If nothing else, 1959’s Attack of the Giant Leeches tells audiences exactly what to expect. From Roger Corman’s production company, this one gives us a monster flick.

As he hunts in Florida’s Everglades, Lem Sawyer (George Cisar) sees and shoots at a large leech-like entity. However, no one back home believes him.

However, when Lem soon dies of violent causes and others go missing, local authorities start to question the nature of these events. This leads game warden Steve Benton (Ken Clark) to organize a team to seek and destroy the source of this violence.

Like many super-cheap sci-fi/horror flicks of the 1950s, Attack comes with a perfectly serviceable premise. Nothing about the movie’s basic concept dooms it to failure.

Unfortunately, the execution of that idea becomes a major issue. Messy and goofy, Attack flails.

Look, I don’t expect brilliance from bargain basement drive-in fare like Attack. Just give me a decent plot and some fright and I’m good.

None of that appears in Attack, though it occasionally shows glimmers of promise. We sporadically find scenes that imply the movie could fulfill its potential.

Attack just can’t get there. From the lackadaisical direction to the uniformly poor performances to the predictably bad effects, the movie goes nowhere.

It doesn’t help that much of Attack’s first act leans toward a bizarre Tennessee Williams theme. We meet obese and cuckolded store owner Dave Walker (Bruno VeSota), his sexy and contemptuous wife Liz (Yvette Wickers) and her extramarital paramour Cal Moulton (Michael Emmet).

They indulge in soap opera material that seems like a weird choice for a monster movie of this sort. Attack doesn’t need these sequences and they feel like perplexing filler.

Without that content, Attack feels more focused, but it still doesn’t really connect. The narrative just tends to amble aimlessly despite the simplicity of the basic concept.

Acting veers from wooden to overwrought, with nothing in between those poles. Nothing else about the production seems well done either, as Attack smacks of a cheap movie made by those without great talent.

More a collection of scenes than a coherent tale, Attack fails to deliver entertainment. It occasionally veers campy enough to offer some unintentional laughs, but too much of it just seems dull and lifeless.

Attack of the Giant Leeches appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became an iffy image at best.

On the positive side, the presentation lacked many issues with print flaws. A few marks pop up at times along with some frame jumps but the movie usually comes without these issues.

On the negative side… everything else. Though parts of Attack looked better than others, the final product still felt off.

Sharpness became one of the problematic areas, as an awful lot of the film appeared soft and fuzzy. Occasional elements boasted passable delineation but definition never seemed better than mediocre.

At least no issues with jagged edges, shimmering or edge haloes appeared. Grain seemed decent as well.

Blacks tended to look mushy and inky, while shadows lacked clarity. Expect a less than impressive image here.

As for the film’s DTS-HD MA monaural audio, it seemed adequate given the movie’s age and budget. Speech remained intelligible, albeit a bit brittle and edgy at times.

Neither music nor effects showed much range, and they could sound a little rough. Still, the audio came across as acceptable when I took the movie’s vintage and low production values into account.

As we head to extras, we open with an audio commentary from film historian Tom Weaver. The track also intersperses recorded remarks from producer Gene Corman, director Bernard L. Kowalski, actor Yvette Vickers and film historian Larry Blamire.

Across this running, screen-specific piece, we learn about the state of cinematic horror in the late 1950s, influences and genre domains, cast and crew, some production notes and general thoughts about the film.

I usually enjoy Weaver’s commentaries, and this one provides a lot of good notes. However, Weaver’s remarks about his experiences with a late-in-life and alcoholic Vickers seem unnecessarily cruel, especially since he tosses in some “jokes” connected to the tragic situation that surrounded her death.

Do these tacky elements ruin an otherwise quality track? No, but they remain an unpleasant aspect of the discussion that doesn’t add anything to the viewer’s understanding of the film.

Next comes the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of Night. Aired in 1992, it runs one hour, 31 minutes, 37 seconds.

If you wonder how a 62-minute movie fills a 92-minute episode, this occurs because the show also includes some character sketches as well as the leads’ look the at the short Undersea Kingdom. The Attack segment doesn’t launch until 28 minutes, 46 seconds into the program and it goes until 1:27:47, with breaks and sketch comedy to fill in the rest.

Obviously MST3K enjoyed its fans but I admit I don’t find much humor in their shtick. Anyway, those who enjoy their work will feel happy to get this episode.

Born from TV spans 27 minutes. It includes notes from film historian C. Courtney Joyner.

The featurette discusses the life and career of Attack: director Bernard L. Kowalski. Joyney summarizes these domains nicely.

In addition to a “restored” traiiler, the set concludes with a Yvette Vickers slideshow that presents 26 shots of the actor. The gallery includes some useful images.

The package provides a booklet with a Weaver-conducted interview with Night of the Blood Beast screenwriter Martin Varno, a Weaver essay about Attack of the Giant Leeches, photos and publicity materials. It concludes matters well.

If you hope Attack of the Giant Leeches will rise above the cheesiness implied by its title, expect disappointment. Scattered and silly, the movie never clicks. The Blu-ray comes with inconsistent visuals, acceptable audio and a mix of bonus materials. Even as camp, Attack doesn’t entertain.

Note that this Blu-ray for Attack of the Giant Leeches comes packaged with another release: 1958’s Night of the Blood Beast. Though the set treats Attack as a “bonus”, I thought it deserved its own review.