Two big problems with the above pictures: In the poster, she has wings, she's enormous, and her body is a wasp while her head remains human. In the film, the exact opposite. In the photo on the right, the opening credits with a background of bees. I looked closely. Those are bees, Roger Corman! You owe the world an explanation!
Plot: Janice Starlin, the owner of a dying cosmetics firm, realises her fading beauty is causing problems in her personal life as well as problems in her fading business. But a scientist, Eric Zinthrop, claims to have developed a serum from the enzymes of wasps that turns aging skin back to youthful skin. An overly eager Starlin agrees to be the first human to try the injections. But, as her beauty returns, her secretary, Mary, and her advertising executive, Bill, notice she is also going through a personality change and it isn't for the better. After his latest tests turn sour, a depressed Zinthrop wanders into the street and gets hit by a car. Not in any shape to be creating new batches of serum, Zinthrop can only watch as Starlin changes into something horrible.
A brief overview of the key players and some of the actors who portray them, since the story of the actors themselves is actually much more interesting:
Janice Starlin, aging beauty who's company is taking the hit along with her youth, played by Susan Cabot. Cabot was born in Boston and spent her youth being shuffled from one foster home to the next, often reportedly being abused at each home. After foster home number eight, which I assume to be no better than the others, Cabot married Martin Sacker at the age of 17, as a form of escape. She then began a career in film, usually playing an Indian princess or some sort of Middle Eastern throw-away role. After teaming up with Roger Corman for a total of six films (including "Machine Gun Kelley" opposite a young Charles Bronson) she began a gradual slide into madness. She had a son in 1964 with her second husband, but he was born with dwarfism, which reportedly pushed her further into her mental illness. Her acting career ground to a halt along with her marriage in the early 80's and in 1986 her son was arrested for her murder. He confessed that he had used a weight-lifting bar to bludgeon his mother to death as she slept in her bed. His defence was also a tale of mental and physical abuse at the hands of his mother, who he said had been taking his growth hormone pills for years. Cabot's son was found guilty, but served only three years in jail for "involuntary manslaughter". 
Dr. Eric Zinthrop, wasp expert and overall loose cannon, played by Michael Mark. Mark was born in Belarus in the late 1800's, so he was long in the tooth even in 1959. Chances are if you have watched any classic movies, you have seen his face even if it is only in a passing role. Uncredited roles include: Frankenstein, The Black Cat, Casablanca (as a street vendor), not to mention other parts in Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe (the serial), all of the Joe Palooka movies made in the 40's, Attack Of The Puppet People, Return Of The Fly, almost any film with "Frankenstein" in the title and a little movie called The Ten Commandments (he was the old man who blesses Moses). Mark lived to be 88 and is interred at Woodland Hills, in LA.
Bill, the ad executive who's not afraid to take on the boss, played by Fred Eisley, also known as Anthony Eisley. Eisley did alright for himself in the 50's and 60's but parts started to dwindle as time wore on and he ended up making ends meet by doing stunt driving on TV and in film. He died in 2003 at the age of 78. 
Mary, the astute secretary with a hidden agenda, played by Barboura Morris. Morris was born smack-dab in the middle of Tinseltown and her career shows it. She was also part of the Corman alumni, playing opposite Susan Cabot and Bruno VeSota in several Roger Corman films. She may not have been murdered but Morris did die young, exactly 24 hours after her 43rd birthday.
Cooper, the non-crazy scientist who isn't too keen on handing over the reigns to the Wasp Wacko, played by William Roerick. Roerick is another Corman alumnus, appearing in a good Corman movie: Not Of This Earth. He managed to avoid early death and murder only to perish in a car accident at the age of 83.
The night watchman. Not terribly important to the story, but interesting none the less. Played by a portly actor named Bruno VeSota, yet another Corman regular. VeSota acted in many B-movie staples including Attack Of The Giant Leeches, where he played the husband of the insanely hot (emphasis on "insane") Yvette Vickers (also a B-movie legend herself), A Bucket Of Blood and War Of The Satellites. PLUS, ladies and gentlemen, he directed his own B-movie: The Brain Eaters, which was really bad in a good way. Give me a pork-pie hat and a place to stand and we could be twins.
All right, let's get to it.
Things I learned from this movie: 1- it's actually pretty frickin' boring, 2- I knew there were bee keepers, I had no idea there were wasp keepers, 3- there is a gratuitous reference to "Dr. Cyclops" at 25 minutes, when a secretary whines that her boyfriend wants to go see it again, 4- when you are experimenting with medicine made from wasps, it is never a good idea to increase the dosage, 5- you don't have to have radioactive material to make a movie monster....but it helps, 6- remember Dr. Frank from "The Atomic Brain"? ...there he is playing a detective....what a versatile actor, 7- it takes 52 looooooooooooong minutes to finally see the Wasp Woman, and she looks like something my daughter made for her grade 5 Halloween dance,
8- you won't see any of this on "The Office", 9- when being attacked by a psychotic house cat/monster be sure to give it a deep-tissue massage, 10- apparently, wasp women can't fly.
I am thoroughly disappointed with this movie. The fate of some of the stars was depressing, the story was as slow as molasses, and once we finally see some special effects, they're not very special.
My rating: 1 poorly made paper mache mask out of 5. Skip it, there's a reason it's hard to find.
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