An absurd introductory narrative precedes THE ASTOUNDING SHE-MONSTER! Then, another narrator takes over, telling us what we're witnessing on screen. The abduction of a socialite, made so much better by voice-over rather than any real dialogue. The scene shifts to the wilderness, where geologist, Dick Cutler (Robert Clarke- THE HIDEOUS SUN DEMON) walks his dog, unaware that nearby, a ship has landed. From this craft comes the shimmering alien of the title. Not only does she shimmer, but she seems to warp, as though made of some ethereal liquid. Either that, or she's imbibed too much space juice. Who really knows for sure? She saunters... no, sachets along, like an alien in need of a restroom. Still shimmering. Meanwhile, the kidnappers and their hostage arrive, all of this happening close to Cutler's remote cabin. Soon, all will meet together. What are the odds of such a confluence of various characters and events occurring? Perhaps the she-monster knows. Uh oh! The sachet-ing she-monster has the space voodoo, touch of death! She wanders... no, meanders through the forest, using her hands of deadliness! Who will survive this awfulness? Fans of all that is movie muck, rejoice! This is your day of deliverance! EXTRA CREDIT FOR: #1- The tough-talking crooks and their drunken moll. #2- The game of "in-and-out-of-the-cabin", where everyone leaves and re-enters several times, even after it appears they've escaped the horror! This is highly entertaining flotsam...

Saw this at my neighborhood theatre when I was seven. It not only scared me, it stayed with me in an eerie way, which I'll explain momentarily. The movie features one of those rare feminine monsters (think about it - how often were monsters women?). As I expounded on in my comments for 'Terror from the Year 5000', female monsters always frightened me much more than normal monsters and this was the first one I ever saw. To disturb my poor eight year-old psyche further, the glowing she-monster here was so shapely that I found myself feeling, um, stimulated in a certain way while simultaneously feeling stark terror! The look of her really did scare me but, unlike with most monster movies, I was unable to bring myself to close my eyes when she would appear.Around this time in my life I was taking guitar lessons at the local conservatory of music and my teacher just happened to be a nice looking woman (actually, probably a teen, but at eight who can tell the difference?). One night, while sleeping, I had a dream and the astounding she-monster made an appearance in it and for some reason she turned out to be my guitar teacher. But she was every bit as deadly and when she started toward me I woke up terrified. For the next eight years or so, this glowing apparition made intermittent appearances in my dreams and always woke me up when she did. It stopped somewhere around age seventeen (thank heaven).You would think that I would have avoided watching this source of personal nightmare, but you'd be wrong. The fact that she made appearances in my dreams just added to my fascination with this movie and I have watched it at every opportunity throughout my life. Naturally, as time marched forward, those opportunities became fewer and fewer until they stopped completely (for me) in 1984 - the last time it was run on a late-show that I know of.Recently, I was able to obtain a VHS copy. After doing so I began to wonder if there were any others who have as strange a connection to this film as I. I began with a Shirley Kilpatrick google search that eventually led me to a forum where the film had been earnestly discussed and I read through all the posts of that thread. One poster revealed that he had made a tradition of watching 'The Astounding She-Monster' once a year and another poster asked him why. Of all movies, why this one? His answer truly struck a chord within me - he said that when he watches this movie, the entire outside world disappears for him. Further, he describes how the film seems so existentially dreamlike - all that running around, ending up back in the same place over and over.Exactly right. I know just what he's talking about and for a long time I lived it repeatedly in my sleep. And by the way, I watched it last night and shivered when she appeared at the window the first time.

This is one of those so horrible they are awesome horror/scifi movies from the late 50's. I remember watching this on the Friday night Horror movie "Dimension 16", 10:30 Friday nights based out of Joplin, Missouri-"Do you know where your children are....HA HA HA" (scary laughter) anyway, this movie as a child scared the pants off of me, the sight of the glowing She Monster from outer space lurking around in the woods was pretty heady stuff when you are 6 years old. I was able to get it when it came out on DVD and while as an adult I can see how thin the plot is, how bad the acting is and how low budget and the sets are, it still brought back wonderful memories of hiding under the blankets with my sister after watching the eerily sexy She Monster. I read somewhere that the female lead was actually a stripper and the reason you always see her backing away from the camera (no ass shots) is that the costume was so tight she split the rear end out and the budget was so low they couldn't or wouldn't repair the costume. Don't know if that's a true story but I hope it is as it makes this campy little classic even campier.

This is the type of movie that if you were watching it when it first came out in 1957, you probably would have had the pants scared off you.Looking at it today, this is a movie that you can sit and watch with a bunch of friends and laugh. It's so ludicrous!!The 'special effects' surrounding our monster heroine are so bad and very erratic. Sometimes you see them and sometimes you don't.It's supposed to be night time, so how come when they are driving the jeep to try to escape, there is sunlight on the surrounding hills and sometimes our friends are driving right through the sunlight.My favorite character in this movie is the head thug, Nat Burdell. He's so 'tough', he's almost lovable. Looking at the list of movies that he has participated in since the early 1940's, he seems to be an accomplished actor. Things really must have been very bad in his personal life to wind up in a film like this. Who said that good acting was a requirement for this film???But all in all, if you're looking for some light-hearted movie to enjoy (don't expect anything great), either by yourself or with some friends, and you're just passing the time, RENT THIS MOVIE!!!!! YOU WON"T BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!!