ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES

Yvette Vickers and Michael Emmet

ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES (1959). Director: Bernard L. Kowalski. Executive producer: Roger Corman. Colorized. 

Portly Dave Walker (Bruno VeSota) has a hard time keeping his sexy wife, Liz (Yvette Vickers of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman), under control. She goes off with Dave's alleged friend, the much sexier Cal (Michael Emmet), and Dave discovers the two of them making love in the swamp. As Dave is threatening them with his shotgun and forcing them into the water, they are attacked by two giant leeches -- or leech men, if you prefer. Everyone suspects Dave of murder but then more people start disappearing. Game warden Steve Benton (Ken Clark of Mission Bloody Mary), along with his girlfriend, Nan (Jan Shepard), and her father, Doc Greyson (Tyler McVey of Teenage Thunder), investigate but come into conflict with each other when Doc wants to bomb the swamp ... 

Ken Clark and Jan Shepard

With its backwoods bayou atmosphere, a sleepy score by Alexander Laszlo (also used in Night of the Blood Beast), and some decent acting, Attack of the Giant Leeches may not be a world-beater but at least it holds the attention if you're a devotee of creature features. The color adds a degree of gruesomeness to the scenes in the underground lair of the leeches, and the sequence of dead bodies rising up in the lake has always been kind of creepy. Vickers is as vivid as ever, and VeSota and Emmet are effective and professional. Ken Clark, who showed much more charisma playing a superspy in some eurospy features, is stalwart as the game warden. Although she apparently never appeared in anything that allowed her to make much of an impression, Jan Shepard amassed over eighty credits and had a long career, as did Tyler McVey, who had over 220 credits! Kowalksi also directed Michael Emmet and McVey in Night of the Blood Beast, which is better than Leeches. Art director Daniel Haller went on to better things.  

Verdict: You know it isn't especially wonderful but there's just something about it ... **1/2. 

REFORM SCHOOL GIRL

Gloria Castillo

REFORM SCHOOL GIRL (1957). Director: Edward Bernds.       

Donna (Gloria Castillo) has an unfortunate home life living with her miserable Aunt Rita (Claire Carleton) and her lecherous, leering uncle (Jack Kruschen). No wonder she decides to go out for a ride with Gary (Wayne Taylor). Unfortunately the driver is Vince (Edd Byrnes of 77 Sunset Strip), and the car they're in is stolen. Throwing Gary and his own date, Josie (Luana Anders), out of the car, he takes off for a wild ride with a resisting Donna, and runs over and kills a man. Frightened of Vince's retaliation, Donna refuses to tell the cops who the driver was, and is sent to reform school, where things, are, if anything, even worse. 

Edd Byrnes and Ralph Reed

Donna finds herself in the Hastings School for Girls, run by Mrs. Trimble (Helen Wallace). There is also a teacher named David Lindsay (Ross Ford), who is doing research on the tough lovelies but who is unlikely to inspire romantic feelings in any of them. Donna earns the enmity of some of her fellow inmates, including Roxy (Yvette Vickers, who looks like crap in this). Things get worse when the devious Vince has a lady pal call the police pretending to be Donna, and she gives Josie's name to them -- Josie winds up at the Hastings School herself and with the help of the other girls, who hate snitches, decides to get even with Donna. Donna's only friends are Ruth (Jan Englund) and Jackie Dodd (Ralph Reed), a nice boy who sneaked inside the gates to go on more than one date with her. Vince forces Ralph to show him the way inside, but Ralph may have other plans. 

Yvette Vickers and Ralph Reed

Reform School Girl is a modestly entertaining flick with a good lead performance by Castillo [Invasion of the Saucer Men]. Vickers [Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman] is typically zesty, most of the other gals play with vitality, Edd Byrnes overacts a bit but is sufficiently nasty, and Ralph Reed makes an appealing "good boy" to counterbalance Byrnes' snake in the grass. Sally Kellerman has a small role as nasty, violent Marcia; she seems to literally tower over the other girls. Bernds also directed High School Hellcats. 

Verdict: "Chicks" in the hoosegow. **3/4.