La donna venuta dal passato

A young drop dead gorgeous blond woman named Carol(played by Olinka Berova-real name Olga Schoberová) is drawn to the lost city of Kuma and King Killikrates believing herself to be the reincarnation of the long dead queen goddess of Kuma--Ayesha(she who must be obeyed).

This is hardly a great film epic and doesn't compare favorably with SHE(1965)--the film which this one is meant as a sequel too. But aside from all of that I did find this film to be an entertaining and enjoyable ride. It managed to hold my interest even though some of it is quite simple, cheesy and silly. Nonetheless I did enjoy it.

Now if you approach it expecting a film at the same level as SHE(1965), then you will be disappointed. This film lacks the star power and depth of story that SHE(1965) had. Here we have a number of relatively unknown actors although John Richardson does return in his role.

First the good part of the film. The beginning of the movie was beautifully and sharply filmed with an excellent view of the French countryside going towards Monaco with a highway cutting through. The opening theme song was haunting, especially with the supernaturally lovely Czech star Olinka Berova. When you see this miniskirted vision with the flowing blonde hair and long legs walking down the highway with her suitcase, you can't help but be hooked, especially with the aforementioned cinematography and theme music. Unless you saw the predecessor-film, SHE, with Ursula Andress(also called Undress) you wouldn't know what the film was about. The makers assumed that everyone who saw the film also saw SHE. Well, the vast majority of viewers did not and thought the movie's plot was unintelligible. QED Only Olinka Berova's ethereal beauty kept the film from being a total failure and is worth seeing for that alone. Judging by the pre-release publicity, the movie was expected to make Olinka into a major star. Unfortunately for all of us, it did not. Most of the films she made later were behind the Iron Curtain. She later married and divorced an American movieman. Today, she reportedly lives in New York under the name Olga Calley. Her retirement from film is a loss for us all. Update: Olga Calley has moved back to Prague.

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 REVIEW CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS!!!

This is one of the few well-known Hammer films I had never seen, until a few days ago. I had very low expectations and so, sat down to watch this with no preconceived ideas of real enjoyment; just of ticking another Hammer film off on my head as "seen".

The Vengeance of She is oddly enjoyable if totally trashy. The script goes in a vaguely similar line to the original 1965 She. It has minimal characterisation, has no inner continuity and the actions and deeds of some of the characters are totally anachronistic (e.g an Arab who seems steeped in Western magick rites and philosophy).

By the end I found myself totally disinterested if Carol (Olinka Berova) is the reincarnation of Ayesha or not. I was unmoved by the loss/love of Killikrates (John Richardson)and his dilemma of being immortal without his soul-mate. The actual events lost momentum for me even before reaching the Lost City.

So why watch this film? There is an ethereal beauty to this film. Other reviewers have mentioned the beauty of the lovely Ms Berova and she is stunning, so that is enough said about that. But the ethereal beauty is beyond just her looks alone.

The film has some wonderful images: Berova walking down a long winding road in a white fur coat, the desert sequence, the entry to Kuma, etc. The music score by Mario Nascimbene, including the song title (sung by Bob Fields), uses a haunting but very simple melody heard throughout the film in various guises. For the scenes set in the "modern world" it is played as a jazz miniature with solo saxophone. In Kuma, it becomes a chant with an ostinato figure derived from the main melody. I find this very effective.

The ethereality of these features combine to produce something unexpected. This film has stayed with me. Shallow, disjointed and incongruous as the whole thing is, there seems to be something of a 60s acid trip side-effect from this film that I cannot explain. The notions of exoticism; love unrequited or lost; beauty and decay; and glamorous adventure that are not really explicit (due to ineptitude in narrative and performances) in this film are what will now stay with me.

Perhaps in five years time or more, I will have a notion to return to this film... and be totally disappointed, wondering where the effect of this film, that stayed with me in the following days, actually came from. Yet, it is there and for this I give it a tentative recommendation and a very over-generous rating.

As the cover/poster of the film probably tells you, it cannot be taken completely seriously. It is full of silly sets, utterly bad taste skimpy dresses, bad acting and funny horror effects. The story, of course is something anyone could come up with in 20 minutes. Most enjoyable if you like "bad" films.