Document Type
Article
Abstract
Starting with the observations of Janet Staiger and others regarding the female vampire or Vamp character, who has sucked men dry physically, financially, and/or morally for centuries, this essay looks at the representation of the Vamp in three science fiction films of the 1950s and 1960s—Them! (1954), The Wasp Woman (1960), and The Leech Woman (1959). The essay focuses on what the science fiction Vamp adds to the representation of the cinematic Vamp, first seen in films such as The Mothering Heart (1913) and A Fool There Was (1915), and how they represent age-old male fears regarding the feminine while at the same time commenting on the anxieties and concerns of the specific historical period that spawned them.
Repository Citation
George, Susan A.. "Pushing Containment: The Tale of the 1950s Science Fiction Vamp." Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture vol. 5, no. 4, 2005, pp. 1–17. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/reconstruction/vol5/iss4/3