The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent (1957)

User Rating:

2.0/10   

Director:

Roger Corman

Writers:

Irving Block (story)
Lawrence L. Goldman (screenplay)

Release Date:

December 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

Fabulous! Spectacular! Terrifying! The raw courage of women without men lost in a fantastic Hell-on-Earth !

Plot:

A group of lonely Viking women build a ship and set off across the sea to locate their missing menfolk...

Plot Keywords:

Viking | Sea | Barbarian | Ship | Warrior

Cast

Abby Dalton	...	Desir
Susan Cabot	...	Enger
Bradford Jackson	...	Vedric (as Brad Jackson)
June Kenney	...	Asmild
Richard Devon	...	Stark
Betsy Jones-Moreland	...	Thyra
Jonathan Haze	...	Ottar
Jay Sayer	...	Senya
Lynette Bernay	...	Dagda (as Lynn Bernay)
Sally Todd	...	Sanda
Gary Conway	...	Jarl
Michael Forest	...	Zarko (as Mike Forrest)
Wilda Taylor	...	Grimolt Dancer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Herman Hack	...	Grimault Rider (uncredited)

Directed by
Roger Corman

Writing credits
Irving Block		(story)
Lawrence L. Goldman		(screenplay)

Produced by
Samuel Z. Arkoff	....	executive producer
Roger Corman	....	producer
James H. Nicholson	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Albert Glasser

Cinematography by
Monroe P. Askins

Film Editing by
Ronald Sinclair

Art Direction by
Robert Kinoshita		(as Bob Kinoshita)

Makeup Department
Harry Ross	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Lionel C. Place	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Bohrer	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Herman Lewis	....	sound

Special Effects by
Irving Block	....	special effects creator
Louis DeWitt	....	special effects creator
Jack Rabin	....	special effects creator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gwen Fitzer	....	costumer

Other crew
Wilda Taylor	....	choreographer

Production Companies

• Malibu Productions

Distributors

• American International Pictures (AIP) (1957) (USA) (theatrical)
• Astral Films (1958) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

The Saga of the Viking
The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent
Undersea Monster
Viking Women (UK)
La leggenda vichinga (Italy) [it]
La leyenda de las vikingas y su viaje a las aguas del gran dios serpiente (Venezuela) [es]
Le donne vichinghe e il dio serpente (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

66 min | USA:71 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #18826) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Malibu Productions

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the great hall of the building the curtains are held up by metal curtain rings.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Viking Women vs. the Sea Serpent (#4.17)" (1991)

Long title for a short movie

This has to be one of the dumbest titles ever. Granted it tells you what the plot of the movie is but that seems to be where the cleverness began and ended.

This is really low rent Roger Corman. Its far from a good film, but the chuckle factor and the fact that it has different setting makes it worth giving a try for those who like bad films or at least want to see something different than the typical movie setting.

The plot has the viking women going off to find their men who have disappeared. They end up finding them after crossing dangerous waters and running into a rubber sock puppet sea serpent. The men are being held captive by an evil tribe of men who soon capture our heroines, making escape seem possible.

Running a brief 66 minutes this film is so full of clunky film making that you'll wonder how it ever got released. Costumes look like costumes, the sea monster looks dumb and the special effects aren't. Rarely has rear projection been put to worse use than here.

Still, somehow, its manages to avoid being a truly awful movie. Sure its not good but at least its not the same old same old, which here gives it three or four points in its favor.

6 out of 10, just for being off beat, though it probably deserves a 3 in a more realistic frame of mind.