The Grim Cellar

1965 / 1967, UK, Directed by Robert Day / Cliff Owen

Colour, Running Times: 101 / 97 minutes

DVD, Region 2, Optimum, Video: Anamorphic 1.78:1 / 1.66:1, Audio: Mono

She: A group of academics/budding explorers travelling in India hear of an ancient city and head off into the desert to find it. There they find a despotic woman ruling over the lost kingdom, the mighty Ayesha, who has been expecting the arrival of one of the explorers because he is apparently the descendant of a primordial love of hers. There she expects him to take her side on the throne to rule eternally (with the help of an immortal-life-giving fire).

Vengeance of She: After having put an end to a yacht party, the drunken owner finds a rather attractive stowaway that he and his companions (understandably) decide to adopt for the duration of their journey into distant waters. Unknown to them she is possessed by the spirit of Ayesha and uncontrollably beckoned into the hands King Killikrates of the lost city of Kuma, who wants his reincarnated love for himself once more. One of the crew members however has fallen in love with her already and, not entirely empathic about Killikrates’ ideas, plans to take her back.

Surprisingly She was a massive success for Hammer; Vengeance… conversely bombed. My theory is that everyone flocked to see the first film thanks to Hammer’s usual great advertising campaign (their posters were often gorgeous works of art) combined with the inclusion of the chiselled Ursula Andress as the titular character, then, not exactly enjoying the laborious fantasy adventure, nobody was really interested in seeing the sequel produced as a result of the financial success of the first. While these films have their fans I find them somewhat unengaging and a chore to sit through. Despite an entertaining opening sequence in She with Cushing and his friends having a good night out in an Eastern bar, the film becomes difficult to sit through. I marginally prefer the sequel - starting off with a lovely European aura (and supported by quite a nicely written score throughout), it unfortunately rapidly loses appeal, although there is quite an exciting car/horse chase across the desert. And Olinka Berova (Olga Schoberová) is a particularly alluring, nubile Czech beauty (as you’ll notice most of them are if you visit the culturally rich land); though a fairly talentless thespian at least she decorates the screen.

The first film is a bit of a mess on DVD: shot in ‘Hammerscope’ it originally had a ratio of 2.35:1; here, following an opening credit sequence roughly of 2.00:1 the remainder is presented in 1.78:1, therefore severely cropped. Further to that, there is some kind of video noise evident throughout and detail is not exactly a strength. Out of Optimum’s Hammer collection, this is the worst transfer apart from The Reptile (though everything else in the box looks fine to be fair - see the reviews elsewhere in The Grim Cellar). Vengeance… is much better, looking quite cinematic and accurately featuring a pillar-boxed ratio of 1.66:1. Buy these films if you know you already like them and then only if you can get them cheap, but I wouldn’t try them on spec.