Edgar Soberon Torchia
Enjoyable early Corman with California surfers as Vikings and dark-haired beach bums as their enemies. Bradford Hatton is the blandest Viking warrior you will ever see, but the film as a whole is not as bad as people say. Most of the minuscule budget went to the special effects and matte paintings, and the F/X men gave the producers as good as they got, though I must say the serpent is far better than I expected, a serviceable rubber snake with countless teeth, and better looking than Corman's crab monsters, wasp woman or the monster from the haunted sea. After budgeting cast and crew fees, Corman was left with the proverbial three bucks for costumes, sets and props. All this do show but he somehow managed to make it all look decent enough to pass for a drive-in masterpiece. "The Saga of the Viking Women" is a tight, little adventure film with a bit of melodrama for good measure, Jonathan Haze turning into a blond macho action hero out of the little shop of horrors; the Wasp Woman herself, Miss Susan Cabot, as a wicked high priestess; Jay Sayer as a queen-prince still in the closet, Richard Devon as a tyrant with no army but a bunch of soldiers with bad wigs, and a good ending with lovers reunited.
bensonmum2
I'll try, but I'm not sure I can write a plot summary that's as long as that crazy title. A band of Viking women set out in search of their missing Viking men. Along the way, they run into a sea serpent and a whirlpool (I'm not really sure how it all happened. The women meet this really horrible looking sea serpent that terrorizes them when all of a sudden, they are being pulled into a whirlpool. Are the two things related? Honestly, I don't know.) The Viking women find themselves washed up on the shores of a strange land where they are to be slaves. They discover their men are also being held as slaves and are working in the mines. Can the women free the men and escape to their homeland?The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent (the name I actually saw the movie under) is a Roger Corman quickie and it shows. I'd be shocked to learn that it took more than a weekend to shoot the movie. And I'd be even more shocked to find out that anyone spent more than 10 minutes writing the thing. The plot is utterly ridiculous. The sets and costumes seem to have been leftovers from other Corman movies. The special effects in the form of the sea serpent are as low rent as you'll likely run across. And the acting, with the exception of Susan Cabot, is nothing to write home about. Overall, not one of Corman's better early efforts.And to make matters worse, The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent does not make for a very good episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 either. I cannot remember laughing even once. Very much below average and worthy of a 2/5 on my MST3K rating scale. (However, the short that precedes the movie in Episode 317 called "The Home Economics Story" is often laugh-out-loud funny. I'd give the short a 4/5 on its own.)
MoreSnakesPlease
"The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent" is about this group of women. Now this group of women I'm not sure if you were informed, but they were vikings.Now these viking women, well I don't want to ruin it for you but they voyage to the waters of the great sea serpent. Why? So there would be a saga. duh In my humble opinion, I'd have to say this is the best film of all time about Viking Women going to the Water of the Sea Serpent. Can you name one other movie that better captures the intensity and brilliance of women who are vikings? Not only that but they voyage to the waters of the great sea serpent. Is there a movie about this, this revolutionary subject that could even compete with "The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent?" Now this Sea Serpent, he is great! This is one of the many reasons his title is Great. If this isn't enough for you to admit that it's perhaps the greatest saga of viking women on their voyage to... (guess where?) then you have your "film-school high class" attitude on too tight.Highly recommend this if you are in need of a saga about Viking Women.I may have mentioned this but they Voyage the hell out of the Waters of the Great kick butt Sea Serpent
mlraymond
Anyone looking for sheer fun with a movie should enjoy this Corman classic. Some of the most unconvincing Viking women ever seen set out on a dangerous voyage to rescue their lost men. Blonde Hollywood starlets like June Kenney and Abby Dalton do their best to portray fierce Viking women. They look great, especially Betsy Jones-Moreland as a stunningly sexy beauty. The always reliable Susan Cabot slinks around amongst the blonde maidens with her unique brand of sexy villainy. She gets to sneer and smirk and raise her eyebrows a lot, and manages to seduce just about any man she meets, with her come-hither eyes and menacing purr. She steals the picture from all the " good girls". In the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 version, one of the robots remarks that : "You can tell she's the bad one, 'cause she's got black hair!"Richard Devon is fairly impressive as the warrior king, though his palace suggests a high school cafeteria with a few strategic wall hangings for atmosphere. Jay Sayer, who was a total creep as one of the gang members in Corman's Teenage Doll, plays another total creep here, as the obnoxious son of the king. Jonathan Haze gets to display plenty of virile vigor, as he continually leaps on the bad guys ,and wrestles everyone in sight. The title sea serpent isn't really that bad, considering the extremely low budget. Overall, this movie is quite enjoyable, if you like Fifties drive-in flicks and Corman movies. The Viking women are a really foxy bunch of gals, too!
AD
