''She Demons'' is a 1958 American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

, produced by Arthur A. Jacobs and Marc Frederic, directed and co-written by Richard E. Cunha, that stars

Irish McCalla Nellie Elizabeth "Irish" McCalla (December 25, 1928 – February 1, 2002) was an American film and television actress and artist best known as the title star of the 1950s television series ''Sheena, Queen of the Jungle''. She co-starred with act ...

, Tod Griffin, and

Victor Sen Yung Sen Yung, later known professionally as Victor Sen Young (born Sen Yew Cheung; October 18, 1914 – c. November 9, 1980); one source lists his given name as Victor Cheung Young with the birth year 1915)) was an American character actor, best kn ...

. Made in the tongue-in-cheek style of

Men's adventure Men's adventure is a genre of magazine that was published in the United States from the 1940s until the early 1970s. Catering to a male audience, these magazines featured pin-up girls and lurid tales of adventure that typically featured wartime fe ...

magazines,

Nazisploitation Nazi exploitation (also Nazisploitation) is a subgenre of exploitation film and sexploitation film that involves Nazis committing sex crimes, often as camp or prison overseers during World War II. Most follow the women in prison formula, only r ...

, and '' The Island of Lost Souls'', the film was distributed by

Astor Pictures Astor Pictures was a motion picture distribution company in the United States from 1930 to 1963. It was founded by Robert M. Savini (29 August 1886 – 29 April 1956). Astor specialized in film re-releases. It later released independently m ...

in March, 1958 as a

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with Cunha's ''

Giant from the Unknown ''Giant from the Unknown'' (working titles ''Giant from Devil's Crag'' and ''The Diablo Giant'' ) is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white science fiction- horror film drama, produced by Marc Frederic and Arthur A. Jacobs, directed by ...

''.

Plot

During a tropical storm, a pleasure boat is shipwrecked on an uncharted island and is presumed lost with all hands after the storm clears. The four survivors' shipboard radio can receive but not transmit, and they hear that their castaway island will soon be used by U.S. Navy aircraft as a bombing target. Finding strange-looking human footprints and hearing the sound of jungle drums, three of the party explore the island. They soon discover the island is populated by deformed, fanged women who are the product of scientific experiments of Nazis led by a

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly amb ...

and war criminal, who rules the island with an iron

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

. The survivors eventually manage to blow up the island before the Navy jets can do so.

Cast

as Jerrie Turner * Tod Griffin as Fred Maklin *

as Sammy Ching *

Rudolph Anders Rudolph Anders (December 17, 1895 – March 27, 1987) was a German character actor who came to the United States after the rise of Hitler, and appeared in numerous American films in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Biography He was born Rudo ...

as Col. Karl Osler *

Gene Roth Eugene Oliver Edgar Stutenroth (January 8, 1903 – July 19, 1976), known profesionally as Gene Roth, was an American film actor and film manager. Early years Roth was born in Redfield, South Dakota. He was the son of a German father and ...

as Igor *

Leni Tana Leni is a ''comune'' (municipality) and one of the main towns on Salina, one of the Aeolian Islands, in the Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, southern Italy. It is located about northeast of Palermo and about northwest of Messina. Leni li ...

as Mona Osler *

Charles Opunui Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

as Kris Kamana * The Diane Nellis Dancers as The She Demons

Analysis

's character is atypical compared to other Asian characters of the era, speaking ordinary American English, being a college graduate and Phi Beta Kappa member.

Production

After completing ''

'', Astor Pictures told Richard Cunha that the film would only be accepted if he made another co-feature, to be released by Astor on a double bill. This led Cunha to make ''She Demons''. Astor advanced $80,000, with Cunha completing the film for $65,000. Filming locations for ''She Demons'' were at Ferndale, California, Griffith Park, and Paradise Cove Pier in Malibu, California. David Koehler handled the special effects. H.E. Barrie, who co-wrote the screenplay, also wrote the scripts for two of Cunha's other 1950s films, ''Missile to the Moon'' and ''Frankenstein's Daughter''.

Reception

Writing in DVD Talk, film critic Glenn Erickson described the film as a "totally bizarre oddity" and "[o]ne of the sleaziest kiddie matinee movies of the '50s," but also "a great party picture with everything camp enthusiasts enjoy – terrible jokes, hammy acting, terrible direction." Critic Joe Lozowsky wrote that the film is a "so-bad-it's good cult favorite," and that "[o]nce head moron Gene Roth shows up with his bad accent, you can't help but expect Moe, Larry, and Joe Besser to blunder onto the cardboard set and trade eye pokes."

Notes

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0052187
Joe Dante on ''She Demons''
at Trailers from Hell
Original soundtrack for ''She Demons''
1958 films 1958 directorial debut films 1950s English-language films 1950s independent films 1950s science fiction horror films American black-and-white films American independent films American science fiction horror films Astor Pictures films Films directed by Richard E. Cunha Films set on islands Mad scientist films Nazi exploitation films Nazi zombie films 1950s American films