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

Year: 1957
Genre: Sci-Fi Action/Sea Adventure
Directed: Roger Corman
Stars: Abby Dalton, Susan Cabot, Bradford Jackson, June Kenney, Richard Devon, Betsy Jones-Moreland, Michael Forest
Production: Malibu Productions

Director Roger Corman is arguably the most influential filmmaker of the last fifty years. Not because his films are any good, but because his films and those of his production company have jump-started the careers of dozens upon dozens of actors, directors, and cinematographers. A quick look at his "film school" roster include such household names as, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, William Shatner, John Sayles, Jonathan Demme, Nicolas Roeg, and the list goes on and on. Not only did Corman teach new and exciting techniques to a slew of modern filmmakers, he did so with economy of means and a lack of pretension that still holds to this day. My all time favorite Corman film is the original Little Shop of Horrors (1960) which was quite incredibly shot in 24 hours with a budget of only $27,000.

Jack Nicholson in Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

Whatever time, money, and effort Corman spent making The Saga of the Viking Women..., it was too much. The plot revolves around a group of viking women who are awaiting the return of their men from a hunting expedition. After weeks of no word, a group of scouts got out into the North Atlantic in search of their beaus. Their adventures on the seas include tempests, barbarian hordes, shipwreck and their own jealousies; not to mention the sea serpent briefly mentioned in the title.

Definitely the face of a bloodthirsty viking

Whatever style and substance used to make Corman's Edgar Allan Poe movies (1959-1964) is completely absent in this mess. Despite lead actress Abby Dalton's remarkable beauty her uncomfortable mannerisms betray a person completely out of her depth. Several moments of the film call for strong, brawny viking women hoisting sails and attacking barbarians with broad swords but I'm afraid no movie magic can make someone as slight as her strong and powerful. Having Abby "Joey Bishop Show" Dalton play a viking is like having Powder (1995) play Othello, it just doesn't work. The affable Susan Cabot fairs better playing the vamp; a talent she would later put to good use in The Wasp Woman (1959) two years later. Unfortunately the object of her desire Vedic the Viking (Jackson) is as robotic an Aryan rumba and ultimately sinks her and the film.

His last words were "Karloffs a cocksucker"

It is said Corman was inspired to do the picture by the special effects work of Jack Rabin, Irving Block and Louis DeWitt. Opting for the special photographic effects used in Rocketship X-M (1950) and Flight to Mars (1951), Corman found the price tag of his film skyrocketing. As a result the famed sea serpent makes a fleeting appearance at the beginning and climactic end of the movie in a battle that rivals Bela Lugosi's giant octopus demise in Bride of the Monster (1955) in level of camp.

Yet to call Saga of the Viking Women campy is a bit of an overreach. As mismatched as the leads are and a cheap as the special effects get, the story itself takes itself seriously. So seriously in-fact that there is no unintended laughter; only absolute and utter boredom. One can't help but think that with a couple more re-writes and a lot, LOT more money, this stinker of a movie might be as exciting as its poster.

Final Grade: F