Suvudu

'Attack of the 50-Foot Woman' Review

1958, allison hayes, attack of the 50-foot woman, blind spot series, thematineeca, william hudson, yvette vickers

Attack+of+the+50+foot+woman+no+lettering.jpg

Poster Art by Reynold Brown

'Attack of the 50-Foot Woman' is the second film in the Blind Spot Series with TheMatinee.Ca. You can see my Blind Spot movies list in my right hand side bar. Blind Spot movies are films that I've never seen before and are posted on the last Tuesday of the month. The first film on my list was 'Quest for Fire.' My next Blind Spot film will be Fahrenheit 451 (1966).

'Attack of the 50-Foot Woman' is a poster that I've always loved. It's been parodied and copied a million times for good reason. The poster is pulpy, tacky, and beautiful. The poster depicts a giant woman towering over a highway overpass in a white tankini (which is actually a set of bed sheets) as she throws cars and steps on power lines. The proportions are completely off. The 50-foot woman is drawn more like a 500-foot woman, but there's something exciting about this poster. Everyone who has been through a bad breakup can relate to her. Watching a statuesque woman throw cars around after her husband leaves her is satisfying. Who wouldn't want to throw a few cars around after that? She's certainly more lively than the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.

The poster was drawn by famous 50's movie poster artist, Reynold Brown. Brown's other posters included 'The Time Machine,' 'Tarantuala,' 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,' 'Ben-Hur,' and 'Creature from the Black Lagoon.' Brown had a fantastical style and his posters have stood the test of time, especially the 'Attack of the 50-Foot Woman.'

I was a little embarrassed that I had a copy of this poster in my house, but I had never seen the film. Now that I've seen the film, I am no longer embarrassed. This film should only be watched after a few glasses of wine or with a fast forward button. I can handle most 50's pulp, but this is truly the B-movies of all B-movies. The best thing about this movie is the poster. Thankfully the movie is only 65 minutes. The film was done during the same time period as other size-shifting human movies, like 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' and 'The Amazing Colossal Man.'

Allison Hayes is Nancy Archer, the 50-Foot Woman

Plot: Nancy Archer (played by 50's bombshell Allison Hayes) is a wealthy heiress with a drinking problem and a no good cheating husband--bad combination. While driving home to the no good cheating husband, Harry Archer (William Hudson), she has a close encounter of the third kind. Nancy sees a UFO and a giant alien to go along with it. As Nancy has just been released from the "booby hatch" (mental hospital), as her husband's mistress calls it, no one believes her. So Harry and his mistress, appropriately named Honey Parker (Yvette Vickers) concoct a scheme to drive Nancy over the edge.

Nancy sees a UFO

Desperately trying to hold onto her sanity and her marriage, Nancy tries to show her husband the area that she saw the giant alien. Her husband soon believes her as Nancy is abducted by the alien creature who we now see resembles a deranged Mister Clean. The giant alien whammy's Nancy and kidnaps her for a little while. The prince that he is, Harry Archer abandons his wife, runs to his mistresses house, and tries to skip town.

Scary Mister Clean/Alien (Mike Ross). He also played Tony the Bartender

As Nancy has mysteriously reappears alive, but unconscious, the police start to suspect the dastardly duo of foul play. Instead of taking her to a hospital with a guard, the police take Nancy to her home in close proximity of the man they suspect of harming her? The police wait for Nancy to regain consciousness. Despite his disdain for her, Harry doesn't want to divorce Nancy because she's loaded and she's his meal ticket. As Nancy lies helpless and unconscious, Honey comes up with the idea to kill poor Nancy by overdosing her with morphine.

Honey Parker (Yvette Vickers) and Harry Archer (Willaim Hudson)

Before Harry can kill his long-suffering wife, she is transformed. Nancy is no longer Harry's fool. Nancy is now a 50-foot giantess bent on revenge. What is so amazing is that the doctors seem to take this in stride. When they have to operate on Nancy they simply order larger doses of medicaiton. They must deal with this kind of stuff all the time. The hapless police find the UFO and come across the giant Mister Clean, bolstering Nancy's story because Nancy becoming a giant was not enough.

Nancy ravages the town

The special effects are a product of their time. It wouldn't have been so bad if they just made miniature sets with a normal sized person walking through them (like 'Godzilla'), but for some reason the filmmakers tried to superimpose the giant people, which caused a strange translucent effect.

Anywhoo, once Nancy regains consciousness, it's on. She finds her lowdown husband and his trashy mistress in their regular watering hole and takes no prisoners. She's on a rampage and no one can stop her. She is a woman scorned and she ain't no joke. I know why this movie (and poster) have stood the test of time. It's the ultimate female revenge flick.

Kill sleazy mistress