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Tuesday, December 15, 2020

The Disembodied (1957)

Starring Paul Burke, Allison Hayes, John Wengraf, Eugenia Paul, Joel Marston
Directed by Walter Grauman

(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)


The manipulative young wife of a doctor of psychology living in the jungle uses voodoo and her feminine wiles to get a visiting white man to do her bidding.


A nice showcase for Hayes, the picture has some well-done voodoo sequences with Hayes dancing as the "voodoo queen" and making the needed sacrifices.  Wengraf and his distinguished accent are strong in support as her jealous but reclusive husband, while Burke is serviceable as the white man who falls under Hayes' spell.  Marlin Skiles delivers a fine jungle and voodoo influenced score, and the film smartly avoids using too much stock footage, although most of the principal actors playing black natives, are white, notably Dean Fredericks, star of The Phantom Planet.  For the most part, the picture is a straightforward jungle drama, with a few supernatural touches, so don't expect more than that, but Hayes is always worth watching.

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