Skyland Drive-In Theatre presents
She Demons (1958)

Director – Richard Cunha
 

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Plot
Film Notes
Cast and Production Credits

The Plot

Three men and a woman (Irish McCalla!) are shipwrecked on a volcanic island and the rest of the world thinks they are dead. The remote island is about to be used for U.S. bombing practice, and is the domain of an insane Nazi scientist using beautiful women in human experiments. And you guessed it, he's turning them into She Demons!

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Film Notes

Here is a Tale of Pre-Castaways...

If you were to consider the pre-1964 history of the world to be ever evolving toward the creation of Gilligans Island, then Richard E. Cunha's She Demons is perhaps a genetic road not to be taken away lightly. Imagine Gilligan, the Skipper and Ginger in the clutches of a lava loving mad Nazi doctor with post Concentration Camp ambitions, and then add Jackie Gleason's June Taylor dancers gone native cavorting under a moon lighting the way for America's insatiable need to perfect its bombing skills...well there you go.

She Demons Will Feed Your Brain With...

...Irish McCalla, hurricanes, native drums, Nazis with whips, hypodermic needles, beach walks, Irish McCalla, Navy bomber planes, caves, Nazi's in lab coasts, Irish McCalla, jungle walks, exotic dancing, native girl whippings, snakes, bad skin, Nazi torture camps, bamboo cages, hot volcanic matter, Irish McCalla, a faceless Nazi wife, thermal energy theories, the extraction of "Character X," Irish McCalla...

Whither Thou Goest, Sheena

Number one reason (OK the only non-certifiable reason) to view She Demons is Irish McCalla. The former star of 1950s TV Sheena of the Jungle, Ms McCalla was the very definition of statuesque. With reported measurements of 39 1/2 - 18 - 37, she was a major blonde bombshell who rocketed from midwest nowhere to top pin-up model, to early TV stardom, followed by a brief "B" movie career, then down and out to some bit TV roles, before blowing Hollywood to become a technically proficient artist with an overly sentimental, kitschy style that sold quite regularly in the Southwest.

The Truth Behind Making Movies

Director Richard E. Cunha is infamous for his cinematic philosophy of making certain to always first film the beginning and end. That way if time and/or budget runs out, you just throw in some dissolves and you still have a viable movie.

The quality of his films, which include Giant from the Unknown, Missile to the Moon and Frankenstein's Daughter, are sometimes lumped in with Ed Wood Jr's as "the worst movies ever made," but in actuality Mr Cunha had some real technical skills that prevent his films from descending to the lower depths of Mr Wood's efforts.

Victor Victor

Victor Sen Yung long career began with him playing "Number Two Son" in the Charlie Chan movie series. Like many Chinese actors, he wound up making a living playing Japanese characters in a number of World War II films and Koreans in Korean War films. He is probably most recognizable as Hop Sing, the Chinese cook in TV's Bonanza. His role as Sammy in She Demons was not one of his prouder moments.

Looking a Bit Deeper at the Demons of She Demons:

It's a Sieg Heil World Afterall?

She Demons belongs to that shadowy corner of film, literature and art that found strange fascination with Nazis rising from the ruins of World War II to continue their quest for world, or individual conquest.

From the late 40s through the 70s, Nazi scientists, doctors, officers roamed the earth in "B" movies, pulp novels, comic books, underground art, and even Israeli pornography. Their plans and actions ranged from resurrecting the Reich to lesser more personal domination schemes.

Films of this sub-sub genre include such mostly low budget works as Creature with the Atom Brain, Red Planet Mars, Amazing Transparent Man, The Whip Hand, Shock Waves and They Saved Hitler's Brain. The Boys from Brazil and Marathon Man represent Hollywood's bigger budget attempts to tap into the fascination.

In the "is it art or pornography" category, The Night Porter and Salo took the darkness to extremes.

The above question need not be asked of the twisted burst of softcore pornography in the 70s that gave ugly afterbirth to a series of Nazi related films like Ilsa - She Wolf of the SS, Love Camp 7, and Fraulein Devil.

As World War II falls further back in the historical rear view mirror, the genre seems to be dying a pop cultural slow death.

--Ed Schneider – Alameda TV

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Cast

Production Credits

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For more on...

Irish McCalla

Richard E. Cunha

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