The She Beast

The great Michael Reeves’ official directing debut coincides with his least successful work. After a classic prologue in which the stereotypical old hag curses her executioners just before they kill her, the story reveals a troubling lack of ideas right from the starting gate. We’re quickly forced to follow the inane wanderings of a young tourist looking for his missing newlywed bride (played by Barbara Steele, absent for 3/4 of the film) in a depressing region populated by riff-raff and imbeciles.

Add to this the fact that Reeves seems undecided as to what tone to set, alternating between moments of dark horror (the monster’s makeup is repugnant enough, kind of mix of Seth Brundle and Leatherface) and moments of Benny Hill-style comedy (at the end we’re shown one of the lamest car chases ever filmed in the entire history of cinematography). The whole thing is sprinkled with anticommunist satire that’s as persistent as it is misplaced, reaching its sad pinnacle in the scene where the harridan, having just committed murder, drops a sickle right on a hammer.

Mediocre all the way around.