Voodoo Woman
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''Voodoo Woman'' is a 1957 American
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 ...
directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Marla English in her final film role,
Tom Conway Tom Conway (born Thomas Charles Sanders; 15 September 1904 – 22 April 1967) was a British film, television, and radio actor. He is remembered for playing suave adventurer The Falcon in a series of 1940s films; and his appearances in three h ...
, and
Mike Connors Krekor Ohanian (August 15, 1925 – January 26, 2017), known professionally as Mike Connors, was an American actor. He was best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series ''Mannix'' from 1967 to 1975. This role ...
. It was released in February 1957 by
American International Pictures American International Pictures, LLC (AIP or American International Productions) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution c ...
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 ''
The Undead The Undead is an American horror punk band formed in 1980 in New York City's East Village by Bobby Steele (vocals and guitar), Chris "Jack" Natz (bass) and Patrick Blanck (drums). They were one of the pioneers in the New York hardcore scene. ...
''. In 1966, it was remade by
Larry Buchanan Larry Buchanan (January 31, 1923 − December 2, 2004), born Marcus Larry Seale Jr., was a film director, producer and writer, who proclaimed himself a " schlockmeister". Many of his extremely low-budget films have landed on "worst movie" lists or ...
into an AIP made for television film, '' Curse of the Swamp Creature''.


Plot

Harry West (Norman Willis) discovers gold in the idol worshipped by a jungle voodoo tribe in Bantalaya, a French-owned jungle colony. Harry enlists a pair of
treasure hunters Treasure hunting is the physical search for treasure. One of the most popular types of modern day treasure hunters are historic shipwreck salvors. These underwater treasure salvors try to find sunken shipwrecks and retrieve artifacts with both c ...
from the United States, one of them being the beautiful but ruthless Marilyn Blanchard ( Marla English). Hoping to take the treasure for themselves, Marilyn murders Harry and steals his map. They con the innocent Ted Bronson (
Mike Connors Krekor Ohanian (August 15, 1925 – January 26, 2017), known professionally as Mike Connors, was an American actor. He was best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series ''Mannix'' from 1967 to 1975. This role ...
) into acting as a jungle guide and leading them to the tribe that owns the idol. Meanwhile, Dr. Roland Gerard (
Tom Conway Tom Conway (born Thomas Charles Sanders; 15 September 1904 – 22 April 1967) was a British film, television, and radio actor. He is remembered for playing suave adventurer The Falcon in a series of 1940s films; and his appearances in three h ...
), 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 ...
who has exiled himself deep in the same jungle, is using a combination of native
voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * West African Vodún, a religion practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...
and his own
biochemical Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, ...
discoveries in an attempt to create a superhuman being. He hopes that this being, possessing the best of man and beast, will be the mother of a new perfect and deathless race which he will control with a mixture of
hypnosis Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychological ...
and
telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
. He is accompanied by his wife, Susan (
Mary Ellen Kay Mary Ellen Ruffalo ( Keaggy, August 29, 1929 – 2017), better known as Mary Ellen Kay, was an American television and film actress. Biography Kay was born in Boardman, Ohio, on August 29, 1929. She was one of ten siblings and the sister ...
), who no longer loves Dr. Gerard but is prevented from leaving by her husband and the natives. Dr. Gerard's initial attempts to create a female superbeing are a failure because the transformation is only temporary and the native girl used as the subject of the experiment lacks the killer instinct he deems necessary to carryout his instructions. However, when he meets the treasure hunters, he decides that Marilyn would be a perfect subject for his experiment. He successfully turns her into an invulnerable monster, but when she learns her quest for gold was in vain, he loses his mental control over her and she destroys him. Ted and Susan are able to escape in the ensuing chaos. After becoming human again, Marilyn tries to salvage the idol which has almost fallen into a poisonous gas pit which the natives use for their sacrifices, and she accidentally loses her balance and falls into it herself, only to rise up out of it as the beast once again.


Cast

* Marla English as Marilyn Blanchard, a treasure hunter *
Lance Fuller Lance Fuller (December 6, 1928 – December 22, 2001) was an American actor. Biography Born in Somerset, Kentucky, he worked as a contract actor for most of the 1950s with Universal-International. With many uncredited roles for the fir ...
as Rick Brady, Marilyn's partner *
Tom Conway Tom Conway (born Thomas Charles Sanders; 15 September 1904 – 22 April 1967) was a British film, television, and radio actor. He is remembered for playing suave adventurer The Falcon in a series of 1940s films; and his appearances in three h ...
as mad scientist Dr. Roland Gerard *
Mary Ellen Kay Mary Ellen Ruffalo ( Keaggy, August 29, 1929 – 2017), better known as Mary Ellen Kay, was an American television and film actress. Biography Kay was born in Boardman, Ohio, on August 29, 1929. She was one of ten siblings and the sister ...
as Susan Gerard, the doctor's wife * Mike "Touch" Connors as Ted Bronson, a jungle guide * Martin Wilkins as Chaka the
witch doctor A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor), or witchcraft doctor, is a kind of magical healer who treats ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is often misunderstood, and they could more accurately be called "anti-witch doctors ...
*
Paul Blaisdell Paul Blaisdell (July 21, 1927 – July 10, 1983) was an American painter, sculptor and visual effects creator, best remembered for his work in science fiction and horror B movies of the 1950s. Life and career Blaisdell was born in Newport, Rhod ...
as the Voodoo Women commanded by Dr. Gerard. * Otis Greene as Bobo, the houseboy * Emmett Smith as Gandor * Jean Davis as Zaranda, an African girl *
Paul Dubov Paul Dubov (October 10, 1918 – September 20, 1979) was an American radio, film and television actor as well as screenwriter. He frequently appeared in the works of Sam Fuller. Biography Among Dubov's radio credits include the 05/02/1953 ...
as Marcel, the bar owner * Giselle D'Arc as Yvette, the singer at Marcel's bar *
Norman Willis Norman David Willis (21 January 1933 – 7 June 2014) was the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the United Kingdom from 1984 to 1993, and President of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) from 1991 to 1993. L ...
as Harry West, businessman


Production

Paul Blaisdell who played the monsters and also appeared as a drunken customer in the bar room sequence believed that as producer Alex Gordon had a big hit with ''
The She-Creature ''The She-Creature'', or ''The She Creature'', is a 1956 American black-and-white science fiction horror film, released by American International Pictures from a script by Lou Rusoff (brother-in-law of AIP executive Samuel Z. Arkoff). It wa ...
'', he decided to produce a second film for American International Pictures about a female monster. As the scriptwriters of that film were busy on other films, Gordon turned over the writing to actor
Russ Bender Russ Bender (January 1, 1910 – August 16, 1969) was an American actor. Career Before becoming an actor, Bender wrote detective stories for magazines. That part of his life was interrupted when he joined the Army. By the time he returned to ci ...
, who was a pre-war
pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...
writer and V.I. Voss. (It wound up being the only script Bender would ever write.) Blaisdell recalled the shoot was not a pleasant one. A prop man handed Tom Conway a small vial of real acid in one scene that was to be poured on the creature's leg, and Blaisdell wound up with a scar on his shin that lasted the rest of his life. Marla English developed a bad case of flu, and Lance Fuller and Mike Connors had a "Who can be taller?" contest with each actor adding higher lifts to their shoes. Originally titled ''Black Voodoo'', the film was shot during the frigid California winter of 1956-57 under a fast working schedule of six days and a budget of $80,000. Producer Alex Gordon wanted
Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, active first in Europe and later in the United States. Known for his timidly devious characters, his appearance, and accented vo ...
who again refused to work with him and then called
George Zucco George Zucco (11 January 1886 – 27 May 1960) was a British character actor who appeared in plays and 96 films, mostly American-made, during a career spanning over two decades, from the 1920s to 1951. In his films, he often played a suave vill ...
, the star of ''
Voodoo Man ''Voodoo Man'' is a 1944 American horror film directed by William Beaudine, and starring Bela Lugosi, John Carradine and George Zucco. Plot Nicholas runs an isolated gas station in the countryside. One night, he gives a young woman driver dir ...
'', who was too ill to work. With the shooting date drawing near, Tom Conway was chosen, who like Marla English and Paul Dubov, had also been in ''The She-Creature''. Publicity for the film declared "Not since he starred in '' The Cat People'' and ''
I Walked with a Zombie ''I Walked with a Zombie'' is a 1943 American horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton for RKO Pictures. It stars James Ellison, Frances Dee, and Tom Conway, and follows a Canadian nurse who travels to care for th ...
'' has Tom had a role like his current one!". In an interview with Tom Weaver, Mike Connors said, The original make-up design for the Voodoo Woman was deemed unsuitable at the last minute and the title monster is actually the She Creature costume hurriedly stripped of its tail, fins and pincer-like
claws A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or tars ...
. What remained was the bulky
Thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuses ...
-style body, which was wrapped in a
burlap Hessian (, ), burlap in North America, or crocus in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, is a woven fabric made of vegetable fibres, usually the skin of the jute plant or sisal leaves. It is generally used (in the crude tow form known as gunny) ...
sarong A sarong or a sarung (, ) is a large tube or length of textile, fabric, often wrapped around the waist, worn in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, Northern Africa, East Africa, West Africa, and on many Pacific islands. The fabric often ...
and topped with a modified
skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...
mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...
and big
blond Blond () or blonde (), also referred to as fair hair, is a human hair color characterized by low levels of eumelanin, the dark pigment. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can be ...
wig A wig is a head covering made from human or animal hair, or a synthetic imitation thereof. The word is short for "periwig". Wigs may be worn to disguise baldness, to alter the wearer's appearance, or as part of certain professional uniforms. H ...
. Cahn worked actively to conceal this fact, using quick cuts and keeping her mostly in shadows or behind foliage. The rumbling growl of a
lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...
was also dubbed for added effect. Makeup man Harry Thomas supplied the skull mask and wig for the monster (purchased from a Halloween costume store), but it looked so phony, at the last minute, Blaisdell had to totally rework the head to make it look more acceptable. Lance Fuller reportedly had a two-films-a-year deal over five years with Golden State Productions.


