Reviews (2)

The only time I draw is when I'm crowded
I've been avoiding Audie Murphy for years, copping the attitude Howard Cosell had for the Frank Giffords of the world. Cosell devoted a good portion of at least one book attacking "jockocracy," the invasion of the professional broadcasting booth by unqualified ex-jocks. Audie Murphy was a war hero but the bits and clips I've seen of his work always made it look like he was in over his head. Murphy's appearance in a movie meant one unemployed real actor.
So I was a little trepidatious when I hit the play button on DUEL AT SILVER CREEK. I hung with it through the slow opening exposition scenes (a pod of claim jumpers are terrorizing silver miners, forcing them to sign over their deeds and then shooting them.) By the time Murphy's pa was kilt and he morphed into the poker playing Silver Kid I was hooked. DUEL AT SILVER CREEK is a fun little flick.
Look, this movie made me laugh at things decent folks don't laugh at, but I believe these elements were put in deliberately. This is director Don Siegel's first western and his first Technicolor production. He would go on to work with the likes of Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry) and John Wayne (The Shootist.) Siegel knew what he was doing.
One of the humorous elements, to me at least, was the proliferation of nicknames. Murphy's Luke Cromwell is the "Silver Kid," or just "Kid." Sheriff Stephen McNally is "Lightning," there's a character called "Rat Face." Lee Marvin plays a heavy nicked "Tinhorn." The lovely Faith Domergue (Opal Lacy) is nicked "Brown Eyes" early on by "Lightning."
Then there's mondo-heavy Eugene Iglesias, who plays Johnny Sombrero. I honestly couldn't refrain from laughing every time he was on screen. Dressed in red and white striped pants and wearing an impossibly large sombrero pushed back off his head he was a caricature of... something. How can a guy in candy stripe pants and a balloon hat intimidate?
Wisely the film-makers don't overload Murphy in this one. Although he's the nominal star, McNally does most of the heavy lifting. Murphy is along more as a wise-cracking (!?) sidekick. My uninformed take on Murphy was that he was a Roy Rogers/Gene Autry type. Squeaky clean, you know. Siegel gives the Silver Kid an edge, and to Murphy credit that edge remains sharp. Still and all it was a bit of a surprise to see Lightning and The Kid interrogating Brown Eyes and hearing The Kid impulsively say "I bet I can get it out of her." Heeheehee. I was half expecting The Kid to call her a punk and ask her if she was feeling lucky.
DUEL AT SILVER CREEK is a dandy little horse opera. It will satisfy without offense those who love traditional westerns, and sate those with less conventional tastes.

Overlooked but very good....
I had forgotten just how enjoyable this little Audie Murphy Western was until I recently purchased this handsome Universal DVD release. Murphy in this venture is "the silver kid," and his co-star Stephen McNally actually steals the show. The action is fast-paced and believable, the plot way above average. There are shoot outs, claim jumping, and some humor thrown in--Audie has some droll lines. Universal-International made a number of fine Murphy Westerns in the 1950s into the mid 1960s. DUEL AT SILVER CREEK is one of the better ones. Now let's hope that Murphy's finest outing in the genre, NO NAME ON THE BULLET, and some of his other, better films---RIDE CLEAR OF DIABLO, GUNSMOKE, SEVEN WAYS FROM SUNDOWN, TUMBLEWEEDS, get the nod from the engineers at Universal. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Get a real buzz on.
Quickie-flick exploitation master Roger Corman produced and directed this epic example of schlock cinema. A forty-something cosmetics magnate takes experimental injections derived from royal wasp jelly to look twenty years younger. Impatient to achieve the desired results, she overdoses on the stuff. The massive jolt of wasp juice causes sporadic "insect girl" transformations that lead to murder. We doubt that Corman intended this little sci-fi thriller to be camp entertainment, but that perspective works best in viewing this film. The fright "makeup" consists of a bug-eyed head mask complete with antennae and goofy looking mittens with claws (or is it stingers?) that leave the human wrists conspicuously visible. Regardless of logic, the apparently wingless creature makes an insect wing buzzing sound, raised by several decibels. The acting, dialogue, and production values are typically low budget. The comic relief provided by Maureen "The Princess of Flatbush" is worth the purchase price alone. Die-hard fans of cheesy movies will recognize the slow-witted janitor as Yvette Vickers' slow-witted husband in "Attack of the Giant Leeches." This guy has very bad luck with women in both films. Collectors need this one, regardless. To others out there: get a buzz on. ;-)

A beautiful woman by day - a lusting queen wasp by night.
From Roger Corman, one of the most prolific director/producers in Hollywood, comes The Wasp Woman (1960), a film that was most probably influenced by 1958's The Fly, with Vincent Price. Hey, if Hollywood can turn a man into a fly, why not turn a woman into a wasp? Well, no one ever accused Corman of originality.

