Voodoo Woman

Harry West (Norman Willis} discover gold in the voodoo idol of a tribe of a jungle in Bantalaya, somewhere in Overseas France. Harry enlists a pair of treasure hunters, one of them is the beautiful but ruthless Marilyn Blanchard (Marla English). Hoping to take the treasure for themselves, Marilyn murders Harry. They con the innocent Ted Bronson (Mike Connors) into acting as a jungle guide and leading them to the tribe that made the idol.

Meanwhile, Dr. Roland Gerard (Tom Conway), a mad scientist who has exiled himself deep in the same jungle, is using a combination of native voodoo and his own biochemical discoveries in an attempt to create a superhuman being. He hopes that this being, possessing the best of man and beast, will be the mother of a new perfect and deathless race which he will control with a mixture of hypnosis and telepathy. He is accompanied by his wife, Susan (Mary Ellen Kay), who has long since disavowed her husband but remains trapped by her husband and the natives.

Dr. Gerard's initial attempts to create a female superbeing are a failure because the transformation is only temporary and the native girl used as the subject of the experiment lacks the killer instinct he deems necessary for survival. However, when he stumbles upon the party of treasure hunters, he decides that Marilyn will be a perfect subject for his experiment. He successfully turns her into an invulnerable monster, but her inherent selfishness and greed outweigh his mental control over her and she turns on him. Ted and Susan are able to escape in the ensuing chaos.

• Marilyn Blanchard, treasure hunter – played by Marla English
• Rick Brady, Marilyn's cowardly killer of a boyfriend – played by Lance Fuller
• Dr. Roland Gerard, a mad scientist - played by Tom Conway
• Susan Gerard, the doctor's trapped and terrified wife – played by Mary Ellen Kay
• Chaka, the witch doctor who is Gerard's partner in monster-making – played by Martin Wilkins
• Bobo, the Gerards' native houseboy who gently looks after Mrs. Gerard – played by Otis Greene
• Gandor, a burly and surly native guard with a spear – played by Emmett Smith
• Zaranda, a gentle native girl and the first victim of Gerard's evil experiment – played by Jean Davis
• Marcel, a good-naturedly crooked bar owner in a lawless French African town – played by Paul Dubov
• Yvette, the singing bargirl - played by Giselle D'Arc
• Harry West, a tough-talking treasure hunter who lets the wrong woman see a gold and gem-decorated voodoo doll – played by Norman Willis
• Ted Bronson, a heroic, handsome but rather hapless jungle guide – played by Mike "Touch" Connors
• The Voodoo Women, an identical pair of massively mutated zombies – created and played by Paul Blaisdell

Paul Blaisdell who played the monsters and also appeared in the bar room sequence believed that as producer Alex Gordon had a big hit with The She-Creature, he decided to produce a second film for American International Pictures about a female monster. As the scriptwriters of that film were busy on other films, Gordon turned over the writing to actor Russ Bender, who was a pre-war pulp fiction writer and V.I. Voss. Blaisdell recalled the shoot was not a pleasant one. Marla English developed a bad case of flu, Blaisdell was injured when real acid was poured on his arm and Lance Fuller and Mike Connors had a "who can be taller" contest with each actor adding higher lifts to their shoes.[2]

Originally titled Black Voodoo,[3] the film was shot during the cold California winter of 1956-57 under a fast working schedule of six days and a budget of $80,000. Producer Alex Gordon wanted Peter Lorre who refused to work with him and then George Zucco, the star of Voodoo Man, who was too ill to work. With the shooting date drawing near, Tom Conway was chosen, who like Marla English and Paul Dubov, had also been in The She-Creature. Publicity for the film declared "Not since he starred in The Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie has Tom had a role like his current one!" [4].

In an interview with Tom Weaver, Mike Connors said,

"I remember that they had set the jungle up on a stage, and you could only shoot about ten feet at a time. Then they'd move the camera and shoot ten feet going the other way, and then ten feet sideways and ten feet this way. It was kinda difficult to visualize what you were trying to put over, it was tough to see a jungle that was only ten feet by ten feet square and picture yourself deep in the heart of Africa!"[5]

The original make-up design for the Voodoo Woman was deemed unsuitable at the last minute and the title monster is actually the She Creature costume hurriedly stripped of its tail, fins and pincer-like claws. What remained was the bulky Thing-style body, which was wrapped in a burlap sarong and topped with a modified skull mask and big blond wig. Cahn worked actively to conceal this fact, using quick cuts and keeping her mostly in shadows or behind foliage. The rumbling growl of a lion was also dubbed for added effect.

Lance Fuller reportedly had a two-films-a-year deal over five years with Golden State Productions.[6]

In his The Pit and the Pen column in Fangoria magazine producer Alex Gordon revealed that the movie nearly caused a break-up with his then-fiance Ruth Alexander. Proud of the finished production he took her to see it at its Burbank premiere only to have her hand back his engagement ring when it was over, telling him that he should be making prestigious high class art films and not trash like this. Luckily, his brother Richard was able to explain to her the differences between low budget and big budget film-making, and she and Alex were eventually married, with her later actually scripting several of his features.

Darrell Calker composed scores for more than 200 movies, both live action and cartoons, where he was the musical director for Walter Lantz Productions.[7]

Giselle D'Arc, born Giselle Camille Prugnard, was a soprano vocalist with a five-octave range. In addition to singing the title song in her role as a bargirl, she provided vocals for the film's score. Whilst she was singing for Liberty Records, she was discovered by Jeff Chandler who brought her into motion pictures.[8] She later married Clint Walker.

Black Voodoo
Lyrics by John Blackburn
Music by Darrell Calker
Sung by Giselle D'Arc (AKA Giselle Camille Prugnard Hennessy)

We're doing it Chaka. White man's science and the black voodoo. - Dr. Roland Gerard

• List of American films of 1957

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Voodoo Woman

• Voodoo Woman at IMDb
• Voodoo Woman at AllMovie
• Voodoo Woman at the TCM Movie Database
• Voodoo Woman at the American Film Institute Catalog