Fresh and Exciting

Absolutely brilliant

A Masterpiece!

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

When will the scientists in these 40s/50s sci-fi/horror films learn to stay away from the pineal gland? It only leads to misery and death. In She Devil, a brilliant scientist has developed a formula to help treat sick and injured patients. With the consent of a dying patient, Kyra Zelas (Mari Blanchard), Dr. Dan Scott (Jack Kelly) injects her with his formula. Once Kyra's pineal gland (here we go) is sufficiently stimulated, her disease immediately goes away. She's cured and everything's great. Well, not really. Not only did the serum cure Kyra, but it gave her other powers as well - the ability to heal instantly and the ability to change her hair color at will (which comes in handy when you're evading the police). It also took away many of her inhibitions and turned her evil. Killing to get what she wants doesn't seem to faze the new and improved Kyra.I loved She Devil much more than I should have. The IMDb rating of 5.6 is probably more indicative of the film's quality, but I found it much more entertaining than that. I compare it to the way I felt about another film I found much more entertaining than IMDb's rating would suggest - The Devil's Hand. In some ways they're very similar. Both are B&W, neither has a particularly outstanding cast, both are from the same time period, both are low budget thrillers, and both feature similar themes - man's destruction at the hands of a woman. What appealed to me most as I watched She Devil was Kyra's quick transformation from a sickly, docile woman to a beautiful, confident killer. Once she's cured, you can see the change on her face almost immediately. It came as little surprise when she popped the old guy on the head and took his money, changed her hair color (now that was a surprise), and coolly slipped past the police. What a fun scene! The main reason I sat down to watch She Devil was Mari Blanchard. I saw her in an episode of It Takes a Thief and was intrigued. She didn't disappoint. As Kyra, she commands the screen and dominates everything. Neither of her co-stars comes close to comparing to the screen presence she possessed. I'm looking forward to discovering more of her work.

Copyright 1957 by Regal Films, Inc. No New York opening. U.S. release: April 1957. U.K. release: July 1957. No record of any Australian release. 6,977 feet. 77 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A variant on "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" with Mari Blanchard making the transformation from sickly womanhood to beautiful, homicidal vamp.VIEWERS GUIDE: Adults.COMMENT: "B"players wrestle with a "B" script of unabashed banality. Neither the director (who co-authored the script) nor the special effects and make-up men are much help.OTHER VIEWS: A morbid and thoroughly disagreeable exercise in medical malpractice, murder and juvenilely pseudo-scientific mumbo- jumbo. Addicts of the artless may find compensation in the absurdly high-flying medical/ethical conversations ("She was destined to die anyway"). — Adapted from the "Monthly Film Bulletin".Neumann's film, "She Devil" was a step up, but not by much. Based on Stanley G. Weinbaum's story, "The Adaptive Ultimate", it postulates what might become of a person who has taken a serum derived from the fruit fly, "nature's most adaptive insect". Unfortunately, the answers that the film provides are unbelievably dull ones. Mari Blanchard plays the tubercular patient that is injected with the serum. It cures her but it has the Jekyll-Hyde effect of altering her physical appearance (her hair lightens and her skin color changes) and it gives her criminal tendencies... Under Neumann's plodding direction and script, the effect is dull rather than dramatic. The greatest visual asset of the film is the appearance of Albert "Dr Cyclops" Dekker as the elder scientist, but he and the rest of the dispirited cast are given little to do. — Dennis Fischer in an article published in Gary J. Svehla's marvelous fanzine "Midnight Marquee".

I too recall this picture when I saw it in a movie theater in Ashtabula, Ohio in the 50's. What I found fascinating about it was the Dr. who was in love with this patient and how difficult it was for him to finally make the decision to give her a shot of the anti-serum to stop the violence. I remember how she willed herself to change and become a blonde when she was in the changing room, how the Dr. stole some hair from her hair brush so he could have it analyzed and when she is given the final anti-serum and reverts back to the sweet brunette he loved. Even as a 8 year old,it touched me and made it quite memorable, even in these times. Would love to see it re-done as well. Also, does anyone know if there is any way to get a VHS of this picture?

I remember seeing this movie when I was a kid on the Sunday afternoon TV matinee. In the film, a terminally-ill woman will die unless an experimental drug is administered by the scientist who developed the serum, if I remember correctly, from some type of insect or spider (or was it some deadly plant?). Her life is saved, but she has developed extraordinary methods of survival and becomes seemingly indestructible. What can the scientist do to solve this situation? In many ways, this film is typical of the 50's "horror" genre as seen in its low-budget, B-list tier of performers and the opinion that a man can save a woman, but who can save a woman from herself (especially one who's developed into some kind of monster)? As a kid, I remember being really impressed with a scene where, to avoid being caught, the woman (having developed those incredible survival techniques), mentally changes her hair color from brunette to platinum blonde (much like a chameleon). I remember thinking that would be really cool to be able to do that! So while this film is no awards-contender, it's a memorable quasi-horror title from the 50's!