THE LEECH WOMAN (Another view)

Grant Williams and Coleen Gray

THE LEECH WOMAN (1960). Director: Edward Dein. 

Wealthy June Talbot (Coleen Gray) is ten years older than her not-so-adoring husband, Dr. Paul Talbot (Phillip Terry), and his disaffection has driven her to drink. Paul gets an idea to make lots of moola when he encounters Malla (Estelle Hemsley), a native woman who claims to be over 140! Paul importunes June to travel to Africa with him -- along with guide Bertram Garvey (John Van Dreelen) -- so they can discover Malla's secret from her tribe. June discovers the secret -- and how! -- and returns to the States (sans Paul) looking so young and beautiful that she can masquerade as her own niece. She sets her cap for her "aunt's" gorgeous lawyer, Neil Foster (Grant Williams), which sets his fiancee Sally's (Gloria Talbott) teeth on edge. Meanwhile bodies of murdered men are being found in both New York and California ... 

Estelle Helmsley, made up to look even older

The Leech Woman is a fun B movie with an interesting premise that actually could have used another 15 minutes or half an hour to develop the characters and milk the situations further. The picture certainly exploits the universal terror of aging. Coleen Gray gives a vivid lead performance in this, although 73-year-old Estelle Helmsley (mother of comic actor Sherman Helmsley) makes a strong impression as well. (When Malla becomes young and beautiful again she is played by Kim Hamilton.) Phillip Terry, former husband of Joan Crawford, offers an effective portrait of a slimy opportunist. Van Dreelan is fine and Williams [The Incredible Shrinking Man] doesn't have to do much but look dreamy enough to excite the interest of both Sally and June, something the handsome blond easily accomplishes. 

Verdict: One woman's revenge on callous male age-bigots? ***. 

THE LEECH WOMAN

Coleen Gray and  Estelle Hemsley

THE LEECH WOMAN (1960). Director: Edward Dein. 

Dr. Paul Talbot (Phillip Terry) has driven his wife, June (Coleen Gray), to drink, and is even more contemptuous of her now that she's a dipsomaniac. However, when they encounter a woman named Malla (Estelle Hemsley), who claims she is 152-years-old and that her tribe back in Africa can make her young again, the Talbots lives begin a downward spiral into horror. 

Back to beauty: Coleen Gray

Malla believes that men grow distinguished with age but that an aged woman is pretty useless. Her tribe offers its old women one night of regained youth, beauty and love before dying. Oddly, one of the tribe's males has to be sacrificed in order for the woman to have one more night of life. Accompanied by their guide, Bertram (John Van Dreelen), the Talbots travel to Africa where June is offered her lost youth -- only she must pick the man for the sacrifice. Guess who's chosen? Using a powder derived from orchids combined with liquid from the pineal gland, June becomes young and sexy again. But for how long? And how many men will have to die in order for her to stay young?

Grant Williams and Coleen Gray

The Leech Woman is a fun movie if you don't take it seriously. The sequences in Africa are quite flavorful, with well-chosen clips of wild life and the like, and the scenes with the natives are all well-played. The movie becomes a bit stage-bound once the characters are back in the U.S., and not nearly enough is done with the film's basic premise of murder-for-youth. Gray gives a very good performance in a difficult role -- she pretends to be her own niece once she's young again -- but is on top of things all the way through. Terry is fine as the oily and distasteful Paul, Van Dreelen makes a convincing Bertram, and Grant Williams [Soldiers of Fortune] and Gloria Talbott are also good as June's somewhat sleazy lawyer and his over-anxious fiancee. Virtually every character in the movie is a certified creep. Irving Getz' score and a fast pace are decided assets. 

Verdict: Ridiculous but amusing horror flick with a solid lead performance. ***.