GIRLS HORRIBLE MOVIE NIGHT: WiHM Edition

Welcome readers to another crazy addition of Girls Horrible Movie Night, where I grab a couple of my favorite bloggers and we sit down and shoot-the- shit about a cheesy flick we just watched. I figured since it's WiHM, I would subject my dear blogger chums to a delightful classic piece of cinema trash called The Wasp Woman. This is a movie Elvira might even have issues staying awake for! My gal pals this time are Emma from Little Gothic Horrors and Holly from Holly's Horrorland! Thank you ladies for joining me!

Emma: Thank you for inviting us, Kweeny!

Holly: Yes, thank you, Kweeny! Glad to suffer with such great company!

KT: You know what I always say, "If I'm going to hell I'm dragging you all with me..." I mean...*cough* So Emma, tell the readers a quick summary of the movie we just watched?

Emma: Okay... Janice Starlin, founder and owner of a large cosmetics company, fears that company profits are falling because she's not cute enough to be the face of her brand any longer. She turns to a nutty scientist, Dr. Eric Zinthrop, who says he can reverse aging with enzymes he has extracted from queen wasp jelly. Impatient for results Janice breaks into Zinthrop's lab and injects herself with extra doses.  Unbeknownst to Janice, Zinthrop's animal test subjects had begun to mutate and become violent.

KT: Yeah well I'd be violent too if someone was poking me with stupid honey shots. Because we all can't be immortally beautiful like Emma and Holly here. Seriously, what do you ghouls use to stay so young?

Emma: Immaturity! Hehe.

KT: *chuckles* Oh I got that in spades...

Holly: Hah, same here!

KT: What do you think of the concept of the Wasp Woman Holly?

Holly: It reminded me of my mom who actually used to give me these royal jelly honey pills!

KT: REALLY? So this is a real thing? Well, not the crazy bitch turning into a wasp part...but the pills themselves?

Holly: Yep! They were like vitamins. Luckily they didn't have the same side effect!

KT: Weirdness. Woman will do pretty much anything for beauty now won't they?

Emma: Royal Jelly is sold in health food stores here, but I'm pretty sure it's just from bees not wasps!

(For the readers who don’t know, Emma is from Australia)

KT: I will say these Wasps are scary mother fuckers. They don’t care what you are, how big you are, they can just keep stinging you until you fall over dead. I am pretty sure a Queen Wasp isn't gonna take anyone's shit.

Emma: When they were making this movie they could never have envisioned that in about fifty years women would be injecting themselves with botulism to look young.

KT: *nods* It's true! kinda boggles the mind when you think about it. Here we are in 2013, watching a black and white movie about woman destroying themselves for beauty. Back then the idea of Wasp Jelly was scary. Now we bleach our assholes!

Holly: True enough Kweeny.

Yikes! That close-up of the wasp. *shudders* Yet they don't freak me out as much as spiders!

KT: I can handle spiders. I can handle snakes. In fact I love snakes! Wasps though...at least this movie wasn't about cockroaches. I'd be out of here in the flash.

Holly: I love snakes too! It's just bugs that eh, bug me.

KT: It's a pretty natural fear to have Holly.

Emma: Spiders freak me out, but I hate wasps. I was stung when I was a kid. I was visiting my grandparents, sitting out on their balcony, quietly minding my own business, and it stabbed me in the shoulder!

KT: Ouch!

Emma: Yeah, they're aggressive, evil little things!

KT: Yup, and they can just keep coming at you if they are mad. Which is why when Janice becomes the monster Wasp lady, I had to laugh. Her mask was just so terrible. Of course for the time period it was probably considered scary to think of woman as such aggressive monsters.

Emma: Yes, the mask was a shocker!

This was the first time I had actually seen the movie. I love the poster art for it, but talk about false advertising!

Holly: Indeed! It was unbeelieveable! (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

KT: *shakes head* Holly, you better beehave or I'll...

Emma: Ha! Buffy-worthy puns there, ladies! Well done!

Holly: Or you'll spank my beehind? lol. I'll quit now.

KT: *bows* I do what I can.

Have you guys ever seen the original black and white movie the Fly? The mask kinda reminded me of that. Though that one had a better story in my option.

