Las mujeres vikingo y la serpiente del mar

A Corman cheapie which follows the fortunes of a tribe of Viking women, as they set sail to find their menfolk who have not returned from an earlier voyage.

Women are all statuesque blondes, apart from the evil one who, in the best film-noir tradition, is brunette.

After setting sail in the flimsiest longship imaginable ( a 20 ft canoe ), the women are pulled into a vortex and terrorised by a giant sea-serpent which causes them to be washed ashore in a strange land. Here they find there menfolk, who had followed a similar path and are now enslaved by a barbarian tribe, the Grimaults and forced to work down their mines.

The men are all bottle-blonde surf-dudes, and after some comings and goings the women manage to free their other halfs, and all manage to escape.

Any film with a title this tongue in cheek, particularly a Corman one, is difficult not to have some affection for. That said 'Viking Women....' is very poor in all departments, with script, performances, narrative all out of the bottom drawer. Not of the standard of other Corman films of the period, such as 'Day the World Ended' which despite limitations did have some recognisable strengths.

Considering the title and that the film was made by Roger Corman during his "quickie" days (he'd already made something like 679 other films in 1957), this film is about what you'd expect--a very low budget and silly picture. The only decent thing about the movie is the soundtrack--not bad at all. Otherwise, it's pure crap--1950s drive-in movie crap.

The film begins with a bunch of scantily-clad blondes in Scandinavia pining for their lost men. Apparently the men had gone off to sea a few years earlier and never returned. So, these ladies decide to go in search of them. In real life, Viking women were amazingly tough ladies, but I just couldn't see this gaggle of skinny ladies putting up much of a rescue effort--and I turned out to be right. After almost being killed by a giant sea monster, the women wash ashore in the land of dark-haired bad actors where they are taken prisoner. There, they discover that their men are slaves to these dark-haired guys. I loved finally seeing the Viking men, as they all looked like extras from a 1960s beach movie--clean shaven, no chest hair and Troy Donahue hair---exactly like the rugged Vikings must have looked!! Eventually, the well-coiffed Vikings escape and the dark-haired jerks get theirs--the end.

While there is a bit more to the plot than this, I really don't care to elaborate--it's just not that interesting or important. Instead, let's talk about the worst aspect of the film--the writing. Again and again, characters do things that make no sense at all. Why take the Viking women on a wild boar hunt? Why does the only dark-haired lady in the bunch of Vikings (a sure sign of evil) behave so wildly unpredictably as she does (I suspect really, really bad PMS)? Why does a teeny, tiny sword kill a 6000-foot long sea monster? How did the Vikings expect to keep warm wearing outfits that looked like they were left over from American-International's last caveman or jungle film? And, why didn't the writers include anything that was remotely exciting or interesting?

The bottom line is that the film is just barely watchable but why bother unless you are a bad movie fan. Additionally, it seems that Corman must have quickly slapped together this film in anticipation of the soon to be released epic, THE VIKINGS, a film vastly superior in every conceivable way.

Viking Women and the Sea Serpent, The (1957)

** (out of 4)

Some viking women head off to locate their missing mates when they're attacked by a sea serpent and thrown on shore where they are taken hostage by some dumb King. The viking women must then fight to save their men and return home before one more battle with the sea creature. This is another ultra low budget picture from AIP and director Roger Corman but it remains slightly fun throughout. The look of the "sea serpent" is actually pretty good and I'd say it's probably the best looking creature from any of Corman's low budget films. The cast including Abby Dalton, Susan Cabot, Brad Jackson and Jonathan Haze is charming as well. The original (and on screen) title of this is The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent.

At first glance, "The Saga Of The Viking Women and Their Blah Blah Blah..." looks like it will be a lot of fun. It's an early American-International movie, a studio that even back then pushed for exploitation entertainment in their movies. It's also directed by Roger Corman, whose movies usually prove to be a lot of fun. And the movie starts off being a lot of fun. In the first part of the movie, we get a lot of unintended laughs. The back projection of ocean when the ship is afloat makes it look like the ship is hovering hundreds of feet above the surface, the ship is pretty small yet a stowaway manages to sneak aboard and stay hidden for some time (but later, all of a sudden, he's with the crew, with his exposure never seen.) There's 21th century terms in the dialogue, and the sea serpent effects are laughable. That's the first part. Unfortunately, around the time the viking women wash ashore, the movie quickly turns around and becomes surprisingly boring. It's not campy, just dull. Had the movie kept its focus on the viking women, or the sea serpent for that matter (the movie forgets about the sea serpent after the first appearance until the very end), the movie would probably been a lot more entertaining. At least the movie is short (66 minutes.)

If you don't take it too seriously, you'll enjoy this film that ONLY Roger Corman, or at worst Bert I Gordon, could direct in those times; late fifties. It is totally crazy, daring, incredible, a mix up between historical, monster, and teenage genres. You have to watch it to believe it. It is not a dream, but a true Roger Coman's feature. Not his best, but you can't avoid this one, because in Corman's filmography, this movie is unique. Useless to say that with such a budget, you have to expect something very special. It is fun, never boring, laughable but a bit on purpose. Please watch it, please for Roger Corman's sake.