Michael Reeves, the director famed for his bloodthirsty classic WITCHFINDER GENERAL, made his feature film debut with this astonishingly low budget camp classic, which is tacky, tawdry, and totally insane. You won't believe the low budget when you watch this film, as the camera repeatedly shakes and the obviously grainy film stock ruins any of the landscape beauty that Reeves filmed. Despite these obvious flaws, there is a lot more to this film than you might expect, and it's not just another Italian exploitation piece. Mainly, there is an unexpected slice of broad comedy in the film, of the slapstick variety, which really comes into play when the heroes are chased by a trio of incompetent policemen, who repeatedly squabble and fall over. This kind of comedy sits oddly out of place with the horror of the film, and makes it all the more intriguing because of this.Ian Ogilvy also makes his film debut as the dashing hero of the film, who has some hilarious dialogue. It sounds like the voices have been dubbed over this film afterwards, and a lot of the dialogue is very, very unintentionally funny. Barbara Steele stars as Ogilvy's wife, but has a very small role, as she only filmed for a single day (even if that day did last 18 hours). For most of the film she is possessed by the spirit of the evil witch, Vordella, and her name is there simply to add more glamour and a bit of class and a "name" star to the proceedings. These pair are joined by a crusty professor of the occult, a certain Von Helsing, played with mischievous relish by John Karlsen, and a lot of the fun comes from the sparring between he and Ogilvy. Mel Welles also enjoys himself in a small role as a sleazy hotel owner, who meets an infamous hammer-and-sickle death by the witch.The horror elements of this relatively short film are almost outweighed by the comedy aspects of it, and the narrative concentrates on a car chase for the finale, in which weirdos on motorbikes ride around dangerously for no reason. This scene is so strange as to be almost deranged, and the viewer really must watch it because my description doesn't do it any justice. However, when there is violence the blood is quite liberal, and Reeves even uses close ups of writhing worms in eye sockets like Fulci did later in ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS.The witch itself looks quite horrible, even if the rubber mask is obvious. Even worse are the screeching noises which the witch makes, and these are in some respects very frightening and repulsive - it reminded me of the witch noises in THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. The stand out scenes of the film are the opening flashbacks to the witch's death, where she is drowned via a huge wooden contraption in the local lake. The later classic moments of WITCHFINDER GENERAL are foreshadowed here. THE SHE BEAST is a little oddity of a film, with an extremely low budget, yet Reeves adds in some distinctly unusual elements to make it more interesting than you would imagine at first. Worth tracking down.

The wiki and other sources have this film tagged/labeled as horror and fantasy but NOT comedy. A lot of people are calling this one a comedy-horror when it is not just because there is some comic relief or comical moments within the film. It's on the campy side - so it's fun at times.Overall this film is terrible - really bad. It is mildly entertaining in it's way but mostly boring to me. It's such a shame because I like Barbara Steele and this film is a waste of her good talent - for one thing she is not in this film enough to satisfy most of us.The movie is just over 1 hour and 18 minutes long and it took 30 minutes for the car wreck to happen and the ghost witch to enter into the man's wife. After the possession, it is still pretty much of a bore to watch with a handful of good scenes.3/10

Michael Reeve's first and youthful foray into genre film-making, while admittedly hamstrung by the obvious constraints of a penurious budget and inexperience, still yields up considerable entertainment. 'The She Beast' is a zesty, vengeful yarn of bedeviled witchery that goes beyond it being merely the tentative opening salvo from the talented auteur of the soon- to-be-legendary 'Witchfinder General'. Unlike many creaky horrors from the mid-sixties 'The She Beast' merits a re-visit not only for the other- worldly beauty of, Barbara Steele, but the almost pubescent, Reeves still manages to construct some luridly effective shock moments and generates a palpable Gothic sensibility which remains timeless. Yes, one can easily to point out the obvious faults; but it's far more amusing to kick back and enjoy all the frantic retributions of our lunatic, musili-faced witch. I will always have a soft spot for 'The She Beast' and it's edifying to notice that it has generated a considerable cult of personality all of its own.

Star billed, Barbara Steele supports Ian Ogilvy as a pair of newlyweds travelling in Romania when approaching darkness forces them to take overnight accommodation in a less than ideal pensione run by local creep, aptly named Groper (Welles). After leaving the seedy establishment early the next day following an altercation with Groper the night before, they crash into a lake leaving Steele reincarnated as a centuries-dead witch that terrorises the descendants of those who persecuted her to death. Only Count Von Helsing (Karlsen) and Ogilvy can keep the witch alive long enough to re-enact the ancient ritual that will hopefully return Steele from the dead.There's some obvious flair in director Reeves' imaginative tale, but it's outdone by the offbeat humour that was apparently more the result of second unit director Charles B.Griffith (a name that will be familiar to some). Aside from AIP regular Griffith, Mel Welles turns in a wonderfully hammed-up performance as the grubby local booze-hound and peeping tom, while Lucretia Love has a cameo as his smoking-hot niece for whom things turn ugly really quickly, much like the film's title character."She Beast" is camp and quirky with a bizarre "Keystone Cops" homage at the film's climax, where a man on a scooter seems to appear in every shot, from every direction, during a car pursuit. It's quite amusing, though difficult to relate to the film's narrative. Overall, if you're comfortable with Euro-horror, and certainly more comic-horror than serious suspense, then "She Beast" might be your cult companion.