Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader (2012) User Reviews

Mindless, Goofy Fun

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 17 June 2013]

Aspiring college cheerleader Cassie Stratford (Jena Sims) consumes an experimental drug that grants her beauty and enough athletic ability to make the cheer squad. The drug has an unforeseen side effect -- Cassie starts to grow and grow and grow.

Let me be up front on my choice to give this film a 6. That rating is purely based on the "fun factor" and not on any critical merit. The acting is nothing special (though I have sen worse) and the effects are rather poor. This should not count against them, though, because they obviously knew it was going to be cheesy.

The cameos they were able to secure are impressive. Ted Raimi has a decent sized role as a scientist, and both John Landis and Roger Corman appear as professors. The scene with Landis and Corman alone makes the film worth watching for any horror fan.

Giant amounts of fun...

[joshmorgan · 6/10 · 23 April 2013]

Ahh - here's another flick - that (much like "Girls Gone Dead") some people can't seem to enjoy for whatever reason. Is today's generation too serious? Not every movie needs to deliver a deep philosophical undertone and dark punch-line.

Growing up on things like Joe Bob Briggs and all things 80's (and pushing 40 myself) - how could I resist a movie that features Ted Raimi; John Landis; Treat Williams; Sean Young; Roger Corman himself and even a (hilarious) cameo from John Landis?

This flick is a nice satire on "Attack of the 50ft Woman" - and includes some memorably campy moments - and gobs of female nudity.

On the downside - some of the effects work is pretty bad - and NOT in a good way - which; surprisingly made the viewing experience a bit worse (as opposed to the usual cheese which heightens the B movie experience).

Either way - it's good to see popcorn movies like this are still being made - and I hope there continues to be an audience for good old fashioned fun. I can't take anymore "reality-based" PG-13 horror flicks and torture porn diatribes.

Surprised this one slipped under the radar - but I was lucky enough to catch in on Netflix.

Recommended.

Notes From A Drive-in Geezer

[dougdoepke · 30 January 2022]

Plot- a shy, awkward girl pledges an elite college sorority where she's ridiculed until a stray acupuncture takes over.

Okay, I'm a 1950's drive-in geezer, so my standards range from Attack Of The Crab Monsters to Bucket Of Blood. But so what, no one claimed these wacko flicks were Oscar bait or even uptown favorites. Anyway, what a great successor this nonsense entry is to those classics of yesteryear. Instead of the cheezy big bugs from that earlier era, this one's got 50-foot bazooms that go naked to the world - so who says there's been no progress in movies. The best they could do in the old days was put tight sweaters on protruding gun boats and let you use your imagination. Here the special effects are almost uptown as the 50-foot cuties roam around in almost convincing style. And catch that revered icon of the drive-in, Roger Corman, giving this flick his imprimatur as the college Dean. Thanks Roger for the timely connection.

And, oh yeah, despite all the sex play, I think I detected some sombre subtexts that deserve passing mention. For one, poor Cassie has to prove herself to sorority snobs if she wants to join the elite. Trouble is that her natural self is so much better. So I guess the lesson is don't always do what a tradition-bound Mom tells you. Then there's chemical companies that, oh my gosh, can be ruthlessly greedy, even when normal lives are at stake. Could that be a foreshadowing of Covid-19 in our own day. Anyway, wacko or not, this cheezy sandwich plays with some important themes. Okay, no need to go on. My geezer advice: play the flick in a backseat between smooches and salute Roger Corman for pioneering these sleezy fun-fests.

Attack of the 50ft Cheerleader--fun and not bad

[cr_riley-547-576517 · 8/10 · 24 January 2013]

I've already seen Attack of the 50ft Cheerleader 3 times and loved it each time. You have gorgeous women, a funny script, gorgeous women, decent acting (not Oscar worthy, but what did you expect?), gorgeous women and more. (Did I mention gorgeous women?)

**SPOILER** One of my favorite parts is when she is growing and she is in class. Her shirt just keeps expanding!

I love tall women. (Married to one.) It was fun seeing her physically taller than the others. Even the original Attack of the 50 foot woman didn't really have that--they didn't have the knowledge to do it back then.

**SPOILER** Also loved when she was walking up the stairs, revealing herself as gorgeous for the first time.

Overall a decent movie. Quirky script, but how can you beat gorgeous women? (Or did I already say that?)

There's Good Cheese...

