The universe of substandard filmmaking achieves its nexus in Wasp Woman. A mid 1990s reboot of a 1959 Roger Corman production, the former terrorises viewers not with scary monsters but lackadaisical and shameless eroticism. This movie could be too good for late night television viewing.

Under the supervision of Dr. Zinthorp (Daniel J. Travanti), supermodel and advertising executive Janice (Jennifer Rubin) receives an injection of wasp hormones. While the drug makes her appear younger, a nasty side effect includes morphing into a queen wasp.

Nesting inside this tangled sponge of lurid, underachieving narcissism, composer Terry Plumeri (Scarecrows) simply doesn’t boost the budget nor the orchestra to fashion a memorable accompaniment. As such, the synthesizer plummets, while discarding the black core of his waltz.

I believe it can be healthy for critics to champion B-movie fodder. Yet,  Wasp Woman makes more mistakes than I can accept. Apart from the lame duck special effects, writers Daniella Purcell and Guy Prevost cloud any visible progress. Adding to which, director Jim Wynorski diminishes any return on our emotional investment.

Being a huge Terry Plumeri fan, it disheartens me to report that his monster theme wore out its creepiness long before the final replay. Even by his technical standards, it feels like a wasp minus the stinger. But fear not, for this composer would bounce back stronger than ever with Mr. Atlas and Black Sea Raid. (Capsule review)

(Released by Concorde Pictures and rated "R" for monster violence and sexuality.)