The movie opens up with a scientist getting fired from a company the produces honey as he is doing some strange experimentation. Seems the Scientist, Eric Zinthrop, played by Michael Mark, has been exploring the notion of using royal jelly to create a rejuvenation formula. After getting fired, Zinthrop contacts Janice Starlin, played by Susan Cabot, the head of Starlin Cosmetics. Starlin Cosmetics is losing sales due to the fact that Ms. Starlin was the only spokesperson for the cosmetics, and now that she is aging, sales are falling off.

After talking to Zinthrop and seeing his success on turning back time with various animals, she hires him on, sets him up in a lab, and they begin treatments on her. The process appears to be working, but Ms. Starlin becomes impatient, wanting more results quicker, so she secretly starts injecting herself with the formula. What happens? Take a guess...I mean, the movie is titled The Wasp Woman.

The acting wasn't bad, but we didn't even see the wasp woman until almost an hour into this rather talky feature. There are some bloody deaths, and the make up to create the wasp woman isn't all that bad, but the movie would have benefited from not making us wait so long in seeing the creature, filling up the 73 minute run time with nonsensical plot threads that don't develop.

Alpha Video provides an exceptionally poor print here, as the film has all kinds of blemishes and even drops out briefly at a couple of points. The picture appears washed out, and the audio is pretty poor. No special features here in this barebones release, not even a trailer, but for under ten bucks I wasn't expecting much. Now that I've experienced the quality of Alpha Video, I doubt I will buy any more of their releases. I would recommend someone interested in owning this movie on DVD to do a little research, as I have since found out a number of companies have released a version, some even on double bills with other movies. I will say the cover art on the Alpha Video release looks enticing, but, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for here.

Cookieman108

CAMPY HORROR AT IT'S BEST!!!
THE WASP WOMAN, ORIGINALLY RELEASED IN 1959, IS A CLASSIC CAMP HORROR FILM.
IT'S PLOT AND ACTING WERE VERY GOOD.
THE SPECIAL EFFECTS WERE JUST LIKE MANY OTHER FILMS OF IT'S TIME, FOR EXAMPLE, THE FLY, WITH VINCENT PRICE.
VERY TAME BY TODAY'S STANDARDS, BUT FOR SOME GOOD CLASSIC HORROR ENTERTAINMENT, CHECK THIS ONE OUT!!
IT'S VERY GOOD!!

The Leech Woman
"The Leech Woman" with Colleen Gray (also Grant Williams and Gloria Talbot) was the film you saw. In it she plays a woman with a wish to grow younger and finds the answer in the necks of young men! She uses a ring with a sharp point to puncture (I think) the spinal cord and drink the fluid. In "The Wasp Woman" Susan Cabot finds the answer to youth by injecting wasp enzymes into her blood stream thus making her beautiful by day and not so beautiful by night! "The Wasp Woman" was released in 1959.

I was too young to see "The Leech Woman" in 1959/'60 at the theater but I saw it on tv in the late 60s or early 70s, and I loved it! I saw "The Wasp Woman," in the late '60s, on TV as well.

prepubescent horror
Ok, slipstream back almost a half century ago. A coupla boys (me an Donnie) each plunk down our quarters at the Aggieville Campus Theater and enter into the forbidden world of cinema. First stop: the concession stand where I choose the usual Mike & Ike jellys (it was a game to see what flavor you put in your mouth by the shape but really they mostly tasted the same). Donnie (died in 1969 from leukimia) always chose malted milk balls because he knew I hated them. Next stop: the drinking fountains, one for adults and one for kids. I wonder how many chipped teeth was the result of us kids trying to jump up and to hang on just to look grown up to our peers, not to mention getting a good face washing. Third stop: right next to the drinking fountains was an Art Deco statue of a naked lady. Full sized as I recall, black granite carved. I knew I wanted it but not sure why, perhaps it was her smile when she looked at me. Last stop: Wasp Woman, the movie. I was young and the memory fades into the unsure since. But if this "Wasp Woman" movie is about a woman killing people with a special ring and then drinking their blood to achieve youth let me tell you it scared the beejeesus out of me. This movie and "Invaders From Mars" was the reason I was a bedwetter. ... Read more