The Wasp Woman
Encyclopedia
The Wasp Woman is a science fiction film
produced and directed by Roger Corman
(who also plays a cameo as a doctor in the film) which was completed in 1959. To pad out the running time when the film was released to television two years later, a new prologue was added by director Jack Hill
.
Dr. Zinthrop fired from his job at a honey farm for experimenting with wasps.
The founder and owner of a large cosmetics
company
, Janice Starlin (Susan Cabot
), is disturbed when her firm's sales begin to drop after it becomes apparent to her customer
base that she is aging. Scientist
Eric Zinthrop (Michael Mark) has been able to extract enzyme
s from the royal jelly
of the queen wasp
that can reverse the aging process. Starlin agrees to fund further research, at great cost, provided she can serve as his human subject. Displeased with the slowness of the results she breaks into the scientist's laboratory after hours and injects herself with extra doses of the formula. Zinthrop becomes aware that some of the test creatures are becoming violent and goes to warn Janice but before he can reach anyone he gets into a car accident. He is thus temporarily missing and Janice goes through great trouble to find him, eventually managing and then transferring his care to herself. Janice continues her clandestine use of the serum and sheds twenty years' in a single weekend, but soon discovers that she is periodically transformed into a murderous queen wasp. Eventually, Lane throws a jar of acid at her face, killing her.
. The Wasp Woman has the head and hands of a wasp but the body of a woman—exactly the opposite of the creature shown in the film's poster
(that doesn't appear in the film).
Trying to keep ahead of schedule, Corman tried to film the climactic action scene in one take.
Whenever The Wasp Woman bit one of her victims, Cabot had to have a mouthful of chocolate syrup
to pass for black-and-white blood.
When Bill Lane throws a bottle of acid
at The Wasp Woman in the final scene, the plan was that Cabot would drop behind a desk and someone would sprinkle some liquid smoke on her mask and then she would come back up. They accidentally put too much liquid smoke on her and by the time she crashed through the window the smoke had gone through the two air holes and into her lungs. Then someone worked out that she could not breathe, so they managed to pull a bit of the mask off, along with some skin.
was starring on the TV series Hawaiian Eye
), it was re-released as part of the 100th Anniversary of Monster Movies in March 2010.
did a live riffing of the film to a sold-out audience, and was released on DVD on August 7, 2008. Previously, cartoonist/internet humorist Josh Way had also riffed the film as part of his "Fun With Flicks" series.
, The Wasp Woman was shown on the horror host
ed television series Cinema Insomnia
. Apprehensive Films
later released the Cinema Insomnia episode onto DVD.
of The Wasp Woman was produced for the Roger Corman Presents series. It was directed by Jim Wynorski
, and stars Jennifer Rubin as Janice.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
produced and directed by Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
(who also plays a cameo as a doctor in the film) which was completed in 1959. To pad out the running time when the film was released to television two years later, a new prologue was added by director Jack Hill
Jack Hill
Jack Hill is an U.S. film director, noted for his work in the exploitation film genre. Despite this, several of Hill's later films have been characterized as feminist works.Hill was born in Los Angeles...
.
Plot
In Jack Hill's prologue, we see a slightly madMad scientist
A mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...
Dr. Zinthrop fired from his job at a honey farm for experimenting with wasps.
The founder and owner of a large cosmetics
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...
company
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
, Janice Starlin (Susan Cabot
Susan Cabot
-Early life:Born Harriet Shapiro to a Russian Jewish family in Boston, Massachusetts, Cabot's early life was one of turmoil, and she was raised in eight different foster homes. She completed her education in New York, New York, and found employment as an illustrator...
), is disturbed when her firm's sales begin to drop after it becomes apparent to her customer
Customer
A customer is usually used to refer to a current or potential buyer or user of the products of an individual or organization, called the supplier, seller, or vendor. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services...
base that she is aging. Scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
Eric Zinthrop (Michael Mark) has been able to extract enzyme
Enzyme
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...
s from the royal jelly
Royal jelly
Royal jelly is a honey bee secretion that is used in the nutrition of larvae, as well as adult queens. It is secreted from the glands in the hypopharynx of worker bees, and fed to all larvae in the colony....
of the queen wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
that can reverse the aging process. Starlin agrees to fund further research, at great cost, provided she can serve as his human subject. Displeased with the slowness of the results she breaks into the scientist's laboratory after hours and injects herself with extra doses of the formula. Zinthrop becomes aware that some of the test creatures are becoming violent and goes to warn Janice but before he can reach anyone he gets into a car accident. He is thus temporarily missing and Janice goes through great trouble to find him, eventually managing and then transferring his care to herself. Janice continues her clandestine use of the serum and sheds twenty years' in a single weekend, but soon discovers that she is periodically transformed into a murderous queen wasp. Eventually, Lane throws a jar of acid at her face, killing her.
