Title: Attack of the Giant Leeches
Year: 1959
Genres: Horror; Science Fiction; Creature Feature
Director: Bernard L. Kowalski
Cast:
- Ken Clark as Doug McMahon, the Coast Guard investigator
- Yvette Vickers as Lois Benson, Jim’s sister and Doug’s love interest
- Robert Dix as Sheriff Jim Benson, determined to stop the swamp killings
- Robert Bean as Dr. Bradshaw, local physician called to investigate wounds
- Bartle Stevens as Ed Benson, Jim’s father and a retired lawman
Synopsis:
When bizarre, bloodless murder victims begin turning up around the Florida Everglades, Coast Guard Lieutenant Doug McMahon is dispatched to assist Sheriff Jim Benson. The two men—and Lois Benson—discover ominous 12-inch tracks leading to the swamp, where enormous leeches have mutated into man-sized predators. As the creatures drag victims beneath the murky waters, Doug devises a plan using high-powered lights and gasoline to lure them into a trap. In a climactic swamp battle, the leeches are incinerated, and the terror finally ends.
Trivia:
- Shot on location in the Florida Everglades over just eight days, the film’s low budget contributed to its cult-classic charm.
- Producer Gene Corman, brother of Roger Corman, used this feature to launch a series of inexpensive horror films for American International Pictures.
- Clocking in at just 72 minutes, it was designed as a double-feature companion to other drive-in fare and lapsed into the public domain due to non-renewal of its copyright.
- Its oversized leech puppets and rubber costumes have become emblematic of 1950s creature-feature aesthetics.