The Vengeance of She

source: The Vengeance of She

source: The Vengeance of She

... beautiful cleavage miniskirted beauty fair maiden natural skin!

I was let down by Hammer Films' version of SHE (1965), so I wasn't particularly looking forward to its even less regarded sequel (concocted by Peter O'Donnell, who had earlier scripted the Joseph Losey camp classic MODESTY BLAISE [1966]!). Still, given that the film begins in a modern-day setting, I have to say that I found it mildly intriguing at first (following an unintentionally funny opening scene in which leading lady Olinka Berova is nearly raped by a loutish trucker who ends up trampled by his own vehicle!); however, once the scene shifts to the mythical city of Kuma, the film grinds to a halt - and, being one of Hammer's longest efforts at 101 minutes, this does it no favors at all! Though Mario Nascimbene is best-known for his scores of epic films and was probably assigned to this one for just that reason, the lounge music (including a title tune which is not half bad) he composed for the modern early scenes is actually the most effective part of his soundtrack! The cast is, again, worth discussing: Berova, who's involved in some very mild nudity throughout, is undeniably gorgeous and yet rather petite to act as a stand-in for the statuesque Ursula Andress (trivia note - reportedly, she was deported from the U.K. on suspicions of espionage!); John Richardson, repeating his role from the original film but who has turned villainous in the interim, gives a wooden performance; rugged Edward Judd always makes for a compelling lead in this type of film (I especially loved the way he put-down an exotic dance number secretly organized for his entertainment while a prisoner in Kuma!); Colin Blakely and Jill Melford as a wealthy vacationing couple (on whose yacht a distraught Berova finds herself) make a fine impression, but they unfortunately exit the proceedings very early on; Noel Willman is virtually unrecognizable as a wizened learned man of Kuma; Andre' Morell, appearing in a different role from the one he played in the original, is an embarrassment as a sort of shaman spouting mumbo-jumbo. As was the case with THE VIKING QUEEN (1967), there's some confusion with respect to the culture and the geography depicted in the film: the city of Kuma is supposed to be situated somewhere in North Africa, yet the natives - whom Judd meets during his journey to locate the kidnapped Berova - speak in Arabic. Similarly, both Morell and the high priests of Kuma are seen to be well-versed in the occult arts: I can't recall if this was as prominent a feature in the original Hammer film but, somehow, it all feels incongruous to the material!

THE VENGEANCE OF SHE is a lacklustre follow-up to the lacklustre original; I'm afraid that I can't really think of any truly successful H. Rider Haggard adaptations for the screen, something seems to always go wrong in the process. This one has a new story with a different cast, with another voluptuous blonde taking the place of the original's Ursula Andress. The story is plodding and overlong, mildly interesting in the early yachting section (perhaps reminiscent of THE LOST CONTINENT) but really stalling once the action reaches North Africa. The cast features various well-known stars hamming it up, from Noel Willman's unusual grey face makeup to John Richardson (turned baddie), Andre Morell as a shaman, Edward Judd as square-jawed hero and George Sewell and Colin Blakely as more dependable British chaps. There's a dearth of action and only mild suspense on occasion, while all of the mystical mumbo jumbo was handled much better in the likes of THE DEVIL RIDES OUT.

How about that mess with H. Rider Haggard's heritage! Ayesha or She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed has been filmed several times and none of them comes true to spirit of the original. "She" (1925) is silent movie with extensive budget but parts of script are missing. "She" (1935) goes as far as the North Pole where Leo/Kallikrates stumble on lost city Kor. "She" (1965) is most popular where Horace and Leo travel to lost city of Kuma. Ayesha dies in the Eternal Fire, while Kallikrates becomes immortal and waits for her reincarnation. There comes "Vengeance of She" (1968) as sequel, where Carol - a modern European girls - is taken over by the spirit of mysterious Ayesha. Finally, "She" (2001) is the latest remake which I couldn't obtain and YouTube has ban on it. Let's get to the meat now. It appears that Ayesha story is four novels serial written by H. Rider Haggard at different time intervals (1886, 1905, 1921 and 1923). You can check in Wikipedia for synopsis but it is still complicated as Maya calendar. So, stay calm until someone gives you digest or otherwise a one page summary plot. Then if you have patience and compliance, you can stop worry or else you start arguing because its in your character. I know people that hold strong executive positions and still haven't read a book in their life. They are just proxy for authority. H. Rider Haggard (1856-1925) is the most important English writer of adventure fiction. Unfortunately, his novels are not reissued regularly and maybe because there is lack of demand. For instance, Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is English Victorian era author who wrote numerous highly acclaimed novels. I would rather read two novels from H. Rider Haggard than one from Charles Dickens. It's not that he is dull, but he is highly unreadable. In our country Haggard has been translated widely in the past 80-90 years. New titles are coming in translation regularly, but I repeat, original Haggard novels are difficult to obtain. "She: A History of Adventure" and "Ayesha: The Return of She" have appeared recently in double edition. Preface for two books is combined, where the Editor tells the audience how he received a parcel with manuscript. In the parcel, there is attached letter from executives of Horace Holly and his ward Leo Vincey. The manuscript gives a first-person narrative of Ayesha adventures for 2000 years. Ayesha was borrowed from Arabic, being traditionally one of Mohammed's wives names. What happened in the plot ... ehh, you can start in 500 B.C. when the frame story begin. A threesome story evolves when the Persian king invades Egypt and three people flee away in hidden kingdom of Kor, in Africa. Those are Ayesha (celibate priestess), Kallikrates the Greek (mercenary employed by the Pharaoh), and Egyptian princess (loves Kallikrates and seeks revenge on Ayesha). The story builds on ...

