DER TEUFEL KAM AUS AKASAVA - Odón Alonso/Sigi Schwab - "The Devil Came From Akasava" (1971)

Welcome back to another Friday night fantasy from the fertile mind of Jesus Franco! Tonight's feature from 1971 is entitled "The Devil Came From Akasava," and has a knockout of a title card!! The exceptionally killer music is brought to you courtesy of two wild cats, Odón Alonso and Sigi Schwab! This is a very interesting pairing for a couple of reasons! Number one being that this was the first film that Odón ever composed for, and it was the last that Sigi ever worked on. One of my favorite bits of trivia is that Sigi Schwab also worked using the name Et Cetera!! Musically, what you got here is a sitar, extra fuzzy guitar, psych organ, harpsichord and a funky horn section all thrown together to a dance beat with jungle sound effects like a stoned Martin Denny in a not so quiet village! Shows you what kind of creative genius there once was in the world!

Okay, Let's All Go to Akasava!! Where the Hell is it, nobody knows, but it sounds very cool when you say it! There's kind of a mine/cave there where this guy, for some reason, knows where this mysterious rock dwells that can turn shit into gold, and peoples into zombies!!

Any normal person would probably understand that an ore with such miraculous properties would also be freakin' off the charts radioactive!! Well, if it's not a no-brainer before you find the stuff, it definitely is afterwards!

Meanwhile back in town, the joint is jumpin' to the innerstellar beat of the spacey "Jupimatic" juke box and it's top tunes of the week!!

Hey, what kind of a place is this???

For me this film is essentially about two people, Soledad Miranda as the sensuous Jane Morgan and Siegfried Schürenberg as the frumpy Sir Phillip!

We've touched on the tragic story of Soledad Miranda here before. She was just really getting her career going with the aid of one Jess Franco, when she was denied further existence at the age of 27 because of a tragic car accident. Ironically, her husband, José Manuel Simões was a race car driver!

On the other hand Siegfried Schürenberg as Sir Phillip, was 71 years of age when this film was made! Siegfried Schürenberg had a great career reprising a role very similar to Sir Phillip, usually called Sir John, in a bunch of Edgar Wallace films! Sir Phillip/John is always very entertaining, as the fumbling, flustered character who is supposed to be in charge, but who always manages to get the job done somehow!

Jane Morgan is a secret agent working undercover as a stripper in the "Red Rose Night-Club" and she is quite talented!

Oh, Hell, I've already left out half the characters, but I will tell you one thing, this is one uncompromising postion for a dead assassin!!

Just like in "Yokai Monsters," the sub-titles pretty much explain exactly what is going on!!

Meanwhile, Jane Morgan is back on stage and lookin' good! Like many others, Soledad Miranda had more than one stage name, and was actually billed as Susann Korda in this film!

More obligatory questions!!

A.C.T.I.O.N!!!

SOLEDAD!!!

That's right, YOU figger it out! It's your options, it's your choice!!

Really, this is such a great shot!! Thanx Jess!

The power is in The Box!!

Jesus Franco has a long history of weird zombies, and this film is no exception. The Euro-Zombies always have a trashy sophistication about them that is lacking in the American and Voodoo zombies!

Classic portrait of Dungeon hero and stalwart Howard Vernon, this time out as the valet Humphrey! If Howard Vernon is in it, we're watching it!

An extra added, but poignant statement leads to even more trouble!

It's not the end of the world, just The End to yet another great Jesus Franco moving picture!