Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman (1958)

Recently released from a mental institution, a wealthy woman (Allison Hayes) discovers her husband (William Hudson) has taken a mistress (Yvette Vickers) while she was away. But when an encounter with an outer space alien zaps her metabolism into overdrive ..... hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Directed by Nathan Juran (7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD), who is billed here as Nathan Hertz. This cult science fiction flick was part of a trend of 1950s sci-fi to enlarge (THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN) or shrink (THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN) humans but this one opted to place the emphasis on a woman. It's rather silly and the special effects aren't good by today's standards ... well, they weren't good by 1958 standards either. But for those of us who first encountered this movie as adolescents whether in a theatre or on TV, it remains a nostalgic favorite. The most notable thing about the film is Jacques Marquette's often stylish cinematography. The visit to the interior of the spaceship is smartly done and there's a dreamlike quality to Hayes' walk through the night. The alien (Michael Ross) looks eerily like Dwight Eisenhower, who was the U.S. President at the time. Coincidence? Remade in 1993. With Ken Terrell and Frank Chase.