The She Creature
| The She Creature | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Edward L. Cahn |
| Produced by |
Alex Gordon associate: Israel M Berman executive: Samuel Z. Arkoff |
| Written by | Lou Rusoff |
| Based on | an original idea by Jerry Zigmond |
| Starring |
Chester Morris Marla English Tom Conway Cathy Downs Spike |
| Music by | Ronald Stein |
| Cinematography | Frederick E. West |
| Edited by | Ronald Sinclair |
|
Production
company |
Golden State Productions
|
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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77 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $104,000 |
The She Creature (also known as The She-Creature) is a 1956 American black-and-white horror film produced by American International Pictures from a script by Lou Rusoff (brother-in-law of AIP executive Samuel Z. Arkoff). It was produced by Alex Gordon and directed by Edward L. Cahn. The monster costume was created by master make-up artist Paul Blaisdell and is considered one of his best.
The film was released by American International Pictures as a double feature with It Conquered the World.
The plot concerns an oily carnival hypnotist Dr. Carlo Lombardi (Chester Morris), whose experiments in hypnotic regression take his unwitting female subject Andrea Talbott (Marla English) to a past life as a prehistoric humanoid form of sea life. He uses the physical manifestation of the prehistoric creature to commit murders. The hypnotist's motives are never explicitly described, and the murders happen, apparently, either for revenge or notoriety.
The story was inspired by the success of the best-selling book The Search for Bridey Murphy, which concerned hypnotism. Exhibitor Jerry Zigmond suggested this subject might make a good film, and AIP commissioned Lou Rusoff to write a script.
AIP did not have enough money to entirely finance the film, so the company asked Alex Gordon if he could contribute the remainder. Israel Berman, a colleague of Gordon's brother Richard, knew a financier called Jack Doppelt, who agreed to provide $40,000 of the film's $104,000 budget.
Edward Cahn persuaded his old friend Edward Arnold to play the hypnotist for $3,000 for one week's work, and also cast Peter Lorre. Arnold died two days before production, prompting Lorre to read the script, after which he pulled out of the film. The producer had to find a substitute cast quickly.
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