THE ASTOUNDING SHE-MONSTER (1958)
Directed by Ronnie Ashcroft
Image Entertainment DVD
Reviewed 02.27.04
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba

THE FILM
In reality, I know that Hollywood in the 50s was a lot different than my romantic imaginings. It wasn’t all serene drives through Beverly Hills, sunny walks down Sunset, and tough talking gangsters on Yucca Street. Fortunately, when I watch films like The Astounding She-Monster, I like to think that it was.

I mean, was Hollywood really a place where you could gather a few thousand bucks, hire some friends, drive out to Bronson Canyon, and shoot a monster movie in a few days? Was the dream of shooting and releasing your own film that easy to attain? Apparently, if you were Ronnie Ashcroft, Coleman Francis, or Ed Wood, it was. And that’s the wonderful thing about no-budget horror films from this era. Seen in today’s context, these films achieve in projecting this glorious Hollywood nether-world, complete with ridiculous dialogue, shady gangsters, bad special effects, cheap sets, and loads and loads of beautiful California scenery. So sit back, throw your standards out the window, and chew the fat with Kenne Duncan...

A wealthy Hollywood socialite is kidnapped from her convertible in broad daylight. At the same time, a burst of light crashes on earth and unleashes the laughable She-Monster. The monster is a voluptuous woman wearing a body suit and crazy fake eyebrows. The two tough guy kidnappers (one of which is Ed Wood stock player Kenne Duncan, a dead ringer for a skinny Moe Howard) and their drunk girlfriend swerve off the road to avoid hitting the monster. They take refuge in a log cabin owned by a geologist, played by Robert Clarke (The Hideous Sun-Demon). The rest of the film’s 62 minute runtime deals with the She-Monster attacking, the characters walking around outside, and lots of drinking, fighting, and arguing.

What can I say? This film is at all times magical, inept, and hilarious. Every misplaced music cue, every minute of Criswell-esque narration, every stilted word that emits from Kenne Duncan’s mouth all add up to a bad 50s classic. If Hollywood was never this good, that’s just fine, because I’ve got The Astounding She-Monster to set the record straight.

AUDIO AND VIDEO
The print appearing here is very rough, which is a little disappointing given Image’s track record with these releases. At times, the print is a mess -- numerous scratches, lines, and jumps throughout. Contrast is very low as well. Given the origins of the film, this doesn’t bother me much, but might be distracting if it’s something that concerns you. The mono audio is a bit muffled and scratchy.

EXTRAS
The extras are pretty sparse -- a trailer that’s in really bad shape, trailers for several other Image titles, and fascinating liner notes by Tom Weaver. The liner notes go into amazing detail regarding the making of this film -- where do they find this stuff?!

FINAL THOUGHTS
If you like to lose yourself in the upside down world of ultra-cheap Hollywood horror films from the 50s, you can’t do much better than this. File along with Beast Of Yucca Flats and Night Of The Ghouls as a true no-budget, backyard classic.

Hollywood never looked so good


Kenne "Trick Shot" Duncan


Captives!


The astounding one