The Wasp Woman

(1960) ***

"I'd stay away from wasps if I were you myself. The queen wasp is on level with a black widow spider. They're both carnivorous. They paralyze their victim and then take their time devouring them alive. They kill their mates in the same way too. Strictly a one-sided romance."

Diminishing profits prompt the head of a large cosmetics empire, Janice Starlan, to take desperate measures in an effort to preserve the company’s bottom line. During a routine staff meeting one of her underlings suggests that fickle consumers have been increasingly avoiding company merchandise ever since Janice removed her picture from the product label. Citing her age (late 30s) and her diminishing looks, Janice intimates that people do not want to purchase a beauty product that pictures an aged woman.

As luck would have it Janice receives a letter from Mr. Zinthrop, an eccentric scientist who claims to have discovered the fountain of youth in the enzymes of queen wasps. Initially incredulous, Janice invites Mr. Zinthrop for a demonstration, where he wows her by injecting his youth serum into an old guinea pig and reverses the aging process before her eyes. Mr. Zinthrop is immediately hired and granted a laboratory with unlimited funding. The only caveat is that Janice wishes to be the first human test subject. After attempts to change her mind prove fruitless, Mr. Zinthrop reluctantly agrees to her terms. Everything goes well at first and the staff is amazed at Janice’s new and improved youthful looks. However Janice soon becomes addicted to the serum and then things go horribly wrong.

For reasons never explained (this is a B-movie after all), Janice periodically turns into a giant wasp and murders her employees. Unfortunately her wasp mask is about as convincing as my drunk uncle dressing up as Santa Clause.

During the big “climax” Janice goes on a murderous rampage yet is dispatched surprisingly easily.

Yep, I gave this one 3 stars because it was a hoot in its simplicity. Sure it was stupid, but it held my attention. Perhaps I was just relieved to see a watchable Roger Corman film after suffering through both Swamp Diamonds (1955) and She Gods of Shark Reef (1958). Yet this is still a strictly low-budget affair. When Mr. Zinthrop injects his serum into the old gray guinea pig, it actually turns into a young, white RAT! Apparently Janice is blind or just really stupid. It’s also amusing that Janice is so ready to get this product out on the market even though it hasn’t gone through the rigors of FDA approval. Still, The Wasp Woman ends up being fun and a bit charming in its stupidity and piss-poor fx.