The Wasp Woman (1959)

Roger Corman’s cult B-movie tells of Janice Starlin (Susan Cabot), the successful CEO of a large cosmetics company who is dismayed to discover falling sales in her products is because, after 16 years as the face of her beauty brands, she is no longer seen as ‘youthful’ by her customers – or her executives. Desperate to save her reputation and stop plummeting sales, she turns to crackpot scientist Dr Zinthrop (fired from his work at the honey farm for his unorthodox experiments!) who has developed a method of slowing the aging process involving royal jelly extracted from queen wasps (!). He believes that with the right experiments and funding he will eventually be able to reverse the process of aging completely.

With its central premise of a middle-aged woman overwhelmed by societal expectations and seeking to stop the aging process so she can maintain her career, youth and beauty - only to have her efforts spectacularly backfire - The Wasp Woman foreshadows titles such as The Substance (2024), The Rejuvenator (1988), and Death Becomes Her (1992). These titles, which could be referred to as ‘Misageyny’ horror (a term coined by Katie Hunt, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Lincoln, to describe the unique intersection of sexism and ageism directed at middle-aged and older women) are works of body-horror which focus on the impossible societal standards women – particularly older women in the public eye - are mercilessly held to, and the horror which emanates from the lengths they go to in order to meet certain (male-defined) expectations of beauty. Other similar titles about impossible beauty standards include Ana Lily Amirpour’s The Outside (an episode of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities) and Natalie Erika James’s Saccharine. Janice Starlin is the founder and owner of her company, a smart and successful businesswomen, and has steered it to success for many years, but as soon as her executives get the slightest inkling that she may be beginning to waver in her influence and control over the company, all because she is (gasp!) showing signs of aging (she’s in her 40s), begin to vie to usurp her and take over the company. As one cocky exec points out, ‘you can’t remain a glamour girl forever.’ This pushes Janice to insist upon human trials for the serum Dr Zinthrop is creating, with herself as the subject, desperate as she is to save her company and her reputation.

As Janice begins injecting herself with ever higher dosages of wasp enzymes to stimulate the rejuvenation process, she begins to look ever younger. However, as her dependency on the formula mounts, monstrous side-effects become evident when she transforms into a vicious human-wasp creature and goes on a murderous rampage. Susan Cabot imbues Janice with drive and determination but also invites sympathy for her when we see her despairing in quiet moments alone in her laboratory. Yes, she becomes a monster who goes on the rampage, but she’s also the victim of a society that casts aside women when they reach middle age. Who can blame her for wanting to maintain control of the company she’s spent her whole life building from the ground up? It still seems cruel that she’s now facing the kind of pressure (looking good while getting older) she's arguably been profiting off over the years. The real villains of the piece could easily be the staff of the advertising and public relations department of Starlin Cosmetics, whose obsession with branding and image (and Janice’s appearance) is mainly what drives Janice to embark on her dangersome experimentations. However, several of them demonstrate sympathy with Janice’s plight (‘she’s built her whole life on youth and beauty, now she’s losing them she’s scared to death’). They suspect the scientist is a ‘quack’ and convince Janice’s secretary Mary to leak information to them. It’s never clear why Zinthrop is so obsessed with reversing the signs of aging, but he soon comes to realise the damage he has done and like most mad-scientists in films and literature, his unethical obsessions and meddling with nature, playing god, results in an unsurprising demise.

Corman’s direction is typically pacy and without frills – with the limited locations it feels quite stagey – and a lively jazz score imbues proceedings with the kind of oddball, beatnik sensibility you’d expect from a Corman B-movie. With a super low budget, the film’s make-up and special effects are ‘endearing’ and maybe even a bit goofy, but the main theme and thrust of the story – a desperate woman pressured to look a certain way to maintain her success - invites empathy and provides an edge that remains unsettling and relevant. Another eerily prescient aspect of the film is that its screenplay (by Leo Gordon) may have been onto something about the use of wasps in slowing the aging process (no, seriously!). Recent scientific findings published by the University of Leicester suggest the jewel wasp can ‘undergo a kind of natural ‘time-out’ as larvae before emerging into adulthood [and] this pause in development within the wasp dramatically extends lifespan and decelerates the ticking of the so-called “epigenetic clock” that marks molecular ageing.’

While it’s an entertaining, zzzzzany romp with all the fun and kookiness you’d expect from Roger Corman, The Wasp Woman remains a strikingly relevant exploration of the pressures and impossible expectations exerted upon women in a society rooted in sexism and misogyny.