The Vengeance of She (1968) - film review

A beautiful young woman named Carol is driven in a trance-like state to the coast of North Africa.  She soon finds herself on a luxury yacht belonging to millionaire businessman George.  The strange voices in Carol’s head compel her to dive overboard.  George rescues her but has a fatal heart attack.  George’s friend, a psychiatrist named Philip, takes a liking to the alluring young woman and decides to follow her across the desert when she mysteriously disappears.  Carol can no longer resist the voice summoning her to an ancient city, where she is to take her place as the reincarnated Queen Ayesha...

She (1965) was one of Hammer’s biggest successes and a creative high point, and so it was inevitable that the company would attempt a sequel.  Unfortunately, the star of that film, Ursula Andress, had moved on to bigger and better things and was unwilling to reprise the role of Ayesha.  Undeterred, Hammer looked around for a comparable beauty and found Olga Schoberová, a Czech actress with the looks of Andress and Bardot combined but, alas, limited acting skill.   

Despite its exotic locations and its stunningly beautiful lead actress, The Vengeance of She was not a success.  It remains one of Hammer’s least loved films, although the story (written by Peter O’Donnell, creator of the Modesty Blaise comic strip) is well constructed and the performances are above average for a Hammer film.  Cliff Owen’s direction is workmanlike, with a few inspired touches, although far less impressive than Robert Day’s excellent work on She.  The lack of any big name actors in the cast list is probably what made the film so unappealing to audiences when it was first released, but judged on its own merits The Vengeance of She is not a bad fantasy romp into H. Rider Haggard territory.  An alluring piece of kitsch erotica, it can also be read as a deviously wry send-up of feminism in the late 1960s.

© Steve Chandler 2009

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