Attack of the Giant Leeches 2002 Horror Movie Review

It’s hard to say whether this is a low-rent Southern Gothic melodrama or a monster movie; it seems that director Bernard Kowalski couldn’t make up his mind which genre to pursue.  A local poacher turns up in the swamp half-dead with sucker marks all over his body.  Soon after, a fat slob bartender (Corman regular Bruno VeSota) finds his hottie of a wife making out with her boyfriend and forces them into the swamp at gunpoint.  From there, the two become a leech snack.  When more people disappear in the bayou, the local game warden and resident scientist (isn’t there always one, regardless of how remote the place is?) take it seriously and discover the monstrous bloodsuckers.  Despite the grade-Z trappings of this movie, threadbare plot, and ludicrous monsters, there are still some chilling and effective moments, such as the scene where doomed victims of the leeches are left to watch in horror as their attackers approach in their lair. The mutated leeches are a result of radiation (but of course).  At a scant 62-minute running time, this is some prime drive-in trash, and it’s over with before you even have a chance to get sick of it.  —Jerry Renshaw