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Attack of the Giant Leeches

October 16, 2023

Attack of the Giant Leeches (originally to be called The Giant Leeches) is an independently made, 1959 black-and-white science fiction-horror film, produced by Gene Corman and directed by Bernard L. Kowalski. It stars Ken Clark, Yvette Vickers, Bruno VeSota and Jan Shepard. The screenplay was written by Leo Gordon. The film was released by American International Pictures on a double bill with A Bucket of Blood. Later, in some areas in 1960, Leeches played on a double bill with the Roger Corman film House of Usher.

Attack of the Giant Leeches
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBernard L. Kowalski
Screenplay byLeo Gordon
Produced byGene Corman
Starring
CinematographyJohn M. Nickolaus Jr.
Edited byCarlo Lodato
Music byAlexander Laszlo
Production
company
Balboa Productions
Distributed byAmerican International Pictures
Release date
  • October 1959 (1959-10) (US)
Running time
62 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$70,000 (estimated)[1]
The full film

Attack of the Giant Leeches was one of a spate of "creature features" produced during the 1950s in response to Cold War fears; a character in the film speculates that the leeches have been mutated to giant size by atomic radiation from nearby Cape Canaveral.

Plot Edit

In the Florida Everglades, a pair of larger-than-human, intelligent leeches live in an underwater cave. They begin dragging locals down to their cave, where they slowly feed on them, draining their victims of blood. Two of the first victims of the leeches are local vixen Liz Walker (Vickers), who has been cheating on her husband (Bruno VeSota), and Liz's latest paramour. Game warden Steve Benton (Clark) sets out to investigate their disappearance. Aided by his girlfriend, Nan Grayson (Sheppard), and her father, Doc Grayson, Benton discovers the leeches' underwater cavern. The creatures are destroyed when Steve, Doc and several state troopers blow up their underwater cavern using dynamite. However, in the film's closing moments the leeches' distinctive sucking sounds are heard, suggesting they may still be alive.

Cast Edit

Uncredited actors:

  • Joseph Hamilton as Old Sam Peters
  • Walter Kelley as Mike
  • Guy Buccola as Giant Leech #1
  • Ross Sturlin as Giant Leech #2

Production Edit

The film was shot over eight days, including outdoor sequences at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. During filming, Gene Corman came down with pneumonia and wound up in the hospital.[1]

Actress Yvette Vickers had appeared as the Playmate centerfold in the July 1959 issue of Playboy magazine, several months prior to the film's release.

Producers Roger and Gene Corman begged special effects artist Paul Blaisdell to create the leech costumes for the film, but Blaisdell said the effects budget was so minute, it wouldn't have even covered the cost of the materials he would need to make the creature suits. The costumes were eventually designed by actor Ed Nelson and Gene Corman's wife, each contributing ideas. Some reference sources say the monster suits were constructed from black raincoats that were stitched together, while others say black plastic garbage bags were used.[2]

Attack of the Giant Leeches is now in the public domain; its copyright was never renewed.[3]

Reception Edit

Attack of the Giant Leeches holds a 70% approval rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 10 reviews; the average rating is 5.06/10.[4] Film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, calling it a "ludicrous hybrid of white trash and monster genres".[5] Other retrospective reviews either regret the lack of scenes showing the monsters (although an expected lack in B movies of the genre)[6] or find them "ridiculous-looking".[7]

Remake Edit

A remake of the film, directed by Brett Kelly and written by Jeff O'Brien, was released on July 7, 2008.[8]

A stage adaptation of the original was performed at The Village Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia in February 2020.[9]

 

Legacy Edit

In July 1992, Attack of the Giant Leeches was featured as a fourth-season episode of the film-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. It was also featured on the nationally syndicated horror host television show Cinema Insomnia,[10] and in the second episode of season 5 of Shilling Shockers, a New England–based television show hosted by the witch Penny Dreadful XIII.[11]

Home media Edit

Being in the public domain, Attack of the Giant Leeches has received numerous bargain bin DVD releases.[12] The MST3K version of the film was released on October 26, 2004, by Rhino Home Video as part of a box set, The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 6.[13] Cheapskate Theater released an HD download of the film on June 7, 2016, featuring a new introduction by Toby Radloff and Radloff outtakes and bloopers.[14]

