Today I learned about the death of Yvette Vickers. Actually, she died about a year ago, but she was just found in her home. Sadly, no one had checked around for her in a year. She was only found because a neighbor noticed cobwebs in Yvette's mailbox last month, and thought to investigate. Her body was described as mummified, although I don't know why it was in that state. Here's a pretty photo of her:
Yvette is probably best known for her role in "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman." She also starred in various B-Movies including, "Attack of the Giant Leeches." This movie came out in 1959 and is like various other sci-fi movies from this time. There's some mutated giant creature (that would have been gross even at a normal size) running around, and there's some romance thrown in. I saw this movie years ago on Svengoolie, and probably slept through some of it.
If you have some free time, and can stomach it, here is "Attack of the Giant Leeches" in its entirety! Also, here is some trivia about the movie:
* It was produced on a budget of $70,000. (I can't believe the budget was that high)
* The giant leeches were played by actors in sack-like suits made of thin black plastic - complete with fake "suckers" sewn on.
* This film was also called Attack of the Blood Leeches, Demons of the Swamp, She Demons of the Swamp, and War of the Giant Leeches.
* The music score for this film was a stock score used previously in the film Night of the Blood Beast (1958), also produced by Roger Corman.
* Stretched out by the divers’ air tanks, the giant leech costumes split during production; that’s why we only get to see fleeting glimpses of the creatures!