Cast
- Susan CabotSusan Cabot-Early life:Born Harriet Shapiro to a Russian Jewish family in Boston, Massachusetts, Cabot's early life was one of turmoil, and she was raised in eight different foster homes. She completed her education in New York, New York, and found employment as an illustrator...
as Janice Starlin - Anthony EisleyAnthony EisleyAnthony Eisley was born Frederick Glendinning Eisley in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whose father was a general sales manager for a large corporation. Father of Amanda Eisley, Jonathan Eisley, Nan R...
as Bill Lane - Barboura MorrisBarboura MorrisBarboura Morris was an American actor. She acted under some other names."The girl with the lovely smile," Barboura Morris was born in L.A., and went on to appear in many low-budget movies, such as A Bucket of Blood, American comedy horror film directed by Roger Corman. She graduated from UCLA...
as Mary Dennison - William Roerick as Arthur Cooper
- Michael Mark as Eric Zinthrop
- Frank Gerstle as Les Hellman
- Bruno VeSota as Night Watchman
- Roy Gordon as Paul Thompson
- Carolyn Hughes as Jean Carson
- Lynn CartwrightLynn CartwrightLynn Cartwright was an American character actress probably best known for her performance as the older version of Geena Davis' character, Dottie Hinson, in the 1992 film A League of Their Own....
as Maureen Reardon - Frank WolffFrank Wolff (actor)Walter Frank Hermann Wolff was a versatile American actor whose prolific movie career began with roles in five 1958-61 Roger Corman productions and ended a decade later in Rome, after scores of appearances in European-made films, most of which were lensed in Italy.- Early life :A native of San...
as Man - Lani Mars as Secretary
- Philip Barry as Man
Production
Director Corman was clearly influenced by Kurt Neumann's 1958 film The FlyThe Fly (1958 film)
The Fly is a 1958 American science-fiction horror film, directed by Kurt Neumann. The screenplay was written by James Clavell , from the short story "The Fly" by George Langelaan...
. The Wasp Woman has the head and hands of a wasp but the body of a woman—exactly the opposite of the creature shown in the film's poster
Poster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
(that doesn't appear in the film).
Trying to keep ahead of schedule, Corman tried to film the climactic action scene in one take.
Whenever The Wasp Woman bit one of her victims, Cabot had to have a mouthful of chocolate syrup
Chocolate syrup
Chocolate syrup is a chocolate flavored condiment. It is often used as a topping for various desserts, such as ice cream or mixed with milk to make chocolate milk.-Basic ingredients:...
to pass for black-and-white blood.
When Bill Lane throws a bottle of acid
Acid
An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
at The Wasp Woman in the final scene, the plan was that Cabot would drop behind a desk and someone would sprinkle some liquid smoke on her mask and then she would come back up. They accidentally put too much liquid smoke on her and by the time she crashed through the window the smoke had gone through the two air holes and into her lungs. Then someone worked out that she could not breathe, so they managed to pull a bit of the mask off, along with some skin.
Release
Though most audiences didn't see the film until the official release on February 12, 1960 (when male lead Anthony EisleyAnthony Eisley
Anthony Eisley was born Frederick Glendinning Eisley in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whose father was a general sales manager for a large corporation. Father of Amanda Eisley, Jonathan Eisley, Nan R...
was starring on the TV series Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye is an American television series that ran from October 1959 to September 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company television network.-Premise:...
), it was re-released as part of the 100th Anniversary of Monster Movies in March 2010.
Soundtrack
Much of the Fred Katz soundtrack was recycled for Corman's later film The Little Shop of Horrors (1960 film).Parodies
On April 6, 2008, Cinematic TitanicCinematic Titanic
Cinematic Titanic is a project by Mystery Science Theater 3000 creator and original host, Joel Hodgson.The project involves "riffing" B-movies, in a manner similar to that of MST3K....
did a live riffing of the film to a sold-out audience, and was released on DVD on August 7, 2008. Previously, cartoonist/internet humorist Josh Way had also riffed the film as part of his "Fun With Flicks" series.
Cinema Insomnia
In 20072007 in television
2007 in television may refer to:*2007 in American television*2007 in Australian television*2007 in British television*2007 in Canadian television*2007 in Japanese television...
, The Wasp Woman was shown on the horror host
Horror host
Horror hosts are a particular type of television presenter, often tasked with presenting low-grade films to television audiences. This tradition is primarily American, though there have been a few international hosts over the years.-Film Packages:...
ed television series Cinema Insomnia
Cinema Insomnia
Cinema Insomnia is a nationally syndicated American television series presented by horror host Mr. Lobo.- Format :Typically, Mr. Lobo opens each episode by promising to screen a well-known horror or science fiction classic ; however budgetary limitations, acts of God or other circumstances...
. Apprehensive Films
Apprehensive Films
Apprehensive Films is an independent American film production and distribution company. Established in 1997 as a production company, Apprehensive Films' main focus was low-budget Grindhouse-inspired films shot in Super 8 mm film and 16 mm film. In 2006, Apprehensive Films became a DVD distributor...
later released the Cinema Insomnia episode onto DVD.
Remake
In 1995, a remakeRemake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of The Wasp Woman was produced for the Roger Corman Presents series. It was directed by Jim Wynorski
Jim Wynorski
Jim Wynorski is an American screenwriter, director, and producer.-Career:Wynorski has been making B-movies and exploitation movies since the early 1980s. He has directed over 75 feature films. His earliest films were released to the theatrical audience and played in movie theaters...
, and stars Jennifer Rubin as Janice.
External links
- The Wasp Woman on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....