A tribe of scantily-clad but well-coiffed women search for mates at the dawn of civilisation. After some adventures and inventive moments, they finally find 'deserving' men and settle down (with proper 1950s propriety, having had their unions sanctified by the appropriate antediluvian marriage ceremonies). A bargain-basement independent, the film is almost unwatchable. The dialogue is all in 'caveman', so exposition is provide by constant (and after a while irritating) narration (voiced by David Vaile), which gives the opus a pseudo-documentary feel (but for a more realistic depiction of Paleolithic life, consider watching 'The Flintstones' (1960)). 'Prehistoric Women' comes across as a cheap knock-off of 1940's 'One Million B.C.' but with negligible 'special effects' beyond a brief fight with some sort of duck-footed flying 'dragon' (never shown clearly). The characters' main nemesis is a 'giant' named Guadi (played by the 7' 8" Icelandic actor Johann Petursson), a slow-moving threat who never looks as menacing as the narrator makes him out to be. The distaff cast is led by Laurette Luez, a bit-player 'exotic' with 1940's pin-up looks and negligible 'mime' skills (notably her attempts at 'knowing smirks' when she watches captive Engor (Allan Nixon) try to move a huge rock). With the 'educational' narration, the titular women all wearing short, tight, thigh-baring skirts, and lots of lingering-leg shots, the film is borderline 'exploitation' (if the women had been topless, it would have been a typical 50's 'nudie-cutie' (especially with the alternate title 'The Virgin Goddess')). Surprisingly, considering the apparent budget, the film is in colour. All in all, a silly and dull entry into the 'sexy cavewomen' canon of adolescent fantasies and an obvious antecedent of such ogle-classics as 'One Million Years B.C.' (1966) and 'When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth' (1970). One positive comment: the scenes with the panthers suggest that they had a competent cat wrangler.
Review of Prehistoric Women
