The Leech Woman Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Edward Dein
USA 1960

Hoping to discover the secret to eternal youth, Dr. Paul Talbot (Phillip Terry, The Lost Weekend) drags his long-suffering wife, June (Coleen Gray, The Killing), to follow him to Africa. When captured by natives, they witness the shocking metamorphosis of one of the old women into a young girl. But this "magic" is short-lived ... and, as the Talbots soon learn, requires a male sacrifice!

After Talbot forces his wife to make the transformation, she turns the tables on their tortured marriage and heads back to New York, a voluptuous recreation of her former self. But her beauty cannot last ... at least not without a healthy supply of male victims!

***

A woman, worn by alcoholic abuse and, at the end of a failing marriage to a doctor travels with him to Africa in search of a secret to youthful restoration. One catch - the potion requires the fluid from a pineal gland of a man hence the film's edict 'Forever young! Forever deadly! She lived off the life blood of male victims! ' . Grim and amusing film flawed by its incongruities but folks you are supposed to accept the faux-pas... and if you do it is more 'B' fun.

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 1960

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Comparison:

Universal - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Universal Home Video - Region 0 - NTSC	Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:17:00	1:17:10.208
Video	1.85:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.69 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.85:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 25,210,081,510 bytes Feature: 24,039,788,544 bytes Video Bitrate: 36.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1619 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1619 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1632 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1632 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, French, None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Universal Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Trailer DVD Release Date: September 11th, 2007 Keep Case Chapters: 17	Release Information: Studio: Shout! Factory 1.85:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 25,210,081,510 bytes Feature: 24,039,788,544 bytes Video Bitrate: 36.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • NEW Audio Commentary With Author/Film Historian Tom Weaver, Film Music Historian David Schecter, Author/Film Historian Alan K. Rode With Archival Audio Interview With Actress Coleen Gray • Theatrical Trailers (3:50) • Still Gallery (3:48) Blu-ray Release Date: August 27th, 2019 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Shout! Factory Blu-ray (August 2019): Shout! Factory have transferred Universal's 'B' horror The Leech Woman to 1080P Blu-ray. It is advertised as a "NEW 2K Scan Of The 35mm Fine Grain Composite" and is on a single-layered disc but the 1-hour 17-minute film still has a max'ed out bitrate. It seems to be cropped - notably on the right edge as compared to the DVD - but shows the equivalent more on the left edge. It looks about as good as it can in 1080P - but that is rather modest and flat - but consistent with some film-like thickness. It looked okay in-motion.

NOTE: 24 more full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray captures for Patrons are available HERE.

On their Blu-ray, Shout! Factory use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. It is another advancement in the film's audio and score credited to Irving Gertz (It Came From Outer Space, Blonde Ice and Plunder Road, The Deadly Mantis among others), and an uncredited Hans J. Salter (Man Without a Star, The Killer that Stalked New York, The Strange Door, Cover Up, Scarlet Street, The Land Unknown, The War Lord, The Mole People, The Strange Case of Doctor Rx), Frank Skinner (Madame X, Magnificent Obsession, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, All That Heaven Allows, Thunder Bay, and The Naked City) and Henry Vars (Seven Men From Now), sounding fairly deep with some shock-value bass. Shout! Factory offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Shout! Factory Blu-ray add a new audio commentary with author/film historian Tom Weaver who is both fun and knows his stuff referencing his own interviews of days gone by - there are cuts to film music Historian David Schecter who discusses The Leech Woman's music and specifics of who really composed what, author/film historian Alan K. Rode with an archival audio interview with actress Coleen Gray (I haven't reached that part yet - but look forward to it!) There are also two trailers - the first with only music and the second with narration re-recorded from the original script. Lastly, is a 4-minute stills gallery of glossies and posters.

The Leech Woman evokes memories of Night of the Cobra Woman, Robert Siodmak's The Copra Woman and even The Wasp Woman... especially with it's salacious, but eventually overstated, advertising of an insatiable femme-fatale -"She Drained Men of Their Loves and Lives". I always found this one of the more re-watchable 'Universal Sci-fi' gems although no where near the level of Tarantula (1955) or The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) but about the level of, another fav, Cult of the Cobra. I LOVE Coleen Gray (Leech Woman her only marquee-credited role) especially since Nightmare Alley. This also has Grant Williams (The Incredible Shrinking Man, and Gloria Talbot (I Married a Monster from Outer Space) so it makes it all the more pleasurable. The Leech Woman is near the end of the innocent sci-fi horror fun 'era' from Universal. It's a film I will cherish on Blu-ray and I'm appreciative of the commentary. Many may differ.