She Beast - Die Rückkehr des Grauens (1966)

Wissenswertes

The She Beast is a 1966 horror film directed and co-written by Michael Reeves, in his directorial debut. It stars Barbara Steele, John Karlsen, Ian Ogilvy and Mel Welles. The film was an international co-production between the United Kingdom and Italy. It premiered on May 2, 1966.

Production

Director Michael Reeves had previously been an assistant director on Castle of the Living Dead (1964), produced by Paul Maslansky. After that film proved a financial success, Reeves invested his own money in The She-Beast to kickstart his directing career. Screenonline notes that the film contains elements that would recur in Reeves' later, more well-known film Witchfinder General, notably its opening witch-hunt scene.

The screenplay was written by Reeves, Charles B. Griffith, F. Amos Powell, and Mel Welles, under the collective pen name 'Michael Byron'.

Barbara Steele accepted a salary of $1,000 for working one single day. She was forced to work that day for 22 hours. Ian Ogilvy was an old friend of Reeves.

Filming took place in Italy (along Lake Vico and in Pomezia) and Yugoslavia. The entire film was shot in 21 days. Due to the film's low-budget, many members of the crew appeared in the film as minor roles.

Griffith and Welles were the film's second unit directors, and shot several comedic scenes without Reeves' input. Reeves was reticent to include them, but left them in because of the film's already brisk runtime.

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