Attack of the Giant Leeches (film)

Attack of the Giant Leeches
aka	The Giant Leeches Attack of the Blood Leeches Demons of the Swamp (UK) She Demons of the Swamp
Year	1959
Directed by	Bernard L. Kowalski
Produced by	Gene Corman Roger Corman
Written by	Leo Gordon
Music by	Alexander Laszlo
Studio	Roger Corman Productions
Cast	Ken Clark Yvette Vickers Bruno VeSota Gene Roth Michael Emmet
Run time	62 minutes
Riffed in	Experiment #406

For the episode, see MST3K 406 - Attack of the Giant Leeches.

“	I wouldn't touch that critter for all the money ever made!	”
	- Lem Sawyer

Attack of the Giant Leeches is a 1959 monster movie directed by Bernard L. Kowalski and written by Leo Gordon. It was produced by Roger Corman's production company.

Plot

After local moonshine-swilling trapper Lem Sawyer sees a giant creature, people start disappearing. While searching for illegal traps, game warden Steve Benton and his girlfriend Nan Greyson find Lem dying with giant sucker wounds on his body. An adulterous couple, Liz Walker and Cal Moulton, are forced into the water by her enraged husband Dave and get taken by the leeches.

Soon after, two more trappers disappear and Benton gets involved. He and Nan's father Dr. Greyson realize that the people were taken by the leeches and that the leeches live in caves under the swamp. Using dynamite, the four missing bodies are discovered and the leeches are destroyed.

Cast

• Ken Clark as Steve Benton
• Jan Shepard as Nan Greyson
• Yvette Vickers as Liz Walker
• Bruno VeSota as Dave Walker
• Tyler McVey as Doc Greyson
• Gene Roth as Sheriff Kovis
• Michael Emmet as Cal Moulton

Notes

• The giant leeches are played by actors in sack-like suits made of thin black plastic with suckers sewn on.
• Stretched out by the divers’ air tanks, the giant leech costumes split during production. As a result, viewers only see fleeting glimpses of the creatures during the film.
• According to director Bernard L. Kowalski, producer Gene Corman didn't want to pay the technicians the extra money for pushing the camera raft while they were filming in the Pasadena Arboretum in the water, so he put on a bathing suit and did it himself.
• The music score for this film was a stock score used previously in the film Night of the Blood Beast, also produced by Gene Corman, brother of Roger Corman.

MST3K Connections

• Director Bernard L. Kowalski was also director for Night of the Blood Beast.
• Writer Leo Gordon also portrayed Enders in Kitten with a Whip.
• Ken Clark also portrayed Captain John Anderson in 12 to the Moon.
• Michael Emmet also portrayed the doctor in Untamed Youth and Major John Corcoran in Night of the Blood Beast.
• Tyler McVey also portrayed Dr. Alex Wyman in Night of the Blood Beast.
• Bruno VeSota also portrayed Sidney Chillas in Daddy-O, Zebulon Tabb in Gunslinger, Mr. Seltzer in The Wild Wild World of Batwoman, and Scroop in The Undead.
• Gene Roth also portrayed Sheriff Cagle in Earth vs the Spider, Mr. Nelson in Tormented, and the New York train conductor in The Rebel Set.
• George Cisar (Lem Sawyer) also portrayed Fred in Teen-Age Crime Wave.
• Joseph Hamilton (Old Sam Peters) also portrayed a tribe member in Teenage Cave Man.
• Monster costume wearer Ross Sturlin also portrayed a Grimault warrior in The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent and wore monster costumes in Teenage Cave Man and Night of the Blood Beast.
• Producer Gene Corman was also producer for Night of the Blood Beast.
• Executive producer Roger Corman was director and producer for It Conquered the World, Teenage Cave Man, The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent, Gunslinger, Day the World Ended, and The Undead. He was also executive producer for High School Big Shot, Night of the Blood Beast, Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II, Deathstalker II, Lords of the Deep (in which he also portrayed a corporate executive), and Munchie, as well as director for Swamp Diamonds, producer for Avalanche, and distribution producer for Starcrash.
• Cinematographer John M. Nickolaus Jr. was also cinematographer for High School Big Shot and Night of the Blood Beast.
• Editor Carlo Lodato was also editor for High School Big Shot.
• Art director Daniel Haller was also art director for The Girl in Lovers Lane and Night of the Blood Beast.
• Production manager Jack Bohrer was also assistant director for Teenage Cave Man and The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent, as well as production manager for Night of the Blood Beast.
• Prop designer John Cengia was also prop designer for Bloodlust! and The Screaming Skull.
• Property master Richard M. Rubin was also property master for Bloodlust!.
• Sound technician Al Overton also did sound for It Conquered the World, The Screaming Skull, and The Bubble, as well as sound recordist for Earth vs the Spider and sound mixer for The Phantom Planet.
• Associate editor Anthony Magro was also music editor for High School Big Shot.
• Costume designer Ed Nelson also portrayed George Beldridge in Superdome, a tribe member in Teenage Cave Man, a police sergeant in Swamp Diamonds, Dave Randall in Night of the Blood Beast, and Robert Denby in Riding with Death.

Critical Response

• Michael Weldon in The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film wrote: "The intelligent, bloodthirsty leeches living in the swamp are actually men in suction-cup-covered suits that didn't quite fit over their air tanks. Besides the unconvincing monsters, this fun cheapie has a cast of no-good swamp dwellers. A bartender (Bruno VeSota) discovers his sexy tramp wife (Yvette Vickers) passionately kissing Michael Emmet; he forces them at gunpoint into the swamp — leech food...It's only 62 minutes long and originally played with [A] Bucket of Blood.