The Viking Queen (1967)

Pretty Good

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

What an absolute mishmash of a historical film that Hammer inflicted first on the British and then the world wide movie-going public with The Viking Queen. But as in their horror films the accent was on blood and gore as opposed to historical accuracy. And for a film called The Viking Queen, Vikings don't even appear in this epic. It is the dying wish of an ancient Briton king that his daughter share rulership with a nice Roman guy sent over to bring the enlightened ways of Rome to those uncivilized Celts. Don Murray is the Roman legion head and Carita in the second of her only two film is our Celtic princess. They love each other and have some ideas considerably ahead of their times, but too many vested interests on both sides get in the way.On her side there's Donald Houston playing a Druid priest who keeps invoking the Greek King of the Gods Zeus. He's the best in the film, he has glorious part that calls for overacting, he knows this film is a Thanksgiving gobbler and goes full blast. With that full head of hair and beard that makes him look like Charlton Heston as Moses on steroids, Houston is light years away from the pretty youth on that South Sea Isle with Jean Simmons in The Blue Lagoon.And among his crowd is his jealous second in command Andrew Keir who thinks there's only one way to deal with conquered people. Keir takes over while Murray's away on business and starts a war where most of the cast eventually is killed.If you like Hammer films for their gore than you'll like The Viking Queen. But personally with references to Zeus and characters like Osiris from Egyptian culture and Priam who was the King of Troy this is one mess of a film and everyone connected with this knew it.

So let me see if I can get this straight: The Romans have invaded the British Isles and in the process they try to make peace with Viking Druids who worship… Zeus? But they look and act more like Celtics than Vikings. To make matters even more interesting, the Roman governor, "Justinian" (Don Murray) and the attractive Viking Queen, "Salina" (Carita) fall in love and want to get married. But the Druid priest, "Maelgan" (Donald Houston) forbids it and then conspires to start a revolt for which he expects to win because the Celtics (or whatever they are) have chariots which are ideal for heavily wooded areas and the Romans have apparently never fought against an army that has them. Uh…okay. But having said all of that, I must confess that this film was a somewhat entertaining movie to a certain degree. And although some of the combat scenes were a bit…uh…imaginative and the acting left something to be desired, the film had some sexy women in skimpy attire which surely counts for something. Even so, in order for a person to enjoy it, he or she needs to abandon any sense of reality and just go with it. Personally, I wasn't quite able to do it entirely, but that's just me. Slightly below average.

Director Don Chaffey had enjoyed such a box office success with One Million Years B.C that the folks at Hammer entrusted him with this intentionally campy adventure flick set in Roman Britain. Once again, Chaffey is called upon to provide semi-naked and very beautiful women, bloodthirsty battles, woefully inaccurate history and sensationalised plotting, all in the name of entertainment. Alas, the trick doesn't work twice and The Viking Queen emerges a curious historical folly, more memorable for the wrong reasons (stupid dialogue, continuity errors, over-the-top acting, etc.) than the right ones.In Celtic times, a dying king of the Britons makes a final wish that his daughter Salina (Carita) should take control of the Iceni tribe after he has passed away. His request is for Salina to forge an alliance with the honourable and honest Roman, Justinian (Don Murray). As requested, Salina tries to uphold her father's dying wish…. indeed, she even finds herself falling in love with the Roman. However, the druids - who believe it is their right to advise and guide Salina in her decisions – are not pleased by this growing bond between Iceni and Roman forces, and forbid them to consummate their relationship via marriage. Similarly, some of the more aggressive and attack-minded Romans are just as troubled by Justinian's actions, so they too try to set up obstacles in the path of his plans of love. Octavian (Andrew Keir) in particular is hell-bent on preventing a meaningful comradeship between the two tribes, and he does everything he can to stir trouble. While Justinian is away fighting a battle in Anglesey, the Romans take advantage of his absence to abuse and mistreat the Iceni people. Ultimately things come to a head and much blood is shed as Salina is forced to put the pride and passion of her people before everything else. She leads her tribe into a fatal battle against the Romans, sacrificing her chance of love in order to protect their way of life…..The fact that Salina is actually a Celtic queen, living in an era some 700 years before the Vikings had any meaningful link with British history, is a sore point that has been discussed by other reviewers already. Not that script-writer Clarke Reynolds seems particularly bothered by it, evading the issue by adding a half-line to explain that her mother was a Viking and therefore she is, technically, of Viking ancestry. The attractive photography (by Stephen Dade) on Irish locations is one of the film's few pleasures. Bad movie as it is, it still looks colourful and eye-catching throughout. The over-the-top acting is also enjoyable in a cruel and twisted way (I guess it's that idea of revelling in the misfortune of others – taking pleasure in watching good actors in terrible trouble and all that). Donald Houston is perhaps the guiltiest of all, giving a performance that is embarrassingly unrestrained as the trouble-making druid Maelgan. Carita, on the other hand, is an amateurish non-actor given the responsibility of carrying the picture when, in actual fact, she is simply incapable of doing so (she never starred in another film). See The Viking Queen if you're a fan of Hammer and you don't mind history that is camp and inaccurate…. avoid it if you want something serious, enlightening and believable.

Although it has its quirks and is horribly mis-named (the Vikings entered the European scene 700 years after the movie's setting), this movie is a fun and engaging look at a much-overlooked historical stage. Some disbelief-suspension is required (the title character's accent, for example), but historical-fiction fans should find this film quite entertaining. While the costumes and characters (e.g. the sensational depiction of the Druids) might not be 100% believable, the plotline and settings more than make up for it. As a fan of both the old Hammer style and of Roman history, I was quite engrossed. I just wish they'd called it "Queen of the Celts"!