She Devil

The real monster from the Fifties -- the liberated woman!
This review is for the blu ray from Olive Films. The image quality is superb, as is the audio. There are no extras and no subtitles. I would like to deduct a point for no subtitles alone on all Olive Films (and Warner), but this bizarre flick from the fifties is truly a B-movie masterpiece. Mari Blanchard shines in her role as a woman reanimated from certain death with an experimental drug, which has the side effect of making her ruthlessly independent, self-seeking, and death-proof! Albert Dekker, always entertaining, has to struggle with some truly awkward scriptwriting, but the combined talents of just about all the actors in the film make it entertaining enough. You could take the entire film allegorically, as being anything from a glimpse into the horrors of women stepping outside their established, stereotyped roles, to a criticism of the hypocrisy of men, as the anti-heroine wraps them around her little finger. Or better yet, just enjoy this film for what it is (even if...

Solid B-movie that delivers beyond its meager budget
Like previous reviewers, I recall this movie from TV reruns in my boyhood ... and having been a boy of just the right age then, I especially recall Mari Blanchard! But when I ordered this crisp new DVD release, I wondered if it would hold up after all these decades.

No need to worry! It's still as enjoyable as ever, with the additional bonus of being faithful to the classic sci-fi short story on which it's based, Stanley Weinbaum's "The Adaptive Ultimate" -- and how often does that happen? It may be modest in scope & budget, but it makes the most of what it's got -- and what it's got the most of is Mari Blanchard, playing the happily amoral Kyra Zelas with trampy zest. Just watch her sashay up those steps after confronting the drab, boring, but filthy rich couple in the garden. Clearly she was having a wonderful time with the role, and she just eats up the screen.

And as I watched the film again, I realized that I was still rooting for her to succeed, even though...

Blu-Ray gives this little film the star treatment.
Thoroughly enjoyable "B" flick looks amazing on Blu-Ray! I'm so use to seeing murky copies of these kinds of movies on VHS and late night TV - it was a little startling to see She Devil in such a pristine form. Fun film!

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