Movie Review: The She-Creature (1956)

Synopsis: While performing in a carnival sideshow, hypnotist Dr. Carlo Lombardi continually puts his assistant, Andrea into a deep enough trance to put her in control of a prehistoric sea monster that then kills people. Local authorities suspect he is behind the brutal murders but can't prove it. Meanwhile, Lombardi has been recruited to perform his show in front of wealthier audience members.

Who's in it? The movie stars Chester Morris, Tom Conway, Cathy Downs, Lance Fuller and Marla English.

Review: I have seen The She-Creature referenced in other media but had never seen the movie until finally coming across it and watching it this morning. Surprisingly, the film wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting it to be, but I still wouldn't go as far as to say I enjoyed it.

The movie does have some things going for it. For one, the plot, while a little confusing, was admittedly a bit unique. Having the sea creature being controlled by someone who was arguably a victim added an extra element because, even if the creature could be killed, it's psychic connection to Andrea (English) meant she could possibly be harmed as well.

I'll also go as far as to say the sea creature costume wasn't awful. However, to be fair, that's also probably because I thought it closely resembled the Gill-man costume (with some modifications) from Creature from the Black Lagoon and that likely wasn't a coincidence.

My biggest problem with this movie is it is just dull. The plot, while unique, was something I thought was a bit too complicated for a movie of this nature, especially since it raised as many questions as it answered, including why Dr. Lombardi (Morris) was OK with letting the creature (Paul Blaisdell) kill people, especially since the deaths could be indirectly connected back to him.

The fact there was no secrecy surrounding the creature also didn't help this movie. I'm not saying keeping the audience in the dark for at least part of the film would have made it better. It would, however, at least made some of the film's heroes seem much less complacent as they allowed Lombardi to continue his show even though they all knew there was a chance it would result in someone dying.

Final Opinion: It's a movie that was clearly trying to capitalize on the Gill-man's success but, while there was at least an attempt at being somewhat unique, it fell short of being a movie I was entertained by. At best, I'd say it is just average.

My Grade: C

____________________________________________________________

Here are some reviews of other classic monster movies:

Movie Review: Curse of the Swamp Creature (1968)

Movie Review: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

Movie Review: Reptilicus (1961)

Movie Review: Curse of the Faceless Man (1958)