Written by Daniella Purcell Guy Prevost (based on the short story by Zinta Zertuche) Directed by Jim Wynorski Starring Jennifer Rubin Doug Wert Daniel Travanti Melissa Brasselle |
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Wasp Woman (1995)There are some movies that successfully manage to cross-pollinate two genres. Some are fairly natural combinatons, such as the crossing of the sci-fi and western genres, while others are a tad more
bizarre. Take, for instance, our current subject, Wasp Woman, a cross between a monster movie and a ‘’Skinemax’ softcore porn. That should be enough to get anyone's attention, but is it a success?
Perhaps the fact that it's a Roger Corman production will help answer that question.
Like many of the good Corman productions, Wasp Woman has a…*stinging* (HA!) sense of fun about it. The instant we see the opening scene with a scantily clad jogger helplessly struggling against a swarm of computer generated wasps (a scene which, by the way, has almost nothing to do with the rest of the movie) we know what we’re in for. As if this wasn’t indication enough, we have a classic opening theme, which starts off as a fairly standard horror movie soundtrack but then evolves (devolves?) into a sleazy saxophone-driven tune that sounds like a homage to the Emmanuelle movies.
Probably the most widely known thing about b-movies, especially those who bear the Corman Seal of Kwality, is that lots and lots of skin and sex are choice ingredients for spicing up an otherwise dreary package. Fortunately, though, in the case of Wasp Woman any and all T&A is actually germane to the plot in a number of ways, thus perhaps making Wasp Woman the dream project for any b-movie maker. No wonder Corman returned to remake it after three decades.
The center of our film is Janice Starlin, the successful owner of a cosmetics company as well as its only model for years. Unfortunately, her investors are now blaming a recent sales decline on her because she’s considered too old to model her own products and they already have a younger woman lined up to become the company’s new flagship model. Despite the devotion of her boyfriend Alec who happens to be a photographer for the company, Starlin hits a low, the victim of the high standards of youth and beauty her own company helped establish. In fact, Starlin becomes so desperate she enlists the aid of a new ‘miracle drug’ from an outcast doctor experimenting with wasp enzymes.
You probably won’t need for me to write that the drug is largely ‘untested,’ that while it is successful in making Starlin look younger her personality becomes more ‘erratic,’ and she ends up doing the title justice, but I already did. In keeping with the film’s theme about sex appeal and gender relations, Starlin doesn’t just get to go waspy on her victims (her detractors, a couple of Judases in the company and, as her delusions and insecurities grow, eventually her boyfriend and secretary Mary), but she gets to go through the entire “she mates then kills” routine (well, not entirely: she does kill her rival model, but doesn’t ‘mate’ with her first. Sorry guys!). Symbolically, Janice tops her victims and then the lucky audience gets to witness some full giant-wasp-on-human action as Janice morphs mid…er, ‘act’ and proceeds to sting her victim into submission to be taken to her lair. Of course, her unlucky mates react with horror, rather than the befuddlement I would actually expect. I would think that if my sexual partner abruptly pulled a Kafka and turned into a giant insect I would be more confused than anything, but whatever.
But even in the face of all these bizarre yet kinky goings-on, Wasp Woman does have a point to make about the societal prevailance of idealizations of beauty and how they affect even those that perpetuate them, and it neither hammers it in or really fumbles it. Although I suppose Jennifer Rubin may be accused of playing on the old, stale 'cold businesswoman' archetype a bit too much, despite the presence of a happy romantic relationship (something the Janice Starlin in the original lacked), she actually does a fairly convincing job as Starlin, whose situation is made all the more poignant by by the fact that Rubin is far from bad looking (especially with the crappy make-up job that is supposed to distinguish 'old' Janice Starlin from the 'new and young.')
The rest of the acting is pretty good, producing no groan-inducing monologues or the like, but nothing to really distract you from the boob-insect monsters (oh, right, did I mention that the wasp monster Rubin morphs into even sports a little wasp-bra?) The special effects, however, are certain to leave an impression on the viewer. Besides the aformentioned sex-induced metamorphosis, there's also a scene that can only be described as 'marvelous' where a giant wasp literally springs on an unsuspecting driver (this after a radio broadcast in the car ends abruptly with "AND NOW THIS...")
Considering that this is a Roger Corman production and a Jim Munchie and Ghoulies IV Wynorski film, this really isn't that bad at all. In fact, if you can only see one midly sexual film about seductresses who turn into insects, I would recommend this one.
Not enough wasp action for you? Then go check out Liz's take on the original Wasp Woman and then read our debate about both versions.
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