory and foaming lava power generator to hand. The plot consists of a weary succession of convenient cliches, and the cast walk through their parts with noticeable lack of enthusiasm." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "Mediocre film is actually more straight adventure than horror, although it fits adequately into the package top-bracketed by ''

''. ... Principals handle their roles as well as script by Richard E. Cunha, who also directs, and H. E. Barrie permits. Miss McCalla has little to do but pout, but Griffin is properly heroic. Rudolph Anders is okay as the scientist and Victor Sen Yung is in for comedy relief.

Meredith Nicholson Meredith Nicholson (December 9, 1866 – December 21, 1947) was a best-selling author from Indiana, United States, a politician, and a diplomat. Biography Nicholson was born on December 9, 1866, in Crawfordsville, Indiana, to Edward Willis Nic ...

's photography heads technical credits and special effects are expertly handled by David Koehler." Writing in

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

, film critic

Glenn Erickson Glenn Erickson is an American film editor and film critic. A graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, he started in the film industry in 1975 as an editor of low-budget films and later worked in minor technical crew capacitie ...

described the film as a "totally bizarre oddity" and " e of the sleaziest kiddie matinee movies of the '50s," but also "a great party picture with everything camp enthusiasts enjoy – terrible jokes, hammy acting, terrible direction." Critic Joe Lozowsky wrote that the film is a "so-bad-it's good cult favorite," and that " ce head moron Gene Roth shows up with his bad accent, you can't help but expect Moe, Larry, and

Joe Besser Joe Besser (born Jessel Besser, August 12, 1907 – March 1, 1988) was an American actor and comedian known for his impish humor and wimpy characters. He is best known for his brief stint as a member of The Three Stooges in movie short subject ...

to blunder onto the cardboard set and trade eye pokes."

Notes

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0052187
Joe Dante on ''She Demons''
at

Trailers from Hell ''Trailers from Hell'' (branded as ''Trailers from Hell!'') is a web series in which filmmakers discuss and promote individual movies through commenting on their trailers. While the series emphasizes horror, science fiction, fantasy, cult, and exp ...

Original soundtrack for ''She Demons''
1958 films 1958 directorial debut films 1950s English-language films 1958 independent films 1950s science fiction horror films American black-and-white films American independent films American science fiction horror films Astor Pictures films Films directed by Richard E. Cunha Films set on islands American mad scientist films Nazi exploitation films 1950s American films English-language science fiction horror films