This was Hammer Films' sole foray into peplum territory: that it's not typical material for this outfit is also borne by the fact that the writing and producing credits aren't the usual Hammer stalwarts! Don Chaffey, who handles the proceedings efficiently enough, was something of an expert in the field - having directed Hammer's ONE MILLION YEARS, B.C. (1966) as well as the Ray Harryhausen extravaganza JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963).

Actually, the plot isn't all that different from that of THE LAST ROMAN (1968-9) which I watched recently: while the latter was low-brow and solemn but rather interesting, this is low-brow and silly but undeniably fun. Thankfully, there's intrigue (resulting in plenty of snarling),action and sadism - not forgetting the beautiful Irish locations - to keep one watching. Still, the lazy scripting is so obviously a mishmash of elements without any rhyme or reason that it somehow seems to think of Druids, Vikings and Greeks (all distinct in culture, geography and timeline) as one and the same people!!

With respect to the cast: Carita (whose only film this was) is actually not too bad in the title role - though necessities of plot and an inevitable romance with the enemy leader prevents her from donning armor and turn warrior before the last 20 minutes of the film proper!; Don Murray, saddled throughout with an unbecoming hair-do, tries to keep his dignity as best he can; Andrew Keir (as Murray's jealous aide and the true villain of the piece),Niall MacGinnis and Patrick Troughton actually give good performances; however, Donald Houston's hammy turn as the High Priest of the Druid community is wildly entertaining - and Wilfred Lawson is equally embarrassing as the doddering and moribund Viking King.

THE VIKING QUEEN (1967) is one of Hammer's last forays into period adventure movies and that's no real bad thing, because it turns out to be quite awful. It's one of the most historically inaccurate movies I've seen, a bargain basement oddity with no Vikings at all; rather we get a Celtic uprising loosely based on the story of Boudicca of the Iceni and her battle against the Roman occupiers. Here, characters swoon around in love and talk about going "on honeymoon" while the druids worship Zeus (!),so I can only imagine that the writers skipped history lessons at school.

The film lacks budget and decent cast members; Lee was offered a role but wisely declined, so that leaves us stuck with interesting character actors like Patrick Troughton, Niall MacGinnis and Andrew Keir in supporting roles. Finnish actress Carita tries for haughty grandeur as the titular character, like Ursula Andress in SHE, but the effect isn't really the same, although she is very beautiful. There isn't much violence and there's only one battle towards the end, but Hammer throw in as much female flesh as they dare get away with. I thought the whole thing was quite silly and sadly just not very interesting.

This is the one and only appearance by the Finnish actress called 'Carita' (Carita Järvinen) and the American, Don Murray. Considering this is about the Druids/Celts in Britain and the Romans, the casting does seem a bit odd. I guess I can understand casting Carita, as she was gorgeous here. Her command of English was quite good though the accent a bit thick and unlike anyone else in the film. And, I must say that when she was being tough and warlike as she swung her sword, I thought it was adorable...though hardly scary or inspiring.

The film is set around the year 100 (give or take a week). The Romans are occupying part of Britain and the locals, not surprisingly, are not at all pleased. For a while, the Queen (Carita) and Roman Governor (Murray) get along great and it seems they like each other and co-rule well. Eventually, however, their queen (a local--not some Viking despite the title) leads a revolt because of mistreatment of her people by some evil Romans--much like the real life one Queen Boadicea and her people (the Iceni) waged against the occupiers. Why, then, they keep calling her a Viking is beyond me, as the Vikings didn't arrive until about the year 800. Perhaps it made the film more marketable or the folks making it just knew nothing about history. Or, perhaps "The Viking Queen" simply sounded better than "The Iceni Queen"! And, why do the Iceni keep referring to Zeus--the Greek god?! The film comes off as not only historically inaccurate, but also suffers from two other serious problems. First, it's incredibly talky and often the dialog is horribly bad. Second, although the battles with Rome were epics (with tens of thousands killed),the film seems to show that both armies numbered in the dozens! And, mostly, the soldiers just stand there--doing very little. As for the Queen--she seemed about as scary and powerful as a Teletubby. The overall effect is cheap and a bit silly...and quite titillating at times (which only increases the cheese factor). And, it may well make you laugh--it sure did with me.

By the way, some of you might recognize Patrick Troughton in the film. He later played one of the Doctors from "Dr. Who"--one of the more obscure ones. Seeing him here in Celtic garb was interesting to say the least.