Wasp Woman, The (1959)

“distaff version of The Fly” – Cult Flicks & Trash Pics

“minor camp classic” – Maltin

“Stinker” – Creature Features

“Laughable cult favourite” – Video Movies Guide

“Camp horror classic” – Blockbuster Video

“A film that highlights Corman’s ability to ring interesting changes on proven formulas” – Time Out

Roger Corman’s The Wasp Woman has all the ingredients to propel it to cult classic greatness.  Indeed over the years, appreciation for the film has grown to the point that it now ranks as a true gem among cinematic turkeys.  The plot is genius featuring an inspired Susan Cabot as Janice Starlin, the queen of a cosmetics empire that has succeeded largely upon the basis of its advertising campaigns featuring Ms Starlin as the face of the product. 

At a board meeting, a graph shows an alarming downward trend in the company’s fortunes, and it seems customers are losing faith in the brand and perhaps its ageing face, the face of Ms Starlin.  Janice is pained as she realizes that this assessment of the downward trend in the business’s fortunes may have to do with the fact that she is pushing the wrong side of 40.  It’s a troubled time for the company, and her fellow board members seem agitated and some even disgruntled.  Starlin must find answers fast to steer her company forward and reverse the downswing.

A disgraced Dr Zinthrop peddles a potion to turn the company’s fortunes around, and Starlin is all ears.  She watches early demonstrations on a couple of hamsters and is astounded as the creatures turn from old, sagging, wrinkled hamsters into shiny, youthful and energetic critters.  Starlin approves of Zinthrop’s dubious research and builds him a lab.  She also gives him Carte Blanche so he can continue his work without impediment. 

Finally, the day arrives when Janice Starlin is injected with a dose of Zinthrops magic potion, and she is filled with fear and then excitement and thrilled by a sense of anticipation.  A day passes, then two, and there is no change in her physical condition.  She starts to despair once again.  Meanwhile, her fellow workers smell something fishy going on with all the extra unaccounted-for expenses she is splurging out with.  Somebody mentions an exorbitant bill for wasp enzymes, and suspicions are aroused even further. 

A desperate Susan Cabot creeps into Zinthrop’s clinic and injects herself with more enzyme serum.  The next day Janice Starlin saunters into work looking like a million dollars, and everyone is shocked at her transformation from Aunty into a fine young thang once, as she used to be twenty years ago.  A radiant Starlin announces ambitious new projects and campaigns.  Some of her board members remain unconvinced. 

Zinthrop meets a near-fatal accident that knocks him out of the clinic, and Starlin worries about the continuation of her serum.  She grows increasingly desperate and is determined not to allow anyone or anything to stand in her way of achieving her goals.  Alarmingly the potion’s rejuvenating effects appear to run out in a few hours.  When that happens, the youthful beauty quickly and horrifyingly turns into a hideous Wasp Creature with a sting of death – and she will stop at nothing. 

Susan Cabot plays Janice Starlin to perfection.  Cabot was known as quite a spark in her youth and had liaisons with several high-profile personalities, including The King Hussein of Jordan.  Cabot is shown in the recent documentary on Rock Hudson, and it is mentioned that she was determined to become his wife at one stage.  Things didn’t quite work out for Cabot, and her end was truly dreadful, murdered by her depressed and rage-filled son.  She shines in Wasp Woman, perhaps her finest hour. 

Sadly the film’s excellent premise is let down by some very languid pacing, with the film barely crawling along for the first half hour.  More than half the film has passed when the Wasp Woman attacks for the first time.  The film lumbers along until the climax when most viewers might be fighting off bouts of sleep from boredom. 

Wasp Woman has moments that elevate the film to true Cult Status, but in between, it is very sluggishly paced and dull.  There are flashes of riotous brilliance, but they are few and far between.  The Wasp Woman has found legions of followers over the years and deservedly so, but it is sadly let down from being the finest due to its lack of energy and pace.  Wasp Woman should have been a live wire but turned into a damp squib.