The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent

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.

I laughed myself silly watching this "epic" about several viking women going to sea to find their men, seemingly lost at sea. The women(all very good looking with their blonde hair flowing over their statuesque shoulders) construct a boat and sail only to be caught up in a whirlpool that sends them near a hideous sea serpent(looking like something bought at a five and ten store) and to the land of the Grimolts...a race of people that have enslaved all the unfortunate beings that land on their territory. The Grimolts are savages, and have enslaved the viking men. From here the film chronicles how the viking women get back with their viking men. As another reviewer stated, this is certainly not up to Roger Corman's standard good work with a small budget. Instead, this is a cheap movie with a ridiculous script, poorly acted leads(must be all that blonde hair going to everyone's head), and some of the most unbelievable costumes, sets, and special effects around. Yet, the film has a certain charm to it and I found myself enjoying it quite a bit. Some of the lines and situations are natural knee-slappers. Just wait till you see the scene at the Grimolt banquet when out of nowhere a pretty girl starts dancing to 50's style music in a sheepskin. The scene of the the fire-burning at the stakes is another belly-roller as the two lead vikings profess their love. Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent is a lot of fun to watch...some of the humour intentional and much of it unintentional.

All of the men of a Viking tribe have disappeared across the great waters, so their lovesick ladies decide to build a boat and go find 'em. They run into a whirlpool and a giant sea monster before sailing their ship to Bronson Canyon, where they find a tribe of mean and cruel barbarians who are keeping the Viking men chained up in a cave.

Believe me, folks, I really would've liked to spend a little more time on the plot, but sadly, that's all we've got to work with here.

The Viking women are all gorgeous 1950s starlets, including such favorites as Abby Dalton (ROCK ALL NIGHT), Susan Cabot (THE WASP WOMAN), June Kenney (TEENAGE DOLL) and Sally Todd (THE UNEARTHLY). Jonathan Haze of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS fame is along for the ride, too, as a hot-headed young Viking anxious to prove his manhood, which you'd think wouldn't be too difficult considering that it's him and three dozen horny and nubile young women living alone in the village, but what do you expect from Seymour Krelboing, anyway?

Brad Jackson plays the leader of the Viking men, and you're surprised that (a) they elected him leader, or (b) that the women went to find him in the first place. He's dull and not very good in a fight. On the other hand, what lonely Norse lady wouldn't want to snuggle up to hunky Gary Conway, sans his TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN makeup, all rippling muscles in his li'l Viking pelts? Richard Devon, who played Satan in Corman's THE UNDEAD, is Stark, King of the Barbarians (Ooh! Good name!) and has a son who's a sissy, which matters not in this report but looms large in the film itself.

The picture is stolen by Miss Cabot, the only dark-haired Viking woman, who first schemes with King Stark to rub out her rival for the dull guy's attentions, then calls down the wrath of Thor when her plans go awry. She's by turns funny, mean, sexy, and pouty, and she blows the higher-billed Abby Dalton out of the water.

VIKING WOMEN AND THE SEA SERPENT is a goofily enjoyable movie despite its many shortcomings (as Corman put it, 'When working on a low budget, you are better off with material that does not depend primarily on spectacular special effects'). The film was originally released as a double-feature with THE ASTOUNDING SHE-MONSTER, so go 'head and treat yourself to a full double helping of freaky '50s female fun.

With a proclamation of "Our Men Beckon" a group of beautiful Viking women cast their fates to the wind and sail out in search for the men of their village who have been gone for over 3 years. As luck would have it though, they sail upon "the great serpent of the vortex" which causes them to become shipwrecked on the land of savage barbarians known as the Grimaults. Anyway, with a storyline like this, and the fact that it was produced and directed by Roger Corman, it should come as little surprise that this has "Grade B" written all over it. But also true to form he manages to make the most of what little he has to work with to present something that is quite campy but yet fairly entertaining in spite of it all. And while it is hard to overlook the bad dialogue and the silly plot, the action is fast paced and the women were definitely attractive. I especially liked "Asmild" (June Kenney) and "Dagda" (Lynette Bernay) but they were all pleasing to the eye. Likewise, while I don't dislike movies in black and white this one would have been much better in color. But then I suppose that would have been quite a bit more expensive back in 1957 and it probably wasn't feasible at the time.

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.