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ a b Mark McGee, Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures, McFarland, 1996 p148
  2. ^ Palmer, Randy (2009). Paul Blaisdell, Monster Maker: A Biography of the B Movie Makeup and Special Effects Artist. McFarland & Company. p. 187. ISBN 978-0786440993.
  3. ^ No record in 1986 or 1987
  4. ^ "Attack of the Giant Leeches (1960) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  5. ^ Leonard Maltin; Spencer Green; Rob Edelman (January 2010). Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide. Plume. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-452-29577-3.
  6. ^ "Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959) Review | BasementRejectsBasementRejects". 2021-09-23. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  7. ^ "Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959) - Review | Sci-Fi Movie Page". www.scifimoviepage.com. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  8. ^ "Attack of the Giant Leeches (2008) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  9. ^ . Village comedy.com. Village Comedy. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  10. ^ . Archived from the original on March 28, 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  11. ^ http://www.shillingshockers.com/. from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2011. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ^ https://www.amazon.com/Attack-Giant-Leeches-Ken-Clark/dp/B00006II55s[dead link]
  13. ^ "Rhino DVDS".
  14. ^ . Archived from the original on 2016-08-10. Retrieved 2016-06-12.

External links Edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Attack of the Giant Leeches.
 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Attack of the Giant Leeches.

