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| The She Creature | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Edward L. Cahn |
| Written by | Lou Rusoff |
| Produced by | Alex Gordon |
| Starring | Chester Morris Marla English Tom Conway Cathy Downs Paul Blaisdell |
| Cinematography | Frederick E. West |
| Edited by | Ronald Sinclair |
| Music by | Ronald Stein |
Production company | Golden State Productions |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 77 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $104,000[1] |
The She-Creature, orThe She Creature, is a 1956 Americanblack-and-whitescience fictionhorror film, released byAmerican International Pictures from a script byLou Rusoff (brother-in-law of AIP executiveSamuel Z. Arkoff). It was produced byAlex Gordon, directed byEdward L. Cahn, and starsChester Morris,Marla English, andTom Conway, and castingFrieda Inescort andEl Brendel in smaller roles. The producers hired Marla English because they thought she bore a strong resemblance toElizabeth Taylor.[citation needed]
The monster costume was created by master make-up artistPaul Blaisdell and is considered one of his best. Parts of the costume were re-used in three later AIP films.[2] Blaisdell nicknamed the monster "Cuddles". The costume was eventually destroyed in a flood that hit hisTopanga Canyon home in 1979.[3]
The film was released by AIP as adouble feature withIt Conquered the World.[4]
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Dr. Carlo Lombardi, an oleaginous carnival hypnotist, conducts experiments inhypnotic regression that take his unwitting female subject Andrea Talbott to a past life as a prehistoric humanoid form of sea life. He uses the physical manifestation of the prehistoric creature to commit murders.
The story was inspired by the success of the best-selling Morey Bernstein bookThe Search for Bridey Murphy, which concerned hypnotism and reincarnation. Exhibitor Jerry Zigmond suggested this subject might make a good film, and AIP commissioned Lou Rusoff to write a script.[1]
AIP did not have enough money to entirely finance the film, so the company asked producer Alex Gordon if he could contribute the remainder. Israel Berman, a colleague of Gordon's brother Richard, knew financier Jack Doppelt, who agreed to provide $40,000 of the film's $104,000 budget.[1]
Edward L. Cahn persuaded his old actor friendEdward Arnold to star[5] for $3,000 for one week's work, and also castPeter Lorre as the hypnotist. Arnold died two days before production began, while Peter Lorre read the script after which he immediately pulled out of the film and fired his agent for committing him to the project without consulting him first. The producer had to find a substitute cast quickly, settling on Chester Morris and Tom Conway.[6] This was Ron Randell's first film in America in a number of years.[7]
As usual, Blaisdell played the monster in every scene. Blaisdell nearly got injured when the director instructed him to smash his way through a wooden door in one of the film's action sequences, without realizing the door had been reinforced with plywood. Also in the beach scenes where the creature had to be seen emerging from the surf, Blaisdell was told to wade in up to his waist instead of his knees. The costume got so waterlogged, Blaisdell could hardly propel himself out of the water, especially with the tide working against him. Amazingly, most of this scene was later excised from the finished film due to poor quality image.
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Gordon, who deferred his $2,500 producer's fee until the film returned its cost, said that the movie was profitable a year and half after its release.[1] Within a few days of finishing the film, AIP featured the She Creature costume in live appearances on several L.A. talk shows to promote the film's grand opening. Blaisdell had his best friend Bob Burns wear the suit on the TV programs, since he was too worn out himself.
Variety wrote it had "a good quota of chills".[8]
Author and film criticLeonard Maltin awarded the film 2 out of 4 stars, calling it "slow and preposterous but effectively moody, with one of Paul Blaisdell's more memorable monsters".[9]On his websiteFantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings, Dave Sindelar wrote, "There is a clever concept behind this attempt to combine the Bridey Murphy concept with a monster movie; unfortunately, a poor script and some ineffectual acting hamstring the attempt".[10]TV Guide awarded the film 1 out of 4 stars, writing, "Some interesting concepts were touched on, but quickly pushed to the background in the name of plot development, which in this case is one cliche after another".[11] Dennis Schwartz fromOzus' World Movie Reviews awarded the film a grade of C, calling it "Amusing hokum".[12]
In 1967, American International commissionedLarry Buchanan to remake the film in color for television, retitled asCreature of Destruction.
The original film is featured in an eighth season episode of movie-mocking television showMystery Science Theater 3000 and an episode ofCinema Insomnia.[13]
