Don't Open That Door! #13: She Demons (1958)

Somehow we've gotten to installment #13 of my weekly PopMatters column, Don't Open That Door!, and I for one have no intention of stopping--or even slowing down. This week I'm celebrating the creep-fest that is 1958's She Demons, a movie that manages to involve a deserted island, gross medical experiments, mysterious deaths, mad scientists, and of course, Nazis.

It's all quite twisted and far more entertaining than it has any right to be, in part because of the fine acting of cult favorite Irish McCalla. But don't take my word for it! Here's the first paragraph of my review:

"Washed up on a deserted island after a hurricane, bottle-blond Jerrie sulks about her spoiled wardrobe, even as the guys she’s with—alpha male Fred, wisecracking Sammy and somber ship’s captain Kris—try to make the best of things. This multiracial crew grows concerned when they pick up radio transmissions that indicate the Air Force uses the island for bombing practice, although frankly the idea of Jerrie getting blasted into her component atoms doesn’t seem like such a tragedy. More surprising is Kris’s discovery of footprints up the beach. Our very own little United Nations in the surf doesn’t quite know what to make of them, but Kris at least is ready to start beseeching the local deities for—we presume—assistance. The answering drums may be evidence of divine intervention, but we suspect not."

You can read the rest of the column here. Please Like it on Facebook, Tweet about it, etc. If I can convince the good folks in charge of PopMatters that I actually have some kind of readership, they will continue letting me play in their sandbox.