Compared to She from two years previously this isn't as good, therefore most people would probably find it tedious and trashy. But to my surprise I quite enjoyed it for what it is: a cheap and cheerful attempt to cash-in on a successful product by Hammer and entertaining to a point. What H. Rider Haggard might have thought of it is another matter though. Mysterious young blonde female pin up is wandering around alone in the South of France to a lilting theme song (redolent of Public Eye), not knowing who she is, where she's been or going - redolent of Department S. She gets taken up and along with a party that are heading for North Africa, that is, in her direction. Is she the reincarnation of Ayesha or not? Redolent of The Avengers. Berova was apparently a Playboy model with her career in front of her, but she wasn't a great actress so I wonder why Hammer chose her for the part after Ursula Andress had refused. At the not-so-lost city of Kuma I could hardly recognise John Richardson reprising his original role of immortal Kallikrates - he must have had a tough two years since She, and even his voice was dubbed ... redolent of The Flashing Blade. Maybe that's the big reason I enjoyed it, the walk down Mammary Lane. And Edward Judd was always reliable and amusing as the voice of reason to all the unreason around him. There's a very dramatic climax, but be prepared to laugh uproariously at a scene unintentionally redolent of Andy Pandy. It's a pleasant enough time-filler - if you don't expect too much from it you might get something from it.

Ursula Andress may be burned up from her version of She, but John Richardson who was the incarnation of her lost love Kalikrates is now truly assumed the identity of his ancient ancestor and his now immortal being is running things in that ancient city deep in the African mountains. In The Vengeance Of She, Richardson still has certain temporal needs and feelings and the memory of Andress and a strong right hand just isn't enough. She who must be obeyed has reached from the beyond to one who is maybe her blood kin in the present day played by Olga Schoberova. The only problem for Schoberova is she's develops a flesh and blood boyfriend in Edward Judd who doesn't want to lose her. Richardson has an additional problem, an Arab sheik played by Derek Godfrey who wants some of that immortality. He has delusions of being Osama Bin-Laden and even Osama didn't quite aspire to that. One breathtaking plot and give the players credit for delivering these lines like they were written by the Bard. But this one truly is ludicrous.

Sequel to Hammer's version of She is actually more interesting than that film, at least to me. I loved the 1935 version of H. Rider Haggard's She. But the Hammer version did little for me. I found it very dull with only Ursula Andress' beauty to recommend it. This sequel is hardly a masterpiece but has enough going for it that it surpasses the previous film. The opening with the corny song playing while hitchhiking Carol (Olga Schoberova) is cornered by a rapist then saved by something mysterious is a moody start to things. The film keeps up that mood as the girl swims out to a yacht and hops aboard. She's being compelled towards Kuma, the lost city from the last film. Turns out Ayesha (again, from She) is attempting to possess the girl. As they make it closer to Kuma, the movie becomes a lot less interesting. Olga Schoberova is beautiful but brings little to the part other than that. The scenes of her having nightmares screaming out "Ayeeeesha!" will give most viewers giggle fits. Still, she's not as wooden as Andress. Derek Godfrey is the bad guy but there's nothing bad about those awesome eyebrows. Edward Judd and John Richardson are solid. The great Andre Morrell has a small part as a man who helps Carol. Like She, this is pretty dry stuff. Worth watching for a nice score, atmospheric touches, and for Olga's beauty.

This in no way is accordingly to the novel written by H.Rider Haggard. Even before there had been many attempts to make film on this novel, namely "she" in 1912 version, then some other. Even then I commented and explained. This was the first novel of my life, my father gifted me this book, and since then I had loved it. The imagination of the author is marvelous, astounding and grave. While showing in this film, the plot has been changed so much that it lost the originality and beauty. It became something else than the novel. Even watching the earlier parts, of this film, I said, SKIPPING the details due to technicalities and technology available when the film is made is something different and acceptable but changing the original plot and altering with something else makes the film go to worst. I mean this is totally meaningless to show, that Kelikretes is immortal and waiting for She, this was never been in novel plot. There was no Minhari, having lust for the flame of immortality. There is no girl being drawn towards the city of Kuma in the novel plot. Even the name of the city is not Kuma, it is Kor. I was disappointed to see even this version and I am waiting someone make a good and truthful version of this film because I believe the originality of the real plot makes it more interesting to see the film. I am sure whoever has read the novel, would agree with me that this film is something else, not the real one. Now I come to THIS film, well as a film (forgetting novel completely) yea it is good one. When you are in entertainment business, and when entertainment is show business, then it might have been a good attempt, and also as IMDb data records show, the film has done a good business. Not so much good, but good to see, if you are watching it for entertainment.