Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Before watching "The Devil Came From Akasava" (1971) last night, I'd seen two earlier pictures from director Jess Franco--"The Awful Dr. Orloff" (1961), a fun horror outing, and "Venus In Furs" (1968), an extremely surreal, ultimately unfathomable but nevertheless professionally made film--and this may be part of the reason why "Akasava" proved such a disappointment to me. This picture somehow doesn't seem professionally made at all, featuring as it does lazy directing (Franco is inordinately and tiresomely in love with his zoom lens), slipshod editing, and a plot that is often downright confusing. The story here concerns a mineral that is discovered in the fictitious African country of Akasava--one that can turn base metals into gold--and the various criminal parties that vie with the British Secret Service (in the person of the gorgeous Soledad Miranda) and Scotland Yard for possession. Despite the film's title, this is not a horror outing at all, but rather a poor man's secret agent caper that strangely features little action to speak of. The picture is guilty of the worst crime a movie can commit: It is boring. With the exception of some groovy psychedelic music, laced with trippy sitar (non sequitur as the music often is), and some lingering shots of Miranda (who, sadly, like other beautiful actresses such as Francoise Dorleac, Jayne Mansfield and Claudia Jennings, died in a car crash, right after "Akasava" was shot), this film does not offer much. Don't blame the fine folks at Image Entertainment, however. The DVD itself looks great, and offers some excellent subtitling for those of us who don't speak fluent German. But it would take a lot more than a nice-looking DVD to turn this base film into solid gold!

"The Devil Came from Akasava" is a slower than typical Franco affair.**SPOILERS**Deep in a jungle in the country of Akasava, a mysterious death plagues the British government, and top agent Jane Morgan, (Soledad Miranda) is assigned to go undercover in the country with partner Rex Forrester, (Fred Williams) and find the cause of the disappearances. After looking at the possible angles, they find that the disappearances center around a special mineral that turns people into zombies. With an enemy group on their trail, they work together to solve the mystery of the mineral as well as the disappearances of the original deaths.The Good News: Being that this is a Franco film, there's always several things to immediately expect. The first is that the film will really not make sense, feature a nice, jazzy score and the underlying reason is the copious female nudity. Soledad Miranda here provides the bulk of that, and has never really shown such a presence before. She captivates with her several remarkable scenes and willingness to perform, and there's several wonderful scenes of her in here. The strip-club act is the clear highlight, which is as sultry and erotic as anything else in his catalog. It is shot and choreographed beautifully, and watching Soledad Miranda dance in a continuous series of stylized poses is never a bad thing. The fact that the plot includes such genre-defying topics as a spy story, an adventure setting, soft-core erotica and zombies makes this such a special film, and the cleverness of them being tied together makes it stand out quite nicely. Other than that, that's about it here.The Bad News: It goes without saying that in a Franco film, the constant zooming and jazz maybe for specific tastes, but the biggest flaw is that the film really takes it's time doing anything. The setup takes way to long to explain away, and after most of it was already told through the opening moments. The fact that a spy film would feature so little action is a big mystery, since it really could've done so easily. However, these are the main gripes here.The Final Verdict: A little slower moving than usual for a Franco film, this is still a rather kooky and entertaining entry in his canon. A really high recommendation for the Franco aficionado, while those not that experienced in his work might want to start elsewhere, as there's better ones out there.Rated NR/NC-17: Full Nudity, Violence and some Language

"Der Teufel kam aus Akasava" was released after the untimely demise of its star Soledad Miranda. First off: she has made better movies, especially "Vampyros Lesbos" and "She Killed In Ecstasy"! "Der Teufel kam aus Akasava" suffers from the confusing screenplay (said to be based on an Edgar Wallace short story). The MacGuffin for the fight between several parties is a kind of radioactive "energy stone" everyone wants to get hold of. Soledad plays a secret agent in the disguise of a nightclub dancer. Don't ask why she starts her investigation that way. Trusted, experienced actors from the Edgar Wallace series like Siegfried Schürenberg and Horst Tappert are a bit lost here, but (surely not only to me) Soledad Miranda is worth every penny one might spend on the DVD. She performs a dance in the nightclub which is a wonderful demonstration of her beauty, her screen presence and her elegance. Expect nothing more, expect nothing less.

I've seen close to twenty Jess Franco movies now and my all time favourites are 'Eugenie De Sade' and 'Vampyros Lesbos', both of which starred the stunningly beautiful Soledad Miranda. Miranda acted in both movies using the pseudonym Susann Korda and died tragically in 1970 before 'Vampyros Lesbos' was released. 'The Devil Came From Akasava' is another Franco movie from this period, and while it isn't as good as the aforementioned it's still highly recommended viewing if you're a Franco fan. It's based on an Edgar Wallace thriller and the plot concerns a missing scientist, Professor Forrester (Angel Menendez) who has allegedly discovered The Philosopher's Stone, that is, a mysterious radioactive mineral which can turn objects into gold. Miranda plays Jane Morgan, a British Secret Service agent who is sent to Akasava posing as an exotic dancer. When she tries to uncover the whereabouts of Forrester and his discovery she finds herself embroiled in a confusing situation where nobody is what they appear to be. The plot isn't what makes this movie so bewitching. It's very Bond lite, and similar territory to Franco's earlier 'Sadisterotica'. What makes 'The Devil Came From Akasava' a pleasure to watch is Soledad Miranda's beauty. Her face and presence are hypnotic and when combined with the ultra groovy score (chock full of fuzz guitar, electric sitar, harpsichord,etc.), man, that's all you need to know! Miranda steals every scene she's in, but the supporting cast includes Ewa Stromberg, who co-starred in 'Vampyros Lesbos', Fred Williams, Horst Tappert, Franco regulars Paul Muller and Howard Vernon, and Franco himself as Tino Celli. I can't say that this is Franco's best movie, but it's as entertaining as all hell, and a pretty good introduction to his amazing output (180+ movies!).