everyday is halloween

attack of the giant leeches [1959]

sometimes a b-movie just hits the right spot.  & for the spooky season there are no shortages of campy monster flicks from the 1950s to both frighten ya & make you laugh like a doofus.  & this pic hits all those cheesy notes.  down in the florida swamps something is disappearing the local folk.  you know you are down home when the locals are all dressed like hillbillys from central casting from their hats with flipped-up visors a la benny hill, all the way down to their greasy overalls.  that they drink their hooch straight from the jug is a nice touch too.  so well, come along park warden steve, played by ken clark, who takes an interest in these missing locals, add a sex kitten, liz, played by yvette vickers, who is married to dave, played by bernard vesota who is the proprietor of the bar & general store, & a few extras for color & we got a movie!  oh, don't forget the two dorks dressed in black plastic bags as the giant killer leeches.  steve does get to the bottom of the mystery, discovers the leeches' lair & uses dynamite to rescue liz & recover the bodies of the missing goofballs.  oh, & how did these leeches get so large & homicidal?  shit!  this was the nuclear age of terror 1950s.  a local doctor, & overall sage & father to steve's love interest, nan, played by jan shepard, doc greyson, played by character actor tyler mcvey, explains that they must've mutated on account of the atomic energy used at cape canaveral.  kaboom!  directed by bernard l. kowalski,  produced by gene corman, brother of roger corman, & distributed by that great engine of horror, b-, & exploitation cinema american international pictures this movie runs a tidy, mercifully short, 62 minutes.  it is now in the public domain so sit down, have a cool one, grab some snacks, & a little smoke if you are into that kinda thing, & enjoy a blast from the past drive-in psychotronic feature for the spooky season.  

boo!