"She Demons" (1958) just might give Ed Wood's "Plan 9 from Outer Space" (1956) a run for its money as worst movie of all time--although in the final analysis "Plan 9" is more fun. "She Demons" tells the story of a rich girl and her two male helpers stranded on a supposedly deserted island. The island, however, is inhabited by an evil Nazi scientist who uses nubile young girls for his insidious experiments. At the precise point that he attempts to "operate" on the beautiful rich girl, planes bomb the island and a volcanic explosion destroys the Nazi and his evil lab. (Gee, what timing!) Perhaps the one thing that elevates this film from true Ed Woodian wretchedness is the occasional shock, which, admittedly, probably would have frightened a ten-year-old kid in the Fifties.

Nazis, she-creatures, Hop Singh & the lovely Irish McCalla (Sheena, Queen of the Jungle on TV) populate this low-budget mess that couldn't be more fun. Bad dialogue abounds, Victor Sen-Yung (from Bonanza), Tod Griffin as a less than charismatic hero, and of course the beautiful, tall, athletic spoiled rich girl played by Ms. McCalla. Comical SS soldiers, beautiful dancing girls getting "make-overs" that don't quite work out and a "deserted" island. All the ingredients necessary for a shlock epic.A 5 out of 10. Best performance - the head Nazi doctor. Not to be missed if you have a hankering for b/w drive-in fare from the late, great 1950's. It's too bad I. McCalla didn't make more of these. She couldn't act a lick, and admitted that in interviews, and later became a well-known artist (painter) in the 60's. One of the real beauty pin-up queens of the 50's.

There is nothing good about this movie at all, not plot, dialogue, acting, directing- nothing. Set on a volcanic island in the Caribbean (which just happens to have a Nazi group sent there in the closing days of WWII), we quickly descend into a maelstrom of bad acting, overacting and non-acting- and the acting is the best part of the film! Just let me give a few examples: in the big fight scene between the brown-haired hero and the 250 pound head Nazi bully boy (not, I must add, the head scientist Nazi), the double for the hero is blonde and the double for the brute weighs about 170. The brute Nazi is searching for the three castaways (for castaways they are) in the mad Nazi scientist's laboratory with a torch, obviously having a hard time seeing- because the overhead light which is illuminating the room is TOO BRIGHT, no doubt. The hero is "hiding" behind a shelf- an OPEN-BACKED shelf which is located almost in the middle of the room. Another good guy is hiding around a corner. The corner is one foot wide and the hidee is two feet wide. In fact, the bad searcher Nazi guy ALMOST BUMPS INTO HIM. I mean, the searcher guy is like a WWF ref, for Pete's sake. The "scientist" has harnessed the power of lava to make women beautiful, apparently, a high priority project of the master race (Gee, why haven't our modern scientists thought of this?), and states that the lava is 65,000 degrees, about TEN TIMES HOTTER THAN THE SURFACE OF THE SUN. The teeth of the title She Demons ARE PART OF THE MASK!- they didn't even get separate teeth for this movie!Pure schlock, and not funny schlock either. However, if you are into bad movies, catch it... at your own peril.

A small group of people become shipwrecked on a seemingly deserted island. When one member of their group is attacked by a hideous looking female, the others realize they are not alone. Following the sound of a drum, the groups stumbles upon a Nazi encampment where all sorts of experiments are performed on several caged females. The group is discovered and must fight for their lives if they aren't to become the next Nazi casualties.I found She Demons much better than its reputation would suggest. I can obviously see the problems with the movie, but much of it is enjoyable in a corny, cheesy, 50s sort of way. Any movie with Nazis on a tropical island in 1958 has to have some fun, goof-ball moments. And the production values are above average for a 50s B-quickie like this. Many of the stage-bound sets overcome their limited budgets.And then there's the cast. The survivors are as unlikely a group as you'll see. First, there's the rich, spoiled beauty played by Irish McCalla. She has a way of delivering lines as I would imagine a living statue might - very little real emotion. Second is our hero played by Tod Griffin. A more buffoonish lead I've never seen. He's one of those guys you see in older movies who insists on pulling up his pants to his armpits. He also is fond of spouting some incredibly silly dialogue. Finally, Victor Sen Yung is the flunky. He was annoying as Charlie Chan's Number 1 son and is equally annoying here. He has the same delivery and tries out some of the same lame jokes.One scene in She Demons warrants special mention. When our group of castaways comes across the Nazi doctor, they naturally ask about his fiendish plan. What follows is the usual Mad Scientist Reveals His Whole Plan Scene. But this one is more detailed that most. His response has to be the longest explanation a mad genius ever gave in a movie. It goes on and on and on... I found it to be quite a hoot.If you're a fan of silly 50s horror/sci-fi movies, you might find a thing or two to enjoy here.