Le diable vint d'Akasava

Soledad Miranda plays a British spy in this movie and is not believable in the slightest; but thank God she is in it because if she weren't, this Krimi-style James Bond send-up would have been a complete dead loss. This movie is rather strange all round. It's based on an Edgar Wallace story and therefore is shot in the same style as the popular Krimi films from the sixties and seventies; but it's directed by Jess Franco, who is more famous for his trashy euro-exploitation flicks, and it takes obvious influence from James Bond; although the suave spy featured here is a sexy female. The plot is complete nonsense of course and focuses around some mineral that has been discovered by some researchers. It has unique properties; it can turn ordinary metal into gold and...wait for it...humans into zombies. Naturally this mineral becomes pretty sought after and it is soon stolen. Shortly thereafter, Scotland Yard sends spies to investigate its disappearance and stop whoever has stolen the mineral.

Soledad Miranda made a handful of films with Jess Franco before her untimely death in 1970; and it's unfortunate really that this had to be one of them. She was in her element in films like She Killed in Ecstasy and Eugenie De Sade, whereas here she's out of her element and it's not really a very good performance. One of the most noticeable things about this film is the score. It's groovy and entertaining, but it's also constant and it does become a bit grating after a while. The madcap plot starts to wear thin rather quickly also and to be honest I was getting bored long before the movie ended. The whole zombie plot might make you believe that there'd be some horror element to the movie, but this is hardly touched on...although that might be a good thing as the quality of this production is very low even without that. It all bubbles up some stupid conclusion that fits the movie well. Overall, The Devil Came from Akasava is not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination. Soledad fans will of course want to track it down, however, and it is worth seeing just for her.

Before watching "The Devil Came From Akasava" (1971) last night, I'd seen two earlier pictures from director Jess Franco--"The Awful Dr. Orloff" (1961), a fun horror outing, and "Venus In Furs" (1968), an extremely surreal, ultimately unfathomable but nevertheless professionally made film--and this may be part of the reason why "Akasava" proved such a disappointment to me. This picture somehow doesn't seem professionally made at all, featuring as it does lazy directing (Franco is inordinately and tiresomely in love with his zoom lens), slipshod editing, and a plot that is often downright confusing. The story here concerns a mineral that is discovered in the fictitious African country of Akasava--one that can turn base metals into gold--and the various criminal parties that vie with the British Secret Service (in the person of the gorgeous Soledad Miranda) and Scotland Yard for possession. Despite the film's title, this is not a horror outing at all, but rather a poor man's secret agent caper that strangely features little action to speak of. The picture is guilty of the worst crime a movie can commit: It is boring. With the exception of some groovy psychedelic music, laced with trippy sitar (non sequitur as the music often is), and some lingering shots of Miranda (who, sadly, like other beautiful actresses such as Francoise Dorleac, Jayne Mansfield and Claudia Jennings, died in a car crash, right after "Akasava" was shot), this film does not offer much. Don't blame the fine folks at Image Entertainment, however. The DVD itself looks great, and offers some excellent subtitling for those of us who don't speak fluent German. But it would take a lot more than a nice-looking DVD to turn this base film into solid gold!

This spy film from prolific exploitation director Jess Franco is probably most notable for being the final film the gorgeous actress Soledad Miranda appeared in before her untimely and tragic death very soon afterwards. In this one she is a secret service agent who goes undercover as a go-go dancer in order to track down international criminals who stole a precious mineral that can turn base metals into gold and people into zombie-like creatures. It's a nonsense plot-line, although it's one of the more plot-driven films I have actually seen Franco attempt.

Its strengths lie in other areas, most notably Miranda, who is easily the best thing about this. Like in all the Franco films she starred in, she once again displays an effortless magnetism and sensuality. The very fact that she operates partially as a stripper of course plays up the latter aspect quite a bit but like her other appearances in erotic roles, it always feels somewhat classy with Soledad. Aside from her there is a regular gaggle of stock Euro actors who will be very familiar to anyone who has seen other Franco films from the period. Also in common with those films is the soundtrack of glorious kitsch groovetastic sounds. So essentially seek this out if you either (a) appreciate this very particular brand of retro lounge music or (b) like Soledad Miranda (who wouldn't?) or (c) must see all things Franco (in which case you're probably insane). It's not as good as other Franco/Miranda collaborations such as Vampyros Lesbos or She Killed in Ecstasy but it still has enough about it to make it an entertaining watch.

"The Devil Came From Akasava", more an exotic adventure than a spy movie, is one of the slickest-looking Jess Franco movies I've seen so far, though Franco (over)uses the ZOOM function of his cameras so much you'd think he was a kid who had just discovered them and couldn't resist fooling around with them. Nonetheless, his greatest failing - one that can easily be associated with many of his movies - is his inability (or maybe his indifference) to tell a coherent story: I watched this movie twice and I'm still mixed up on more than a few whos, whys and hows. As a an adventure film, "The Devil Came From Akasava" never gets exciting. Still, it's worth a look for the astonishingly beautiful Soledad Miranda, whom Franco films fetishistically, and who can blame him - the woman is sheer perfection. However, the script gives her little to work with, and as a result her character is shallow - as is the entire film. ** out of 4.

The prolific Spanish Exploitation deity Jess Franco made some of the most famous cult gems in his repertoire of almost 200 films with the gorgeous cult-goddess Soledad Miranda, who tragically died in a car accident at only 27 - an accident which robbed the world of cinema of one of its most stunning beauties. Sadly, the majority of their collaborations were released only after Miranda's death in August 1970. Being a big fan of both Jess Franco and his most beautiful muse, I am always looking forward to seeing one of their collaborations. Their most famous one is probably the brilliantly titled VAMPYROS LESBOS (1970) in which Miranda plays a Lesbian Vampire Countess, others include NACHTS WENN Dracula ERWACHT (COUNT Dracula, 1970) the cast of which also includes Christopher Lee, Klaus Kinski and Herbert Lom, SIE TÖTETE IN EKSTASE (SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY, 1971) and EUGENIE DE SADE (1974). DER TEUFEL KAM AUS AKASAVA aka. THE DEVIL CAME FROM AKASAVA (1971) is probably the most shamelessly nonsensical of their collaborations and yet Soledad alone makes it an absolute must-see for any admirer of beauty.

THE DEVIL CAME FROM AKASAVA seems like a very-low budget, but stylish James Bond rip-off, only that it is a female Bond with exhibitionist tendencies, played by one of the most mesmerizing women ever seen on screen. The sublime Soledad plays a foxy British secret agent who poses as a stripper. She comes to a tropical island in order to solve a bunch of disappearances... without giving too much away I can promise that the 'mysterious' motivation for the disappearances is hilariously nonsensical. The entire film makes hardly any sense, and yet it is incredibly entertaining. Once asked about the reason for film-making, the admitted sleaze-lover Jess Franco stated "showing the female body naked". And many parts of the plot here seem to be an excuse for the stunning Soledad Miranda to take her clothes off (which is more than welcome). The nudity in this film is very tasteful nudity (as opposed to many of Franco's rather pornographic 80s outings); as almost all Franco flicks from the early 70s, this a very stylish and groovy flick with a cool jazzy soundtrack. The rest of the cast includes many familiar faces, such as regular Franco-flick eerie-man Howard Vernon, Paul Muller and Horst Tappert, who is primarily famous in German-speaking countries for his role of the TV-inspector Derrick.

Overall, THE DEVIL CAME FROM AKASAVA is certainly not Franco's masterpiece, but an incredibly entertaining flick that doesn't take itself seriously, and a must-see for the goddess Soledad Miranda alone.