Public Domain Movie: Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)

Attack of the Giant Leeches — Review

Attack of the Giant Leeches is a low-budget horror film from 1959. It might not be the most exciting of films and the giant leeches may look like walking body-bags with rubber teeth, but it is certainly worth a watch on a rainy day when you have nothing better to do.

Dave Walker owns a store in the Florida Everglades and it appears to be the hub of the local community. The customer’s—all of them men—just sit in the store talking and ogling Dave’s wife Liz. The fiery young Liz might be the local eye candy, but she isn’t exactly sweet to Dave and seems to have no respect for him at all. He is completely under her thumb. Under her thumb? My that’s an understatement! She tramples the guy underneath her dainty young feet. Early on in the film, and after a few harsh words from the lovely Liz, Dave tells the assorted onlookers: “Some day I’m going to give that she cat the whupping she’s been asking for.”

“Sure you will Dave,” someone says but he seems less than convinced.

Dave is actually a pretty decent guy, but is more than a little overweight and Liz adamantly refuses to let him have any candy. That is one diet that can’t be good for the big guy’s heart. Especially considering the way she flaunts herself in front of him.

It’s not just Dave that has problems though. The whole area has a very big problem to contend with in the form of the giant leeches that have set up home in the swamp, and the big suckers seem to have developed a taste for the human flesh.

Sadly for Dave the leeches find his wife as hard to resist as everyone else does and Liz is one of the first victims to be dragged into the swamp.

The local game warden Steve Benton, along with his girlfriend, Nan Grayson, and her doctor father, seem to be the only people who try to find out what is happening in the swamps. The local law enforcement officer seems less than interested in the whole thing, which leaves Steve, the doctor, and a crate of dynamite to try and resolve the situation.

Additional Information

Director: Bernard L. Kowalski

Cast

Ken Clark … Steve Benton
Yvette Vickers … Liz Walker
Jan Shepard … Nan Greyson
Michael Emmet … Cal Moulton
Tyler McVey … Doc Greyson
Bruno VeSota … Dave Walker
Gene Roth … Sheriff Kovis
Dan White … Slim Reed
George Cisar … Lem Sawyer