The Vengeance of She (1968)

A beautiful young European girl, Carol, is taken over by the spirit of mysterious Ayesha, queen of the lost city of Kuma. Carol is taken to Kuma to succeed the almost-immortal Ayesha as ... See full summary »

Director:

Cliff Owen

Writers:

Peter O'Donnell (screenplay), H. Rider Haggard (based on characters created by) (as Sir H. Rider Haggard)

Stars:

John Richardson, Olga Schoberová, Edward Judd

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Richardson	...	Killikrates
Olga Schoberová	...	Carol / Ayesha (as Olinka Berova)
Edward Judd	...	Philip
Colin Blakely	...	George
Jill Melford	...	Sheila
George Sewell	...	Harry
André Morell	...	Kassim
Noel Willman	...	Za-Tor
Derek Godfrey	...	Men-Hari
Danièle Noël	...	Sharna (as Daniele Noel)
Gerald Lawson	...	The Seer
Derrick Sherwin	...	No. 1
William Lyon Brown	...	Magus
Charles O'Rourke	...	Servant
Zohra Sehgal	...	Putri (as Zohra Segal)

Storyline

A beautiful young European girl, Carol, is taken over by the spirit of mysterious Ayesha, queen of the lost city of Kuma. Carol is taken to Kuma to succeed the almost-immortal Ayesha as empress of Kuma.

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | sequel | based on novel | 

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Taglines:

Kneel Before "SHE"

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 May 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ayesha, Daughter of She

Filming Locations:

Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After Ursula Andress turned down repeating the role she had created, model Samantha Jones, Britt Ekland (Peter Sellers' wife) and Barbara Bouchet were also considered for the role.

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Goofs

(At 0:37) When Kilikrates crosses to his throne and sits, his robe covers his left knee. When the point of view shifts, his knee is not covered.

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Connections

Version of She (1965)

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Soundtracks

Kassim's Chant
(uncredited)
Written by Philip Martell

User Reviews

Trashy but with an ethereal 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.