ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN (1958)

ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN (1958)

Tagline: A titanic beauty spreads a macabre wave of horror! A terrifying masterpiece of shock and chills!

(Sci-Fi, Drama, Don’t Cheat On Your Spouse) [PG]

Note – This movie did not originally have an MPAA rating, but I think it would be rated PG.

It's Mrs. Archer. She's on a rampage. We've got to warn the town.

In this one, a rich woman named Nancy has an encounter with a giant alien in a small town after confirming her husband is indeed cheating on her. The encounter leaves her in a condition that has her growing larger by the minute. Now it’s time for her husband and the town to pay! 

First off among 1950’s movies, this one is considered by far one of the most popular. It also has an iconic poster that actually is considered the 8th-best movie poster ever made by Premiere Magazine. The title itself just soaks in sci-fi awesomeness that is so iconic it’s hard not to bring up this movie whenever 50s sci-fi is discussed. 

The great thing about this movie is when it comes to the wide shot effects where the 50-foot woman is attacking the town. The effects are pretty glorious and memorable. The storyline itself also does a good job of presenting why Mrs. Archer is so angry. 

I also like the performances for the most part. Nancy is well played by Allison Hayes who just knocks the role out of the park. She is also known for 1963’s THE CRAWLING HAND. Yvette Vickers (known for ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES) who plays the woman cheating with Nancy’s husband is also good in the role. I can’t really say that I liked, or identified with any of the characters, including Harry Archer who basically I was rooting against the entire movie. Archer is played by William Hudson who was also famous for his role in THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, but I really don’t have any complaints about his acting. 

Where this thing goes off the rails is in the storyline. Unfortunately, as much as I want to just love this movie, buy it, hang out with it, play racket ball, and all that stuff, it’s just really rough. There are some pretty bad effects that have been done better in other movies where the 50-foot woman is reaching for people and the hand just looks really terrible. As I mentioned earlier, however, there are some great effects in this at times which is probably why certain scenes where the effects are bad, drive me nuts. Also for as iconic as the imagery is even down to that amazing poster, we really don’t get enough of the 50-foot woman in this. She maybe gets 4 minutes of total screen time. We also never get an explanation as to what the giant alien she encounters was even trying to do or why. It’s just left up in the air. It’s pretty bizarre script-wise. 

Apparently, there was a planned-out part II to this movie that never got made and that sucks because it’s possible we would have gotten a satisfying answer to some of the open questions this one left us with. Regarding the pacing everything is fine and the score is also solid. I just wish there was someone in this movie to cheer for. Instead, it’s a bunch of dysfunctional people in a crazy situation. 

I have to give this a 4 out of 7, but that is the best I can do. It’s better than THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, but not by much unless you are a really huge Allison Hayes fan. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF WOOLNER BROTHERS PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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