BoardChiri
Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay
ShangLuda
Admirable film.
Numerootno
A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
Awaix Javaid
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.
BA_Harrison
Three years after their reasonably entertaining version of H. Rider Haggard's classic adventure 'She', Hammer Studios produced a sequel, 'The Vengeance of She'. Lacking the star power of the original (Ursula Andress, Peter Cushing and Bernard Cribbens are noticeable by their absence), the film is a dreary retread of events from the earlier movie, albeit with the roles reversed: this time around, it is the immortal Killikrates (John Richardson) who is pining for his long-dead love Ayeesha.Convincing Killikrates that his soul-mate has finally been reborn in the form of a stunning European blonde named Carol (Olinka Berova), power-hungry occultist Men-Hari (Derek Godfrey) strikes a deal with the lovelorn leader: if he can successfully lure Carol to the lost African city of Kuma (using his powerful black magic), then he must be granted permission to pass through the sacred blue flame that would bring him immortality (and give him a pop at taking over the world!).Compelled to travel to Africa by the voices in her head, the confused Carol is joined on her journey by Philip (Edward Judd), a concerned psychiatrist who is determined to ensure the beautiful young woman's safety.On arriving at Kuma, and discovering the real reasons behind Carol's mysterious calling, Philip sets out to stop the poor girl from being brainwashed into believing she is Ayeesha, and prevent Men-hari from achieving his nefarious goal.'The Vengeance of She' starts promisingly enough, with the sex-kittenish, mini-skirted Berova (think along the lines of Bardot, and you won't be far wrong) making quite an impression as she walks through the French countryside (accompanied by a haunting theme song), but it soon descends into a messy mish-mash of boring mystical mumbo-jumbo, lacklustre adventure, and unconvincing melodrama.Director Cliff Owen wisely makes the most of Berova's awesome physical attributes to try and distract his audience, having her slip into clingy white robes that give viewers a tantalising glimpse of her marvellous milky puddings (please note: my workmate Phil wanted me to use that phrase in one of my comments), but even with endless gratuitous lingering shots of her semi-clad form, the film still winds up as something of a snooze-fest.
MARIO GAUCI
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!
Jonathon Dabell
The Vengeance of She is a badly done adventure movie with elements of the supernatural. It is a sequel of sorts to She (1965), but the action has been updated to the 1960s. The plot is pretty wacky, though it could have made for an enjoyably ludicrous film if handled with a bit more verve (see The Lost Continent for a film which had an outrageous storyline, but worked OK because the makers had the courage to stand by their own absurdities). Unfortunately, in this case the film doesn't really work at all. The story progresses unconvincingly and humourlessly in a very dull, workmanlike manner, with largely unenthusiastic performances, and dated, jazzy music which doesn't suit the events on screen.A young blonde woman, Carol (Olinka Berova)wanders around the southern part of France, her mind muddled and tormented by recurring dreams. It seems that a strange force is driving her in a particular direction, and only by following this direction can she stop the constant torment. Her dreams are riddled with haunting images of a faraway kingdom, and she repeatedly awakens from these semi-nightmares inexplicably screaming the word "Ayesha". Carol boards a yacht owned by womanising millionaire George (Colin Blakely). One of George's friends, psychiatrist Philip (Edward Judd), is also aboard the yacht enjoying a holiday. Philip is interested by Carol's bizarre condition and tries to help her to make sense of her dreams. Gradually, it becomes clear that her thoughts are being corrupted and manipulated by the denizens of a lost city in North Africa, who are trying to psychically guide her to their land so that she can replace their long-dead Queen of Ayesha (whom she closely resembles).Berova may be a beautiful woman but her acting ability is almost nil, so immediately the film is faced with an uphill struggle since her character is so crucial to all that's going on. Judd also is a very bland, laid-back leading man (he resembles Peter O'Toole, but with dark hair and about a tenth of Peter's acting ability). Saddled with these two uninspiring main actors, the film further digs its own grave by having all the characters from the lost city speak line after line of the most dire mumbo-jumbo imaginable. They talk about magic, destiny, power, mind control and other such stuff, but the dialogue is written in a weird, lofty fashion that comes across like an 11 year old child attempting to imitate Shakespeare. I really wanted to be kind to this film - to give it the benefit of the doubt, if you like - but in the end I just couldn't manage it. As a well-told, well-made film it doesn't even register. But it also can't be enjoyed on the level of a likably oddball curiosity. It's just a totally ineffective, inconsequential and inept dud.
