The Wasp Woman

An aging model/cosmetics executive (Jennifer Rubin) finds a way to reverse the aging process through an experimental wasp drug, but it has deadly consequences as she morphes from time to time into a giant man eating wasp.

Much better then you would expect remake of the original Roger Corman camp classic, though this remake is dead serious. It features a very appealing turn by Jennifer Rubin, and actually focuses more on characterization then cheap scares (even though it does have its share of them). However, the film does feature poor monster effects.

Rated R; Nudity, Violence, Sexual Situations, and Profanity.

There is a long list of movies that should never have been made. Congo, 200 Cigarettes, Cool World, My Blue Heaven, Eye of the Beholder to name a few, and alas, Wasp Woman. This movie was beyond bad. I could have done better with a ten year old Camcorder, a fifth grade drama class, and a shoebox diorama. I'm all for campy films that appeal to my sense of goofy, but this film tried to pass itself off as legit. My husband and I watched it on late-night cable and scarily enough, found ourselves unable to turn it off. We were just so amazed at the horrible acting, wretched makeup (drawing lines with an eye pencil on Jennifer Rubin's face does not an aging woman make), ridiculous "special" effects, and lack of continuity. In one scene, the receptionist is walking down a hallway. She has straight hair. When she opens the door and sits down outside, she has very curly hair. Bad. But, if you want to watch a complete no-brainer, this is for you!

This was part of a series of Showtime produced remakes of Roger Corman classics. I don't know if the world was clamoring for a remake of WASP WOMAN but we got it. Jennifer Rubin stars as the owner of a cosmetics company who starts to depend on the experimental work of an discredited doctor (Daniel J. Travanti) in order to maintain her youth. Hey, that is the exact same plot as CATWOMAN! Only this cost about $84 million less. Director Jim Wynorski fares well enough with this entry in his extensive filmography. The movie is filled with bad acting (most notably from Rubin), cheesy effects and bad dialogue. But it moves fast enough, contains plenty of nudity (courtesy of Maria Ford) and features some B-acting greats (Gerrit Graham, Jay Richardson). And, at the very least, you get to see Emmy award winner Travanti get attacked by a big wasp that used to be his pet cat.

I saw this film because I like to watch monsters run around and eat people! And there's plenty of rubbersuit-monster stompin n' chompin n' slicin n' dicin! See her turn into a wasp in bed with a man! See her rip a rival model apart right in the photo room! See her morph in broad daylight! See a weird dream sequence that proves, once and for all, that too much sunlight CAN kill you! :) Frightfully silly, but that just adds to its cheese/fun factor. It's one of my favorite killer-bug movies!

The Wasp Woman (1995) was a made-for-cable version of the original 1960 classic B-movie. Well, this was made for pay cable but the film-makers didn't focus enough on the adult aspect of the story-line. Instead they tried to make a cheesy sci-fi/horror film with enough glad handing and back slapping to make this one unenjoyable. This remake was a lot better than the one made several years before, but it still is missing something. I mean you have a decent director Jim Wynorski and an attractive lead actress, plus the theme of the film. I don't know. Maybe I was hoping too much for an actual movie that delivers the goods.

Well, it was a decent made-for-cable-t.v. movie. But it could have been so much better. Believe me it could have. Who knows, maybe three times the charm!

Slightly recommended.