Reception

Writing in
AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...
, critic Hal Erickson described the film as "more of a 'greed and revenge' melodrama than anything else," noting that it "is inevitable that Gerard will transform Marilyn into a monster, leading to a lively if barely credible finale." In his ''The Pit and the Pen'' column in ''
Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...
'' magazine producer
Alex Gordon Alexander Jonathan Gordon (born February 10, 1984) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played his entire career for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2020. Prior to playing professional ...
revealed that the movie nearly caused a break-up with his then-
fiance An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...
Ruth Alexander Ruth Blaney Alexander (May 18, 1905 – September 18, 1930) was an early American female pilot who set several records in altitude and distance in 1929 and 1930. Youth Ruth Blaney was raised in Irving, Kansas, in Marshall County, by parents ...
. Proud of the finished production he took her to see it at its
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
premiere only to have her hand back his
engagement ring An engagement ring, also known as a betrothal ring, is a ring indicating that the person wearing it is engaged to be married, especially in Western cultures. A ring is presented as an engagement gift by a partner to their prospective spouse ...
when it was over, telling him that he should be making prestigious high class art films and not trash like this. Luckily, his brother
Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...
was able to explain to her the differences between low budget and big budget film-making, and she and Alex were eventually married, with her later actually scripting several of his features.


Soundtrack

Darrell Calker Darrell Wallace Calker (February 18, 1905 – February 20, 1964) was an American composer and arranger who worked on films and animated cartoons. Early life and education Calker was born in Washington, D.C. to Morris H. and Lugenia E. (Lily) Wallac ...
composed scores for more than 200 movies, both live action and cartoons, where he was the
musical director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...
for
Walter Lantz Productions Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio. It was in operation from 1928 to 1949 and then from 1950 to 1972, and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Pictures. The studio was originally formed as Universal Carto ...
. Giselle D'Arc, born Giselle Camille Prugnard, was a soprano vocalist with a five-octave range. In addition to singing the title song in her role as a
bargirl A bargirl is a woman who is paid to entertain patrons in a Bar (establishment), bar or nightclub. Variants on the term include "B-girl" and "juicy girl". Many bargirls work as a bar hostess, engaging individual customers in conversation. They m ...
, she provided vocals for the film's score. Whilst she was singing for
Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Alvin Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous rev ...
, she was discovered by
Jeff Chandler Jeff Chandler (born Ira Grossel; December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Cochise in '' Broken Arrow'' (1950), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting ...
who brought her into motion pictures. She later married
Clint Walker Norman Eugene "Clint" Walker (May 30, 1927 – May 21, 2018) was an American actor. He played cowboy Cheyenne (TV series), Cheyenne Bodie in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC/Warner Bros. Western (genre)#Film, western series ''Cheyenn ...
. ''Black Voodoo''
Lyrics by John Blackburn
Music by Darrell Calker
Sung by Giselle D'Arc (AKA Giselle Camille Prugnard Hennessy)


See also

*
List of American films of 1957 This is a list of American films released in 1957. '' The Bridge on the River Kwai'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture. A-B C-H I-N O-Q R-T U-Z Documentary See also * 1957 in the United States References External lin ...


References


External links

* * * {{Edward L. Cahn 1957 horror films 1957 films American supernatural horror films Films directed by Edward L. Cahn 1950s English-language films American International Pictures films American black-and-white films American independent films American zombie films Films about Voodoo Films set in Africa American mad scientist films 1957 independent films 1950s supernatural horror films 1950s American films English-language horror films