[christopher-cole83 · 3/10 · 9 January 2014]

And then there's Attack of the 50 Ft. Cheerleader. I am a fan of the movies that are so bad, they become good for how bad they really are. Those movies are truly an art. Many times the actors try to give a believable performance, the effects department try hard, so there is an heir of seriousness about it.

Trying to intentionally recreate that however is difficult. The concept of "Attack of the 50 Ft. Cheerleader" was well in line with its B-movie counterparts, but the acting felt way too forced. Plus it felt more like an excuse to show a lot of breasts.

There are ways to pay homage to those great cult sci-fi classics, but this just didn't do it for me.

Tries to Be Campy But Fails

[Michael_Elliott · 6 January 2013]

Attack of the 50 Ft. Cheerleader (2012)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Lame take-off on ATTACK OF THE 50 FT. WOMAN has scientist and average looking Cassie Stratford (Jena Sims) taking an experimental drug that turns her into a beauty. At first the drug is great because she looks good, makes the cheerleading squad and is popular but soon she sees the side effect in that she can't stop growing. You know, I've always wondered why some bad movies turn into cult classics that are fun to watch while others are just downright bad. It seems movies from the golden age of "so bad they're good" films just happened by chance. Moving like the original ATTACK OF THE 50 FT. WOMAN or ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES just got lucky when they became entertaining. I really do think that if you set out to make a camp film then you always fail and here's the perfect example. It really seems like everyone thought they could just make fun of the set-up and everything would fall into place but that doesn't happen. This is a pretty lame film from producer Roger Corman who thankfully makes a cameo with John Landis, which turns out to be the most memorable moment in the film. As you'd expect, there's all sorts of cute girls getting naked but there's very little outside of this. The entire story is pretty stupid, there's no laughs to be had and there's really just nothing going on here that makes you care about anything. It's overly stupid in a bad way and this is where the film tries to be camp but it just doesn't work. I thought Sims was good in her role but one wishes she had something better to work with. Fans of Sean Young might want to check out her few scenes but she doesn't get too much to do. ATTACK OF THE 50 FT. CHEERLEADER is far from a fun movie, which is a real shame.

Check back in 20 years

[shawneuser · 5/10 · 6 May 2014]

So Roger Corman and John Landis decided to do an intentionally cheap and campy twist on The Attack of the 50 FT Woman.

The problem with camp is that it typically isn't appreciated until at least 10 years after being released, with 20 years being even better.

As such, right now, this movie just comes off as CHEAP, unfunny, uninspired, and mostly uninteresting.

To be frank, there is one reason to watch this movie and that is the spectacular body of Jena Sims, the lead, who is either topless or in a skimpy cheerleader outfit for most the show.

In fact, besides Jena, you see a number of topless babes in this movie. However, the nudity is all in a non-sexual context.

I give it a 5 on Jena's impressive assets alone.

Have They LOST Thier Minds!?

[mimiybyazphil · 1/10 · 23 February 2023]

This farce is by far one of the WORST so called" movies" of ALL time! Bad acting,concept, casting, and the script must have been written under the influence of HEAVY DRUGS!! Treat Williams and Sean Young HAD to be desperate or clinically INSANE to act in this farce!

It was low key porn mixed with the WORST CGI I have ever seen! My eyes are actually BLEEDING!!

Do yourself a HUGE favor avoid this DUMPSTER FIRE of a flim. To add to the foolishness they renamed it BLUE RESIDENTS!!

This is such a mess, the makers and writers should be criminally CHARGED with felonius assault, with intention to cause BLINDNESS!!

Sad but Untrue

[msmith-56 · 2/10 · 18 July 2014]

As one who remembers the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, I was hoping that the special effects would have improved after 55 years. Well, the improvement was not worth the viewing. I suppose the 1993 made for TV version will still be the 'next best thing'. Ms. Jenna Sims was respectable as Cassie, the cheerleader, although her general beauty was as poorly concealed in the beginning as her beast implants were in the end. Ms. Olivia Alexander had the role of character with the most attitude, head cheerleader Brittany, though Treat Williams went sufficiently over-the-top as the pharma-mercinary. Sean Young played 'mom' by Skyping-in her performance, literally. Everyone else was either adequately camp or, sometimes, momentarily cute. The best scenes were also the shortest.

The one thing that I do not understand if the use of remanufactured breasts. If you are going to show bosoms, the show ones that look real. Ms. Sims, an otherwise lovely lady, displayed breasts that would shame most plastic surgeons. Most of the others topless actresses were similarly endowed. The most nuanced and effective character was Mary Woronov as the house mother, who was part Masterpiece Theater and part House of Horrors.

