Grotesque gigantic mutant leeches attack and feed on the various local yokels in a seedy Florida stick swamp hamlet. Bernard L. Kowalski directs the admittedly ludicrous premise with admirable seriousness, coaxing solid acting from a sturdy cast, maintaining a steady pace throughout, and ably creating a brooding, spooky and pungently sordid Southern-fried backwoods atmosphere. Leo Gordon's deliciously lurid and melodramatic script plays like a blithely low-rent redneck version of "Peyton Place" with ghastly beasts tossed into the mix to spice things up. The colorful hillbilly characters are a real hoot (Gene Roth is especially amusing as a huffy bonehead sheriff). Ken Clark contributes an engaging performance as the stalwart ranger hero. Jan Shepard is equally appealing as Clark's sweet girlfriend. The delectable Yvette Vickers brings an irresistibly naughty "Babydoll"ish allure to her juicy role of a brazen hick hussy. 50's B-picture regular Bruno VeSota truly shines as Vickers' angry and obese cuckolded general store manager husband. The monsters are really hokey, but that only adds to the film's considerable schlocky charm. The scenes in an underwater cave with the hideous leeches sucking blood from their luckless shrieking victims are genuinely gross, chilling and even downright disturbing. John A. Nicholaus' stark, gritty cinematography and Alexander Laszlo's shuddery ooga-booga bombastic score are likewise on the money. Good, trashy low-budget 50's creature feature fun that's tons better and more enjoyable than its undeservedly lousy reputation would suggest.
Review of Attack of the Giant Leeches
