Excellent, a Must See

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Not going to mince words: Eddie Cahn's "Voodoo Woman" is terrible. Tom Conway deserved better than this, but when the roles aren't there and you need work then these kinds of films are what you're stuck with. He's a mad doc in voodoo tribe trying to use their magic with his science in the hopes of creating a monster to be shown to those colleagues who might have found his theories balderdash. Mary Ellen Kay is the pretty, blond wife trapped in a home, with posted tribal guard wielding a mean spear. Marla English is greedy and bad, hoping to gain gold possibly found at the tribe of Martin Wilkins' priest, Chaka. Her fiancé, Norman Willis, is equally repellent. Following Marla, the two commission Mike Connors as knowledgeable guide to lead them to the tribe, but the triangle deteriorates as they get closer to their destination. Conway must manipulate the tribe and keep his standing among them respected so they won't turn on him. Dealing with the tribe gradually becomes more and more difficult. Conway's mad dream might see reality when he meets Marla. Willis strangles a tribal girl he seemingly was trying to sexually assault which gets him in deep trouble. Meanwhile Connors meets Kay, the two planning escape. Marla is to be turned into the monster (documented to be a costume held over from She Creature) by Conway but, of course, that goes awry. Conway didn't age well due to his alcoholism, and this film is so far distant from the classy pictures he made for Val Lewton a decade earlier. His suave and smooth vocally rich tenor remains his best asset, but the role he's stuck with, a rotten soul bound and determined to make himself a monster, is no great shakes. Marla kisses and peddles her sexual wares to secure a profit, broke and without any future prospects, owing even a bar tab, needing either Willis or Connors to get her near something valuable... she'll never be confused with a bona fide thespian. Neither will Kay who crashes to her bed and cries into the pillow, overwrought as Conway insists, with the occasional insult or slap to the kisser, she never leave...Conway does like to scare her with what he's doing with the tribe beauty in his basement. Connors is often held at gunpoint or spear, just wanting to leave, eventually joining forces with Kay. The voodoo tribe and their use in horror in the 40s and 50s wouldn't fly today. Predating the cannibal jungle horror of Italian vintage twenty years, films like Voodoo Woman could be seen as a precursor...the ways of a tribe in the jungle were viewed here as primitive, often easy to deceive and frighten by Conway's cunning scientist, capitalizing on their beliefs and worship practices to benefit his own diabolical agenda. Conway, though, puts himself in danger by having his monster attack the tribe, and places his own body in harm's way. Marla's fate at a pit because she didn't kneel to pick up a gold artifact is laughable. The plot regarding how the monster is manufactured is preposterous.

Watch this film if you want to make fun of a movie. There is a lot to make fun of here because it's a real eye-roller. Dumb looking creature with a blonde wig. WOW that's scary! Let's not forget the bad acting - in particular the dark haired female lead. This female lead is just hateful and not tough. There's more to poke fun at but that give you and idea already. It's also very boring so it will help to pass the time to make fun of the film.Why isn't this another "Voodoo Man" titled film instead of being called "Voodoo Woman"? It's a man that is using voodoo to hoodoo the islanders among others. He's a "mad scientist" trying to create a perfect indestructible race that will do his bidding. Whatever.OK this film is going in my "garbage films" list. 2/10

*Spoiler/plot- 1956, Natives in Africa are invoking magic with a modern sci-fi twist, a mad scientist is involved seeking to produce a race of super humans. Gold seekers invade the village and they become sacrifices to the voodoo god and a rescue adventure begins.*Special Stars- Mike 'Touch' Connors, Marla English, Tom Conway, Lance Fuller, Mary Ellen Kaye.*Theme- Africa holds some of the oddest and strange customs and beliefs.*Trivia/location/goofs- Enjoy or NOT the early acting Mike "Manix" Connors aka B-Movie idol billed as 'Touch' Connors at this early time of his career.*Emotion- An enjoyable but rather crazy version of the "Frankenstein" plot story, only in Africa.

"Voodoo Woman" is a super-cheap film from American-International Pictures. Now you know it's cheap as instead of giving the project to Roger Corman (who had a knack for making good films out of nothing), Edward Cahn directs this silly mess of a film.The film is set in voodoo country--a land inhabited by obese people who inexplicably have allowed a totally loony white man (Tom Conway) to live among them with his wife. I say inexplicably because these natives hate outsiders and keep threatening to kill him--then minutes later they're teaching him their deepest secrets! At the same time, an incredibly violent and vicious woman (Marla English) and her male cohort are planning on an expedition to the tribe with whom Conway lives--as the place apparently is loaded with gold. They need a guide, so they convince tough-talking Mike Connors to join them.By the time Connors and his new 'friends' meet up with Conway and his 'friends', it's obvious that bad things will happen. That's because Conway is truly crazy and plans on using his personal voodoo monster to kill (bummer)--all with very predictable results. All the viewer knows is that it's all pretty confusing and messy and you just want them all to die. Fortunately, most of them do! This film is just plain dumb. Often the plot just made little sense so someone would just kill someone of Marla would turn into a monster--the story itself made little difference. Bad acting, horrible writing and awkward direction--there really isn't anything to recommend this film unless you like bad movies. Pretty dumb...and made worse by the omnipresent soundtrack consisting of bongos--lots and lots of bongos! Yuck!