Le diable vint d'Akasava

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.

If you´re an admirer of Jess Franco and the unforgettable Soledad Miranda, who died shortly after the production of this film, which has been produced back to back with Vampyros Lesbos and Sie tötete in Ekstase, in which she starred also, this one´s definitely a must-see. Everything in this movie is adorable (besides gorgeous Soledad, who is credited as Susann Korda): the plot (hilarious secret agent/conspiracy stuff), the actors (watch out for Horst Tappert), the production values (you might remember from Vampyros Lesbos) and, of course, the unbelievable groovy 70s soundtrack. It´s got everything you wish from a typical Jess Franco movie. And if you haven´t seen one yet, this is a good one to begin with.

"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.

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.

"Der Teufel kam aus Akasava" was released after the untimely demise of its star Soledad Miranda. First off: she has made better movies, especially "Vampyros Lesbos" and "She Killed In Ecstasy"! "Der Teufel kam aus Akasava" suffers from the confusing screenplay (said to be based on an Edgar Wallace short story). The MacGuffin for the fight between several parties is a kind of radioactive "energy stone" everyone wants to get hold of. Soledad plays a secret agent in the disguise of a nightclub dancer. Don't ask why she starts her investigation that way. Trusted, experienced actors from the Edgar Wallace series like Siegfried Schürenberg and Horst Tappert are a bit lost here, but (surely not only to me) Soledad Miranda is worth every penny one might spend on the DVD. She performs a dance in the nightclub which is a wonderful demonstration of her beauty, her screen presence and her elegance. Expect nothing more, expect nothing less.