As for the plot, yes there was a plot, the story held up. University research onto cell regeneration turns into an overblown disaster. Of course, people growing and shrinking like balloons was completely implausible, but that was par for the movie. The pharma angle, which included clown-like pharma-enforcers was the only truly camp acting that held up, mostly thanks to Treat. The chemistry between the Ryan Merriman character, Kyle, and Cassie was as contrived as the pink serum that made her grow. The big finale might have worked if the special effects had really held their own.

One last mention of Sean Young, if you are old enough to remember Ms. Young in Blade Runner (when it premiered), then this movie will make you quite sad. Still a looker, the actress who played Jenna's mom was a total waste in this production. If you looked closely, you could still see tiny hints of the actress who was so compelling in Jane Austen in Manhattan and No Way Out. However, you had to look though a microscope, which is a hard way to watch a movie. Such is life.

50 ft? As if.

[dontspamme-76078 · 4/10 · 10 March 2021]

When Cassie and Brittany are fighting on the football field, they are barely over 10 yards long. I would put their height at 40 ft. max. (update). That's what I get for not watching the whole movie before reviewing it. Apparently Brittany did grow to 50 feet, if only for a few minutes. My bad.

And why didn't fluffy the mouse grow? It was injected a few days before Cassie was. Even the spider got big enough in a few hours to eat it. And it only got the serum splashed on its exoskeleton.

Even for an intentional B movie attempt, it falls a bit short. But for anyone who remembers Joe Bob Briggs and his drive-in movie reviews of the 1970s for movies like this: 6 breasts, no one dies (except the mouse and spider), not really any blood. But still, Joe Bob says "check it out".

Throwback to cheesy 80's movies

[chaosrider-19626 · 7/10 · 10 December 2020]

It's bad on purpose. Fun slapstick movie straight out of the 80's great for mindless entertainment.

USA up all night...

[plissken-11034 · 5/10 · 22 August 2021]

This movie is just so hilariously bad there's no need to point out why. You KNOW it's bad from the get-go and the title. I watched it assuming that was the case and was still entertained...to a point.

The main actress Jena sims is absolutely stunning in the title role. She will be proud of this when she's 50. She looks like every 18 year old college freshman's fantasy girl (even before she enlarges!) and that hair!

It reminds me of the cheap movies USA up all night with Rhonda Shear used to play in the 90's...just un-edited for cable. There is ample topless-ness in this movie (But they are obviously fake so make of it what you will)

If you are under the influence of ANYTHING fun and have 85M to waste, you could do a LOT worse. If you are sober do NOT attempt this movie or you will suffer eye rolling, mouth agaping and constant pointing out the cheesiness of the FX, Sets and Dialogue...beware, not for you!!!

Garbage

[Der_Schnibbler · 1/10 · 15 November 2021]

Bad acting, bad script, college age girls who are in their thirties, unfunny ad-libs - complete and total failure.

The reason classic "bad" movies like the one this film's title references were enjoyable despite their shortcomings was because despite their limitations, they were earnest in trying to be something good.

Movies like this, on the other hand, revel in being absolute trash and then think they can right this total, miserable failure with a wink, as if to say, "but that's the point, see? It's not 'supposed' to be good - it's camp!"

No, you're stupid. And you fail.

DISLIKED.

[EskimoChain · 1/10 · 27 April 2021]

THIS IS ANOTHER FILM IT FELT AS BEING TORTURE HAVING TO WATCH THIS UNTIL THE END TO REVIEW IT. IT SEEMED TO LACK WHAT I WANTED A FILM TO BE.

KISS KISS.

Giant topless cheerleader fight

[XpocalypseSurvival · 3/10 · 27 April 2021]

A beautiful scientist, who doesn't think she is beautiful, wants to be a beautiful cheerleader so takes an experimental skin rejuvenation serum which works at first but also has some unexpected gigantifying consequences.

Rating: 3.5/10. For what the movie is - a campy, party-college throwback, it isn't awful. The acting (for the type of movie) is pretty good, the scenes and sets are lackluster, visual effects are passable to poor, and there is a fair bit of gratuitous nudity and slow-motion jiggling. Honestly, I think this was mostly an excuse to have a giant, topless cheerleader fight.

Survival Lesson: Cheating never works out in the end, and sometimes turns you into a giant cheerleader.