Review of Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman

The original 1958 cult classic is a silly movie, I didn't have high hopes for this made-for-TV remake either, directed by Christopher Guest (Best in Show, A Mighty Wind). Basically, Nancy Archer (Daryl Hannah) is a wealthy socialite who inherited her fortune from her late mother, and her father Hamilton Cobb (William Windom) hopes to use the money to gain control over their town. Nancy has been seeing psychiatrist Dr. Theodora Cushing (Titanic's Frances Fisher) to talk about her low self-esteem and bad marriage with her husband Harry (Stephen Baldwin). She is unaware he is having an affair with town beautician Louise "Honey" Parker (Batman Returns' Cristi Conaway), and together they discuss plans to steal the family's business away from Nancy's father. Despite her attempts to confront Harry, Nancy cannot healthily express her anger, allowing both her husband and father to take advantage of her. Nancy is driving in the desert at night when she sees a UFO that crash-lands on the deserted highway in front of her, causing her to veer off the road. After driving away, she decides to keep it to herself, concerned she will not be believed. Eventually, she tells Harry about what she saw and convinces him to accompany her to drive back to the desert and find the flying saucer. They drive around for some time with no hope, but then as night falls, Nancy is excited when the spaceship appears, and she is proven right. Getting out of the car to investigate, Nancy is trapped by a bright light. Harry runs away and Nancy disappears along with the UFO. Returning to town, Harry does not report what happened to the local authorities, Sheriff Denby (O'Neal Compton) and Deputy Charlotte "Charlie" Spooner (Victoria Haas). A dazed Nancy is later found on the roof of Honey's salon and is brought home. Hamilton is suspicious that Harry left her out in the desert, but he denies any wrongdoing. Harry accuses Hamilton of neglecting his own wife after she was locked away at an institution, which he ironically considered for Nancy after she told him about the UFO. As the two men argue, Nancy loses her temper, shouting that she can speak for herself and her mother. Suddenly, she starts growing to a gigantic size, her clothes are torn and her head smashes through the ceiling into the attic. The next morning, Nancy has been taken to a large stable. Specialist scientist Dr. Victor Loeb (Paul Benedict) is brought to observe Nancy, he deduces that a hormonal surge caused her growth. Nancy is scared and wants to find a cure, but the doctors have no idea how to treat their giant patient. Dr. Loeb tells Harry he is convinced that her increased size and anything that could cause stress is too dangerous. As she grows, Nancy becomes more self-confident and strong-willed, and she invites Harry to dinner to discuss the situation. Nancy believes her growth can make their marriage stronger. But Harry, who intends to get rid of her, speculates that stress will overload her heart and blood pressure and kill her, leaving the family business and its money to him. Harry pretends to be angered by Nancy's suggestions and reveals his affair with Honey and being with other women. He deliberately insults and angers her so much that she faints from the stress, and she falls, crashing into the stable. Believing she is dead, Harry goes to see Honey to celebrate, offering her Nancy's diamond necklace. But Nancy wakes up and walks through the town searching for Harry. She passes a drive-through cinema showing a classic movie (the original Attack of the 50 Foot Woman). Finding Honey and Harry, she grabs Honey but decides to spare her. Harry hides under a desk in fear and tries to crawl away. But Nancy, seeking revenge for his infidelity, follows him to his car. Capturing Harry, she flees into the desert with National Guard helicopters pursuing her. Stopping next to a high-voltage power mast, she is confronted by her father, the authorities, and Dr. Cushing. She asserts herself and tells everyone she knows her father's ambitions to buy out the town using her money. The sheriff tries to speak to the sniper in the helicopter, causing a miscommunication. The sniper shoots Nancy, directly hitting her, and she falls into the power cables, but she is rescued and taken away, along with Harry, in the UFO. As people gathered walk away, Honey and Hamilton decide to make a business agreement. Dr. Cushing remarks that "She finally got Harry all to herself". Inside the UFO, Harry is forced to undergo therapy with two other men, watched over by the giant Nancy and two other giantesses (Berta Waagfjord and Kye Benson), and the spaceship flies away into the night. Also starring Lewis Arquette as Mr. Ingersol, Xander Berkeley as Second Man, and Hamilton Camp as Prospector Eddie. Hannah is reasonable as the unhappy wife growing into a confident vengeful woman, Baldwin is lame as the unfaithful husband, and although she tries Fisher cannot be taken seriously. This is just as laughably terrible as the original film, in terms of some of the script of silly dialogue and half-hearted direction by Guest. On the positive side, the plot involving female empowerment is interesting enough, and the special effects, especially the UFO and Hannah looking oversized, sexy, and stomping through the streets is much better, overall though, it is a pointless, silly science-fiction comedy horror. Pretty poor!