Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman

Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1993)

** (out of 4)

Remake of the 1958 cult classic has Darryl Hannah playing a smart woman who constantly allows herself to be taken advantage of. Her father uses her for her money while her no good husband (Daniel Baldwin) is constantly cheating on her with some trash from their town. After an encounter with a spaceship, the wife grows fifty feet and plans on setting everything straight. This isn't a "so bad it's good" movie like the original. It's not really bad but it's not really good either so in the end I must say that the film comes off as a disappointment because there's so much they could have done with the story but in the end they ended up doing very little. The funny side of the actual story could have made a good comedy but the film really comes off as lazy and not trying to get any laughs. The entire movie seems more interested in trying to develop characters and one has to ask themselves why. Do we really want to see the sad Hannah rise up (not that way) and overcome the tragedy in her life? Do we care that her mom was a nut? Why the filmmakers decided to add this type of thing or the shady deals of her father is beyond me but it really takes away from the sci-fi aspects of the film. The special effects are pretty lazy as well as are the performances. Hannah doesn't do too bad of a job but she certainly can't compare to the original film's star. Baldwin adds very little as the jerk husband. There are a few nods to the original film as well as Arkoff and Corman but the film needed a lot more of this and a lot less of the character development.