Womaneater (1957)
A colourful, (well it would be were it not black and white), British shocker about a mad scientist who has a carnivorous tree with tentacles for branches, that produces sap which can bring the dead back to life. Alas, said tree can only do this by devouring pretty young women.
Vampiric trees are nothing new. 1960's Little Shop of Horrors is one of the more famous examples. However unlike the Corman film, Womaneater is no comedy. Yes it's clunky, and some of the performances are a little on the campy side, although George Coulouris as the loony Dr. Moran is always watchable and Vera Day makes for a charming heroine. The direction is a little on the generic side exposing a fair share of padding However the film and Brandon Fleming's script does try and bring something new to the table in the form of voodoo and it's continent spanning storyline. Albeit elements not seen as original nowadays, but the fifties up to this point had been extremely sparse for horror with only five or six of any real note from anywhere in the world not just Britain. Of course this year, 1957, was the year all that would change but that's another story. Admittedly mad scientists and monsters were a b-movie staple in the US at the time but generally concentrated in the sci-fi genre. Womaneater is cetainly more horror than sci-fi and being a British production looks and feels totally different to anything the American market churned out. After all you don't get bobbies on bycycles, lovely old country mansions and Soho hookers in Cold War America.
Womaneater is a brisk affair, clocking in at a mere 71 minutes and may not be that original with it's central plot motif, but any film that explores voodoo, mad scientists, monstrous trees, not to mention zombie women, is always worth treasuring in my book, especially as it's British.
US label Image should be proud of this dvd. As a film i have to be honest and say i'd not even heard of until this time last week, and i wasn't expecting much, and from reading, it's other releases have been murky of picture and dreadful of sound. However this dvd looks lovely, dirt free and with clear, crisp sound. A bit of an unheralded gem really.
Recommended
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