The Vengeance of She (1968)

Hammer's belated sequel to their version of H. Rider Haggard's She (1965) misfires on virtually every level.  Ignoring Haggard's various sequels to his own novel, Hammer instead opted to bring the story into the (then) present day and substitute their own original story.  It's a curious thing that stories about lost civilisations always feel somewhat more credible when they are given a period setting - the first film was set just after World War One - perhaps because, in a period when the world was still less explored, it seems slightly more plausible that explorers could still stumble upon such things.  Even though the late sixties is effectively 'period' now, the fact is that by then there was little of the world left unexplored and unexploited, making the survival of a lost kingdom, hidden from the world, seem more than slightly ludicrous.  The contemporary setting was doubtless a cost-cutting measure and the film's lack of budget compared to its predecessor is further underlined by the decidedly unimpressive sets used to represent Ayesha's lost city - they lack completely the sense of scale and grandeur evoked by those used in the earlier film.  The cramped looking sets also seem very underpopulated this time around - extras, after all, cost money.

The plot is reasonably intriguing in its set up - whereas the first film had seen the culmination of Ayesha's search for the reincarnation her lost love Killikrates, the sequel reverses the situation with the reincarnated Killikrates noe seeking her latest reincarnation, (the original having perished at the end of the first film, just as he had gained immortality).  We open, though, with a confused looking young woman who looks a bit like Ursula Andress, (Ayesha in the first film), wandering along a winding road in the South of France - after a lorry driver gives her a lift, he tries to molest her, only to be run over by his own truck when it seemingly releases its own handbrake.  The girl, it transpires is suffering from strange dreams and feels compelled to make her way in the direction of Africa.  The dreams are, of course, the result of Killikrates' Magi telepathically 'calling' her to the lost city.  Along the way she gets passage on a millionaire's yacht and, in Africa, has a local sorcerer try to help her  by, unsuccessfully, breaking the Magi's spell.  Arriving in the lost city, the issue becomes that of whether she really is the reincarnation of Ayesha, or whether the Magi has hypnotised her into believing that she is, for his own nefarious purposes.  At which point we shift into a variation of part of the original film's plot, which saw the then High Priest trying to discredit the would-be Killikrates in order to gain immortality for himself, with the Magi using the new 'Ayesha' to try and gain Killikrates' favour and thereby get a shot at immortality.  Inevitably, it all ends with a cataclysm.

Although sold as a direct sequel to the first film, there is a disquieting sense of disconnect between She and Vengeance of She, leaving you with the feeling that the makers of the sequel hadn't actually seen the original.  The character of Killikrates is all over the place for instance, with him seemingly having forgotten his previous mortal life as Leo Vincey, not to mention that he was a reluctant immortal, left waiting for the sacred flame to return so as to return his mortality.  His demise also makes little sense: re-entering the flame, he ages rapidly, turning into a skeleton, then dust, despite the fact that, at best, the time of his becoming immortal and his age then would mean that his true age in 1968 would still only put him in his seventies, meaning that, logically, he should simply have turned into an old man.  Moreover, the whole social structure of the lost city from the first film seems to have been forgotten.  Back then there was a priesthood who dressed like Ancient Egyptians and worshipped Ayesha as a living goddess.  In the sequel, we instead have the Magi, who all dress like Bedouin Arabs and indulge in some pretty generalised mysticism.  

One of the original film's strongest points was its cast, headed by Ursula Andress in the title role, ably supported by Peter Cushing as Leo's fellow explorer Holly, Bernard Cribbins as his batman, Christopher Lee as the High Priest and John Richardson as Leo/Killikrates.  Of these, only Richardson returns for the sequel, (although Andre Morrell, who was in the first, turns up in a different role in Vengeance of She).  Andress is replaced by Hungarian actress Olinka Berova, who is very beautiful wth more than a passing resemblance to her predecessor.  While she lacks Andress' sheer presence in the role, she is, nevertheless, very striking in the role, although, in reality, the script gives her little to work with, character-wise.  The cast is filled out with a number of familiar faces - Colin Blakely is memorable as the millionaire whose yacht the girl hitches a ride on, but sadly doesn't last long, while George Sewell has more screen time as the sympathetic captain of the yacht.  Unfortunately, the male lead is given to Edward Judd, an actor who always seemed to make any character he played dislikeable.  Here is no different, with his 'hero' coming over as abrasive and utterly unsympathetic.  RSC actor Derek Godfrey gives a suitably villainous turn as the Magi and John Richardson, it has to be said, is somewhat less wooden than usual.  Overall, although weaker than the original's line-up, the cast of the sequel are certainly more than adequate.

A big plus point for the film lies in the location shooting in Monaco and Spain (standing in for North Africa), which helps give the impression that it has a bigger budget than it actually had.  The Monte Carlo sequences capture well a sense of time and place and contrast well with the bleak beauty of the 'African' landscapes later in the film. Unfortunately, the hot and dusty realism of the rocky 'Africa' contrasts poorly with the studio sets used to represent the lost city, emphasising their lack of realism and general cheapness.  While director Cliff Owen, (Perhaps best remembered now for his comedy films with the likes of Peter Sellers, Morecambe and Wise and Dick Emery, not to mention the first Steptoe and Son film adaptation), does his best to inject some pace into the film, keeping things moving along, but is confounded by an episodic script, (by Peter O'Donell of Modesty Blaise fame), that, in its middle section, degenerates into a repetitive series of chases around piles of rocks.  It is clear that, content-wise, he is somewhat out of his comfort zone.  All-in-all Vengeance of She is an odd, not entirely satisfying, film, with its various components not sitting together particularly well.  It fails to make the most of the contrast between the modern world and the ancient civilisation of the lost city, which itself seems barely sketched in, leaving the parts of the film set in each feeling disconnected.  Mario Nascimbene's jazz orientated score doesn't help much, already sounding dated for 1968 and disconcertingly modern for the lost city scenes.  If you treat it as an entirely separate entity in its own right, rather than being a sequel to She, however, it comes over rather better, as a flawed, but quite entertaining while it is on, adventure film.