October 16, 2023
attack, giant, leeches, originally, called, giant, leeches, independently, made, 1959, black, white, science, fiction, horror, film, produced, gene, corman, directed, bernard, kowalski, stars, clark, yvette, vickers, bruno, vesota, shepard, screenplay, written. Attack of the Giant Leeches originally to be called The Giant Leeches is an independently made 1959 black and white science fiction horror film produced by Gene Corman and directed by Bernard L Kowalski It stars Ken Clark Yvette Vickers Bruno VeSota and Jan Shepard The screenplay was written by Leo Gordon The film was released by American International Pictures on a double bill with A Bucket of Blood Later in some areas in 1960 Leeches played on a double bill with the Roger Corman film House of Usher Attack of the Giant LeechesTheatrical release posterDirected byBernard L KowalskiScreenplay byLeo GordonProduced byGene CormanStarringKen Clark Yvette Vickers Jan Shepard Bruno VeSotaCinematographyJohn M Nickolaus Jr Edited byCarlo LodatoMusic byAlexander LaszloProductioncompanyBalboa ProductionsDistributed byAmerican International PicturesRelease dateOctober 1959 1959 10 US Running time62 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 70 000 estimated 1 source source The full filmAttack of the Giant Leeches was one of a spate of creature features produced during the 1950s in response to Cold War fears a character in the film speculates that the leeches have been mutated to giant size by atomic radiation from nearby Cape Canaveral Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 5 Remake 6 Legacy 7 Home media 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksPlot EditIn the Florida Everglades a pair of larger than human intelligent leeches live in an underwater cave They begin dragging locals down to their cave where they slowly feed on them draining their victims of blood Two of the first victims of the leeches are local vixen Liz Walker Vickers who has been cheating on her husband Bruno VeSota and Liz s latest paramour Game warden Steve Benton Clark sets out to investigate their disappearance Aided by his girlfriend Nan Grayson Sheppard and her father Doc Grayson Benton discovers the leeches underwater cavern The creatures are destroyed when Steve Doc and several state troopers blow up their underwater cavern using dynamite However in the film s closing moments the leeches distinctive sucking sounds are heard suggesting they may still be alive Cast EditKen Clark as Steve Benton Yvette Vickers as Liz Walker Jan Shepard as Nan Greyson Michael Emmet as Cal Moulton Tyler McVey as Doc Greyson Bruno VeSota as Dave Walker Gene Roth as Sheriff Kovis Dan White as Porky Reed George Cisar as Lem SawyerUncredited actors Joseph Hamilton as Old Sam Peters Walter Kelley as Mike Guy Buccola as Giant Leech 1 Ross Sturlin as Giant Leech 2Production EditThe film was shot over eight days including outdoor sequences at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden During filming Gene Corman came down with pneumonia and wound up in the hospital 1 Actress Yvette Vickers had appeared as the Playmate centerfold in the July 1959 issue of Playboy magazine several months prior to the film s release Producers Roger and Gene Corman begged special effects artist Paul Blaisdell to create the leech costumes for the film but Blaisdell said the effects budget was so minute it wouldn t have even covered the cost of the materials he would need to make the creature suits The costumes were eventually designed by actor Ed Nelson and Gene Corman s wife each contributing ideas Some reference sources say the monster suits were constructed from black raincoats that were stitched together while others say black plastic garbage bags were used 2 Attack of the Giant Leeches is now in the public domain its copyright was never renewed 3 Reception EditAttack of the Giant Leeches holds a 70 approval rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews the average rating is 5 06 10 4 Film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film 1 5 out of 4 stars calling it a ludicrous hybrid of white trash and monster genres 5 Other retrospective reviews either regret the lack of scenes showing the monsters although an expected lack in B movies of the genre 6 or find them ridiculous looking 7 Remake EditA remake of the film directed by Brett Kelly and written by Jeff O Brien was released on July 7 2008 8 A stage adaptation of the original was performed at The Village Theatre in Atlanta Georgia in February 2020 9 nbsp Legacy EditIn July 1992 Attack of the Giant Leeches was featured as a fourth season episode of the film mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 It was also featured on the nationally syndicated horror host television show Cinema Insomnia 10 and in the second episode of season 5 of Shilling Shockers a New England based television show hosted by the witch Penny Dreadful XIII 11 Home media EditBeing in the public domain Attack of the Giant Leeches has received numerous bargain bin DVD releases 12 The MST3K version of the film was released on October 26 2004 by Rhino Home Video as part of a box set The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 6 13 Cheapskate Theater released an HD download of the film on June 7 2016 featuring a new introduction by Toby Radloff and Radloff outtakes and bloopers 14 See also EditList of films in the public domain in the United StatesReferences Edit a b Mark McGee Faster and Furiouser The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures McFarland 1996 p148 Palmer Randy 2009 Paul Blaisdell Monster Maker A Biography of the B Movie Makeup and Special Effects Artist McFarland amp Company p 187 ISBN 978 0786440993 No record in 1986 or 1987 Attack of the Giant Leeches 1960 Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes com Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved 8 July 2019 Leonard Maltin Spencer Green Rob Edelman January 2010 Leonard Maltin s Classic Movie Guide Plume p 30 ISBN 978 0 452 29577 3 Attack of the Giant Leeches 1959 Review BasementRejectsBasementRejects 2021 09 23 Retrieved 2023 03 29 Attack of the Giant Leeches 1959 Review Sci Fi Movie Page www scifimoviepage com Retrieved 2023 03 29 Attack of the Giant Leeches 2008 Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes com Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved 28 March 2016 Attack of the Giant Leeches 2020 stage production Village Theatre Village comedy com Village Comedy Archived from the original on 12 February 2020 Retrieved 20 February 2020 Cinema Insomnia with your Horror Host Mister Lobo SHOW INFORMATION Archived from the original on March 28 2010 Retrieved 21 November 2010 http www shillingshockers com Archived from the original on 2 February 2011 Retrieved 13 February 2011 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a Missing or empty title help https www amazon com Attack Giant Leeches Ken Clark dp B00006II55s dead link Rhino DVDS Watch Cheapskate Theater Presents Attack of the Giant Leeches Hosted by Toby Radloff Online Vimeo on Demand on Vimeo Archived from the original on 2016 08 10 Retrieved 2016 06 12 External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Attack of the Giant Leeches nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Attack of the Giant Leeches Attack of the Giant Leeches at IMDb Attack of the Giant Leeches is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive Attack of the Giant Leeches at AllMovie Attack of the Giant Leeches at the American Film Institute Catalog Attack of the Giant Leeches at Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Attack of the Giant Leeches amp oldid 1180225332, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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