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The Devil Came From Akasava
[Image Entertainment]
1970; color
Directed by Jess Franco
Starring: Soledad Miranda, Fred Williams, Ewa Stromberg, Howard Vernon, Paul Miller & Horst Tappert
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The Devil Came From Akasava is the third in a series of films, along with She Killed In Ecstasy and Vampiros Lesbos, made by Jess Franco in the early '70s starring the hauntingly beautiful Soledad Miranda. Some go so far as to refer to them as a trilogy but I'm still not sure if that's accurate (or where the trilogy part comes in to play, as the films—plot-wise at least—don't seem all that connected to me). Regardless, whether you group them together or see them as separate entities, by my standards all three are classics. Of course, by my standards Soledad Miranda is a style icon of the first order, right up there with the likes of Bettie Page and Lauren Ezersky. In other words, what do I know. The Devil Came From Akasava is not all about sexy sapphic vampire love (a la Vampiros Lesbos) or murderous revenge (a la She Killed In Ecstasy). It's more of a spy flick. Kind of like a James Bond movie but much less British and without any specific hero. There is a suave English dude who shags all available comely lasses while locating any and all missing professors from the extremely vital Institute Of Tropical Research, not to mention rescuing any chunky pieces of rock that can that can turn metal into gold. However Soledad Miranda's character (Jane Morgan) is also on the case and just as vital to it's success, as is the ever present Jess Franco; playing Tino, the assistant to the suave British dude. Or rather, he's in disguise as an assistant to the British dude. About halfway through the movie his "real identity" is revealed. What can I tell you, in this strange land of Akasava nothing is what it seems. Everyone's got a secret to keep and at least one alternate identity - except for the characters that aren't important. Suffice it to say, to fully map out the plot of this wild, winding cinematic road is to spoil the ending so I'll refrain. I highly recommend any movie featuring Soledad Miranda and this is no exception. If nothing else you can gaze upon her loveliness and check out her outfits, which are always amazing; and oddly enough, quite "current" if you break them down into individual pieces. I can't rock the gladiator sandals myself though, they make my otherwise long and relatively shapely legs look quite stumpy. (I think it's the horizontal lines; so not flattering.) But I digress. Sadly, this is the last film to feature this Spanish beauty, as she died in a car accident at the very young age of 27 before this film was released. I've read that the accident happened a few weeks after they finished filming but I've also read about a second theory, suggesting the accident occurring during the filming and the film was spliced together with whatever footage of her they had. I don't know which one is true but the fact that there are conspiracy theories about her passing only adds fuel to her foxy, firey legend. If you're only going to see one of the three Franco / Miranda movies, I suppose I'd recommend you start with Vampiros Lesbos; but be forewarned, you very well may fall under the spell of Miranda or the equally enthrallling generous use of a zoom lens (Franco's favorite lens) and want to see them all.
—Bunny
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