Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)
Director - Bernard Kowalski
The Plot
Attack of the Giant Leeches tells the story of a sleepy Southern town where folks are just plain disappearing into the swamp.
Film Notes
A Row Boat Named Desire
A hillbilly blonde nymphette wife goes out on the town and attracts more to her Southern baby doll body than white trash wolves. It's Giant Leech time in the old swamp tonight!
A dollop of Tennessee Williams, some very crappy looking monsters, and a whole lotta drive-in-movies ensured that Attack of the Giant Leeches would lead a healthy cult-film after-life.
Blood Sucker On a Hot Tin Roof
The Spanish moss whispers in the breeze, there's rock and roll on the jukebox, and a cast of Southern fried characters slither into the light. Fat Dave sweats pure unrequited lust. His young wife Liz licks her lips over Cal, who turns into a crawling coward.
Game Warden Steve enters with a stick up his you know where, while his fiancée Nan nags away the night and day. Add her doctor dad with a dynamite idea into the mix and the monstrous redneck fun explodes with dumb delight.
Runs In the Blood
Roger Corman's brother Gene was the producer of Attack of the Giant Leeches. He's had a long career with and without his more famous sibling. While the majority of his films have been of the exploitation variety, he has on occasion stepped out of profitable low budget muck and into such big money ventures as Tobruk and The Big Red One.
Yvette Yvette!
Along with Attack of the Giant Leeches, add Juvenile Jungle, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and Reform School Girl and you get an idea of Yvette Vickers' place in the Hollywood firmament. And if that's not enough to whet your whistle, she was also the original White Rain Shampoo Girl.
Trivia Pursuit of Bernard Kowalksi
Mr. Kowalksi began his career with Night of the Blood Beast. He reached the top of his game directing numerous episodes of Robert Blake's Baretta TV series.
-- Ed Schneider
Ingmar Ozu-Bresson on Attack of the Giant Leeches
"Regardez derrière les costumes en caoutchouc de monstre. Voilà le capitalisme nage dans les eaux sombres des États-Unis, suçant la vie hors des descendants incestueux de l'Ancien Sud."
("Look behind the rubber monster suits. It is Capitalism swimming in the murky waters of America, sucking the life out of the Old South's incestuous descendents. ")
Cast & Production Credits
| Jan Shepard | Nan Greyson |
| Gene Roth [Stutenroth] | Sheriff Kovis |
| Yvette Vickers | Liz Walker |
| Dan White | Slim Reed |
| Bruno Ve Sota | Dave Walker |
| George Cisar | Lem Sawyer |
| Tyler McVey | Doc Greyson |
| Ken Clark | Steve Benton |
| Michael Emmet | Cal Moulton |
| American International Pictures | |
| Bernard Kowalski | Director |
| Gene Corman | Producer |
| Leon Gordon | Screenwriter |
| John M. Nickolaus, Jr. | Cinematographer |
| Alexander Laszlo | Composer (Music Score) |
| Carlos Lodato | Editor |
| Daniel Haller | Art Director |
| Roger Corman | Executive Producer |
| Al Overton | Sound/Sound Designer |
| Jack Bohrer | Production Manager |
For more information on:
Yvette Vickers
Tennesse Williams' Baby Doll