Nerdy social misfit Wanda Saknussemm is devastated when her boyfriend dumps her because she lacks a sense of adventure. Then she has been informed that her father, an archaeologist, has disappeared on an expedition in North Africa. She goes in search of her missing father and, before long, finds herself in a bizarre underground world where crazy subterranean creatures think she is a secret agent and want her dead. Thwarting them at every turn, Wanda discovers an inner strength she never knew she had before her arrival. But once the denizens of the underground have their way, she will never find her father - or see the light of day in sunny Malibu - again.
Written by
MGM/UA Home Video
Plot Synopsis:
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Wanda Saknussemm (Kathy Ireland) is a nerdy social misfit with large glasses and an unusually squeaky voice who lives in Los Angeles and works at a diner. After being dumped by her boyfriend for not having a sense of adventure, Wanda is informed by a letter that her father, an archaeologist, fell into a bottomless pit and perished. She flies to North Africa and while going through her father's belongings, she finds his notes about Atlantis, apparently an alien spaceship that crashed millennia ago and sank into the center of the Earth. Wanda comes across a chamber beneath her father's apartment and accidentally sets off a chain of events that ultimately cause her to fall into a deep hole.

An unharmed Wanda wakes up deep within the Earth to find Guten 'Gus' Edway (William R. Moses), a miner whom she protects from being slain by two people. Gus agrees to help Wanda find her father, whom she believes is alive and trapped underground. Wanda soon discovers that both she and her father are believed to be secret agents planning an invasion of Atlantis. During her adventures, Wanda's appearance changes from nerdy to attractive (by removing her glasses and using a steam vent to clean her skin). People from the surface world are believe to be aliens by the Atlanteans, who appear to be virtually identical to surface dwellers, and when Wanda is overheard speaking about Malibu Beach by a lowlife informant, she soon becomes a hunted woman and must dodge attempts at capture, both by the mysterious Government House and from thugs paid by the crime lord Mambino (Deep Roy).

Wanda's attempts at escape are assisted by Charmin (Thom Mathews), a handsome rogue who (briefly) assists her flight and falls in love with Wanda. She is ultimately captured by the evil General Pykov, who wants to execute both Wanda and her incarcerated father. The Atlantean leader decides to free Wanda and her father, provided they remain quiet about Atlantis. Gus shows up and helps the duo escape while fighting off General Pykov and her soldiers. Wanda and her father board a ship that takes them back to the surface and the film ends with Wanda on the beach, wearing a bikini and a sarong. She refuses the advances of her ex-boyfriend and is soon reunited with Charmin, who inexplicably appears on a motorcycle.

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