She Devil (1957 film)
A serum turns a dying woman into a ruthless killer.
She Devil is a 1957 American science fiction horror film produced, written, and directed by Kurt Neumann for Regal Films. Shot in widescreen RegalScope, it was released by 20th Century-Fox on a double bill with Regal's Kronos. The film is based on Stanley G. Weinbaum's short story 'The Adaptive Ultimate.'
Quick Facts
- Director
- Kurt Neumann
- Screenplay
- Kurt Neumann; Carroll Young
- Based on
- the story "The Adaptive Ultimate", Stanley G. Weinbaum
- Starring
- Mari Blanchard
- Jack Kelly
- Albert Dekker
- Music
- Paul Sawtell; Bert Shefter
- Cinematography
- Karl Struss
- Editing
- Carl Pierson
- Studio
- Regal Films
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Dr. Dan Scott has developed a serum based on the adaptive qualities of the fruit fly, which he believes can cure illness by enabling organisms to adapt to harmful situations. After successful tests on animals—curing pneumonia in a hamster, mending a cat's broken spine, and healing a panther's lacerations—he seeks a human subject despite the objections of his mentor, Dr. Richard Bach. He finds Kyra Zelas, a meek woman dying of tuberculosis, who consents to treatment. The serum instantly cures her but also transforms her personality. Kyra becomes assertive, robs a man, steals a dress, and changes her hair color from brunette to blonde at will. Bach suspects the serum has caused a dangerous change. Scott falls in love with Kyra, but at a party she seduces Barton Kendall and murders his wife Evelyn when she objects. Bach theorizes that overstimulation of the pineal gland has turned her into a devil. Attempts to drug her fail, and she marries Kendall, then goads him into shooting her; the wound heals instantly. During a drive, she takes the wheel and causes a crash that kills Kendall. The doctors finally pump carbon dioxide into her room while she sleeps, perform surgery to reverse the serum's effect on her pineal gland, and restore her terminal disease.
Reception
Film critic Glenn Erickson noted that the black-and-white RegalScope format gives the modest production a handsome look, with Kurt Neumann's direction described as competent if not stylish. A car crash murder scene was an RKO stock shot from the 1952 Otto Preminger noir Angel Face, cropped for the scope format, and still looks frightening. A portrait of Kyra, meant to be by an Italian master but resembling a Paint By Numbers atrocity, becomes the focus of Dan's obsession.
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