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1967 - 90m.
Britain

One of the most practical methods for saving money when making movies back in the day was to reuse sets and costumes from bigger budget flicks on the production of a lower budget picture. One of the earliest examples of this that I can think of is when Universal shot a Spanish version of Dracula using the same sets as the Tod Browning classic. This method of cost cutting has also been employed by Roger Corman and his pupils as well as Charles Band and other b-movie moguls. In today's age of recycling and environmental awareness, I am surprised that this method of conservation is not used more often. Prehistoric Women is an example of Hammer Studios using this rationale as it was created using the leftovers (as well as the casting of Marine Beswick and Yvonne Horner) from the highly successful One Million Years B.C.

Michael Latimer stars as David, an unappealing safari guide who is captured by natives after he kills a leopard on their turf. He is accused of disturbing the spirit of the white rhino and about to be sacrificed when suddenly a gateway to another world opens up and David walks through it. He soon runs into a beautiful blonde cavegirl named Saria (Edina Ronay) but she inexplicably bites him and they get into a tussle. This is broken up by a gang of brunette cave women who bring them both back to their community and it is revealed that a sexy and psychotic queen named Kari (Martine Beswick) is ruling over the brunettes and a number of African men. Kari is also holding a group of white men captive and has been using the blonde women as slaves. She decides that she wants David to be her personal sex servant but David has eyes for Saria as she is gorgeous and much more emotionally stable than her nemesis. Eventually, an escape plan is hatched where David volunteers to succumb to Kari's advances (I would have done the same - happily) to allow the blondes and men to rebel against the brunettes and put and end to the tyranny.

Aside from Betty and Veronica, Prehistoric Women shows the most blatant depiction of the blondes versus brunettes rivalry that I have seen in pop culture. Women are literally separated by hair color and men are separated by skin color in a display of overt racism that portrays the black tribespeople that Kari rules as unintelligent pawns who have no personalities of their own. This depiction will be highly offensive to many and it seems like something that would have been done in a Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movie of the 1930s as opposed to the 1960s when black power was on the rise and people were much more disapproving of this kind of ancient stereotype. It is also amusing that the natives who initially capture David all speak perfect English.

Hammer was clearly attempting to cash in on the success (and possibly offset the costs) of One Million Years BC and it is obvious that this was a rush job. The casting of Latimer was a mistake as he comes across as smug and weak in a role that could have used some charisma and more of a hero. He was much better as the dickish Moon in Pete Walker's Man of Violence. Beswick is awesome as Kari and revels in her moments of going ballistic when she doesn't get her way. Bond fans will recognize her from both Thunderball and From Russia with Love. If you enjoy looking at scantily clad cavegirls and can get past the political incorrectness of it all, this is campy fun but aside from Beswick's outbursts and Ronay's beauty, you can probably give this a pass. Director Michael Carreras was a key player at Hammer (thanks to his dad being one of the founders) and was a producer on many of their more successful horror franchise films. Beswick went on to star in Hammer's Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde a few years later. (Josh Pasnak, 10/31/14)

Directed By: Michael Carreras.
Written By: Michael Carreras.

Starring: Martine Beswick, Edina Ronay, Michael Latimer, Stephanie Randall.

aka: Slave Girls.