The She-Creature (1956)

Not much to recommend here, 3 October 2007

With the assistance of hypnotist Dr. Carlo Lambardi (Chester Morris), Andrea Talbott (Marla English) is capable of regressing through a series of past lives. Some, like English maiden Elizabeth Wetherby, are quite innocuous. But Dr. Lambardi takes Andrea even further back – back to a time before humans existed. He takes her back to an amphibious creature that would someday become Andrea. But there are consequences. When Andrea regresses to this She-Creature, somehow it's capable of making the journey back to the present with her. A series of murders up and down the coast are proof. Andrea wants to escape from Lambardi and his powerful control over her. But is his control as powerful as the She-Creature?

What an uneventful way to spend 77 minutes. The She-Creature is dull all the way through. I can't think of anything much duller than watching someone being hypnotized over and over and over. The cast doesn't help much. Chester Morris isn't much of a threat as the baddie. Lance Fuller makes for the most "do nothing" lead I've seen – unless you call staring blankly into space doing something. Finally, while I've always enjoyed Tom Conway's work, The She-Creature gives him little to do and Conway makes the most of it, sleepwalking his way to a paycheck. The only two positives worth noting are the creature special effects (very nicely done and far better than anything you would expect to find in a movie like The She-Creature) and the sight of Marla English in a sweater.

Unless you're able to catch the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of The She-Creature, my advice would be steer clear of this one.

2/10