Film

The Vengeance of She

Name: The Vengeance of She
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Released: 1968
Cast: John Richardson, Olga Schoberová, Edward Judd, Colin Blakely, Jill Melford

Fantasy

A 1968 adventure fantasy about a young woman possessed by an ancient sorceress and spirited away to a lost city. It's camp, colourful, and deeply unconcerned with plausibility—all miniature sets, dubious accents, and characters shouting exposition. For fans of retro pulp who don't mind creaky effects and embrace rather than mock the wobbling artifice.

TMDb rating

2.7

If you liked this

She1965

The direct prequel that establishes Ayesha and the lost city of Kuma. Ursula Andress brings glamour and otherworldly menace to the immortal witch. Essential context and surprisingly watchable despite its age.

But Mid-60s adventure pacing feels glacial by modern standards. The colonial attitudes embedded in the script are uncomfortable and unironic.

Journey to the Center of the Earth1959

Similar vein of pulp adventure with James Mason leading an expedition through an impossible landscape. Earnest and enthusiastic about its own ridiculousness, with strong production design that makes the unbelievable feel tactile.

But Equally creaky in places, and the gender politics are pretty grim. Long stretches of trudging through caves and arguing.

Journey to the Center of the Earth poster

Barbarella1968

Released the same year and cut from identical cloth: campy, garish, bewildered by its own plot, and somehow perfect. Jane Fonda in a pastry-shell dress on an alien planet. Pure colour and conviction.

But The humour is broad and the satire is thin. If you can't enjoy things that are just decoratively silly, this will annoy you.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Vengeance of She

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Masque of the Red Death1964

Both film fever dreams told through vivid production design and possession narratives. Both embrace theatrical unreality rather than fighting it.

Corman's Poe adaptation shares Vengeance's colour-drunk production design and camp tone, but trained on something genuinely creepy. Brightly lit horrors and possessed women, but with intelligence and real dread underneath. Roger Corman understood that artifice and atmosphere aren't mutually exclusive.

But Slow and painterly in a way that will frustrate action-hungry viewers. It's a mood piece masquerading as a horror film, not a plot engine.

The Valley of Gwangi1969

Hidden-world adventure with dinosaurs, stop-motion magic, and absolutely no apologies. Moves faster than most of its contemporaries and knows exactly what kind of movie it is: a Saturday matinée brought to life.

But The special effects, however charming, are dated. The plot is thin as paper and exists only to string together set pieces.

King Kong1933

The granddaddy of lost-world adventures and an actual masterpiece. The prequel-DNA to everything like Vengeance of She: expedition, impossible landscape, worship of the exotic other, spectacle over sense.

But Over three hours and the early sections are genuinely tedious. The racial attitudes are appalling by any standard.

At the Earth's Core1976

Delightfully absurd adaptation of Burroughs with Peter Cushing and Doug McClure in a rubber-rock cavern world. It's shabby and cheap and utterly committed to the adventure, which somehow makes it work.

But The action is sluggish and the creature effects are hilariously unconvincing. Shot feels like a TV production with a middling budget and no imagination.

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad1958

Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad films set the template for all fantasy adventure that followed. Magic, monsters, impossible quests. Everything moves with purpose and the stop-motion gives it a dreamlike, tactile quality.

But Very much a product of the 1950s, which means stiff performances and a pace that assumes patience. The Cyclops scene aside, it's slower than memory.

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad1973

The sequel, more confident and more beautiful. Harryhausen at peak powers, with stronger actors and a script that knows adventure doesn't need to pause for exposition. Pure swashbuckling joy.

But Still demands you surrender to 1970s pacing. The dialogue can be stilted and some of the cultural attitudes haven't aged well.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island2012

Modern attempt at the same pulp DNA—expedition to impossible island, adventure and wonder. It's lighter and faster than its predecessors and leans harder into fun. Good if you want the energy without the creakiness.

But Feels assembly-line produced and lacks any real personality. The 3D tech dates badly and the spectacle is emotionless.

Mulholland Drive2001

Both concern a woman who stops being herself and becomes something else—possession or dislocation as the central image. Both films are more interested in *becoming* than in why.

A woman possessed by or becoming someone else in an impossible city. Lynch uses Hollywood artifice the same way Vengeance uses jungle sets—as the actual substance of the story, not camouflage for it. Disorienting, beautiful, genuinely uncanny where She succeeds only accidentally.

But Completely refuses plot clarity or conventional narrative. Some viewers will feel genuinely cheated by the final hour. It demands active engagement and rewards nothing concrete.

Phantom of the Paradise1974

Both are pulp elevated by commitment to visual excess. Both films about beautiful people trapped in ornate worlds that have made them something other than themselves.

A rock opera fever dream that does camp and colour with genuine artistry. De Palma conducting rock, horror, and melodrama into a 90-minute blitz of style. Like Vengeance if it had confidence, taste, and something to say beneath the surface.

But Heavy on 70s kitsch and the rock-opera framework is a high barrier. Uneven tones and a willingness to get genuinely dark sit oddly with the glitter.