Holly: *giggles* And yes, I loved The Fly! Just imagine if The Wasp and The Fly mated! *shudders*

KT: EW! That would be a match made in bug hell. She'd totally eat him after.

Holly: Of course.

Emma: What bugged me (hehe) was that here she was, a successful career woman who had built up her own cosmetics empire, and she was being blamed for the fall in company profits because she was getting older. Perhaps the company would have been making more money if the staff actually did a little work. Her female employees spent all their time gossiping, smoking and buffing their nails, and the male employees spent all their time gossiping, smoking and coming up with conspiracy theories about the boss.

KT: YES! That annoyed me too Emma! I wish we could say that today this doesn't happen, but sadly, this does. Women still do crazy things to keep their youth so they don't get booted out by the next new petty young girl to come along. It's sad.

Holly: I was thinking that too, Emma!

KT: So what does Janice do to try and save her company? Puts herself on the line to be a guinea pig for a new drug. And gets turned into a monster for her efforts. What do you think the lesson is here girls?

Emma: Look at all the celebrities who turn themselves into monsters with terrible cosmetic surgery now! Obviously no one paid any attention to the cautionary tale of 'The Wasp Woman'!

KT: It was probably not a very popular movie. Though you are right, it had a smashing poster! I wish she turned into that beastie!

Holly: Lesson here: Let someone else test the drug before you! Actually, not to even try them in the first place. Bee happy with yourself!

KT: LOL! Just Beeee yourself!

Holly: We're all beeautiful!

Emma: Haha!

KT: There is a certain charm to black and white movies isn't there? I dunno about you guys, but I am more forgiving to them then a bad movie done now. Some movies, like Troma, you can really tell were made with love, but some movies...they just don't have the feel that black and white cheese has.

Holly: Yes, the poster was the best thing about this movie! I agree completely! I love black and white movies. Even this one. And other early Corman movies. They're charmingly corny.

Emma: If they'd made the story portrayed in the poster it might have been interesting. "A beautiful woman by day - a lusting queen wasp by night." When did that happen? Did I miss all the lusting? I was expecting some kind of fifties femme fatale, but even when she started to get younger, she was more giddy schoolgirl than seductress. I do like the black and white though, and there's something about that Mid Century time period that always appeals to me

KT: Yeah, I think they missed an opportunity there. It had such potential to really delve into some deeper issues women face, but it just fell flat. I'd love to see someone do an amazing remake like they did for the Fly.

Emma: By the way, did anyone else laugh when Dr. Zinthrop stepped out in front of the car? Does that make me a sociopath?

Holly: There actually was a remake! In 1988 I beelieve (there I go again! lol)

KT: Maybe a wee bit of a sociopath, but we still love you.

Oh there was Holly? I'm gonna have to look it up!

Emma: I read there was a remake called 'Rejuvenatrix'.

Holly: I totally laughed at that too! And yep, that's the movie!

Emma: Oh, and apparently there was another remake for television in '95 called 'The Wasp Woman'/'Forbidden Beauty'.

KT: The Wasp Woman had so much potential, but when it came to touching anything meaningful, it just falls short. It's a shame really. I still had fun watching it, how about you girls?

Holly: Yep, despite its faults, I still enjoyed it too. And it makes me want to see the remakes!

Emma: Oh, yes! I definitely had a good time watching with you girls. It was a stinker though. I'd be interested to see the remakes too, but as I've never heard of them before now, I don't hold high hopes.

KT: From 1 to 5 how would you gals rate this honeycomb?

Emma: Haha. 1 but fun!

Holly:  I'm going to give it a 2, cause it gave me some good laughs!

KT: Well this was fun ladies! I think we should retire now and get our beauty sleep. Or perhaps you'd prefer Queen Wasp Jelly injections? *slaps on a pair of rubber gloves and pulls out a syringe*

Holly: Yes, please! There's some noisy children outside for me to attack. >: )

Emma: I don’t need any. I have my own beauty secrets. *flips her long dark hair* Thanks for all the fun, ladies!

KT: Holly needs a little help with the agony...*whispers from background singers* Agony…

Thank you both so much for joining me! Both of your blogs are fantastic just like you! Check out Little Gothic Horrors and Holly's Horrorland readers! You won't beeeee disappointed!