The Devil Came From AkasavaThis average spy film from cult director
Jesus Franco was loosely derived from the
Edgar Wallace novel Akasava.
Fred Williams stars as an Interpol agent undercover as Walter Forrester, nephew of the esteemed scientist Dr. Henry Forrester (
Paul Muller). Beautiful actress
Soledad Miranda, in her final screen appearance before her tragic death, co-stars as British Secret Service agent Jane Morgan, who goes undercover as a nightclub dancer. The two agents fall in love and join forces to search for the men who stole Dr. Forrester's discovery, a mineral which turns base metals into gold and has the power to turn people into zombies. The screenplay by
Ladislas Fodor and Paul Andre is rather muddled, and the photography is full of the requisite soft-focus zooms typical of Franco's films, but Miranda is wonderful and
Howard Vernon is effective as the sinister Humphrey. Franco himself appears as a bumbling agent. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide