BY THE GODS! magazine 4 on special!

New Issue no 4 on SPECIAL! Details at the link below.

https://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/3205057 

A reminder as well: I'm not responsible for the publishing and shipping of the magazine. MagCloud is.

Musings!

Margaret Lee is terrified of an alligator in SAMSON AND THE SEA BEAST (1963)

If someone asked me what's the most unintentionally funny scene in a PEPLUM movie, this one would be a major contender. I'm usually very forgiving when it comes to such scenes. Films from a different era with different options for effects or props doesn't necessarily mean hilarity but this scene is funny. It's not just the obviously fake alligator but the entire scene with Margaret acting quite convincingly that she's in terror but the filnal result is too much. Certainly when Kirk Morris jumps on the alligator and roles around under the dangling Margaret. A lot of people dismiss the genre when viewing such scenes. I don't. The scene is still fun even if it's not convincing.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Original Italian poster of SAMSON AND THE MIGHTY CHALLENGE (1964)

Busy poster. I like it. Sorta captures the film's spirit.

New blog banner!

Since voting was low for this week's choice of banner, I've decided that I'll stop the whole voting process. I'll just post them as I like. I tried to do things differently but participation was too low, across all platforms, for the amount of time I spent on it. Also, I'll change the banner every 2 weeks or so. 😀

Image of the week!

Hercules (Mark Forest) is put to a test of strength in HERCULES AGAINST THE MONGOLS (1963)

Lobby Cards Set: CARTHAGE IN FLAMES (1960)

Lobby cards set from Great Britain of CARTHAGE IN FLAMES (1960) starring Anne Heywood, José Suárez and Terence Hill. Not the most exciting lobby cards set. The two top cards, of the brief sacrificial offering, are the best cards. They show more details than the movie! Terence Hill is also missing. And there's a major spoiler in it!

Next week's banner!

Vote for next week's banner!

Dancers from APHRODITE - GODDESS OF LOVE (1958) or Reg Park and Wandisa Guida in MACISTE IN KING SOLOMON'S MINES (1964)

Musings!

Sullivan Stapleton as Themistocles in 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (2014) 

Does anyone remember or even like this movie? It was a follow up to 300 (2006), which was a big hit but waiting another 8 years after the first one seems a pretty long time for a second film. Personally, I've never been a fan of either 300 or this movie. It's just men screaming endlessly. Though I'm often described as focused on beefcake (the PEPLUM genre IS beefcake...😂), the beefcake in this movie and 300, and there's plenty of it (below), doesn't even hold my interest. It's an odd film series. It looks more like something from another planet than a grounded story set in Antiquity. I do like the setting on the ocean and sea battles and such in this one. But it doesn't look real. The way the movie is filmed, such as in the screenshot, seems cold and yet all the men barely have clothes on. There's something jarring about it. It doesn't look like a hot setting! Believe me, I've tried and tried getting into these movies and I can't! And the performance by Eva Green is a major liability. I read somewhere that they described it as HIGHLANDER II: THE QUICKENING (1991). Ouch!

There's a whole bunch of movies from that period that are all but forgotten today, like IMMORTALS (2011), CONAN THE BARBARIAN (2011), the CLASH OF THE TITANS (2010) remake and its sequel, WRATH OF THE TITANS (2012). THE LEGEND OF HERCULES (2014), HERCULES (2014) starring Dwayne The Rock Johnson, GODS OF EGYPT (2016), etc. With the upcoming ODYSSEY movie, which looks boring as hell, will there be another bunch of forgettable neo-PEPLUM movies? 😂

Behind-the-Scenes

Cecil B. DeMille directs Hedy Lamar (Delilah) and Victor Mature (Samson) on the set of SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949)

Clip of the week: WARRIOR QUEEN (1987)

Good guy (Rick Hill) and Bad Guy (Marco Tullio Cau) duke it out! With Sybil Danning.

New PEPLUM imagery

SHADOW OF THE ROMAN EAGLE

MEN OF PULP

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from THE GIANTS OF THESSALY (1960)

This spectacular scene is one of the highlights of the movie and of the PEPLUM genre itself. Directed by Riccardo Freda, I still can't figure out how it was achieved. In this scene, you can see the small figure of Jason (Roland Carey, below) walk towards the statue unobstructed. This means the bottom part of the shot is a real and big set. The statue itself looks like a model and not a matte shot. I believe the sides and the statue are in the foreground, closer to the camera, while Carey and the water surface and plinths are part of a real set in the background. We see smoke flowing in between the sides and the statue. Therefore it's not a matte. This shot plays with perspective. In a brilliant way. I can't wait to see this in HD one day!

 

The armor of Phillip II of Macedon

The father of Alexander the Great was equally important, powerful and famous. Unlike Alexander, the tomb of Phillip II was found in the 1970s. The location of the tomb of Alexander the Great is still a mystery. And this armor and shield was found in it.  It's quite amazing. At the bottom is an AI  representation of the King.

Link

Musings!

Tanya (Chelo Alonso) learns from her dying father, Igor (Folco Lulli) that she'll be the next leader in QUEEN OF THE TARTARS (1960)

This movie is also known as THE HUNS, which I don't like. The story is about Tanya becoming leader. QUEEN OF THE TARTARS is very specific to the story while THE HUNS is just too general to be acceptable. This is one of Chelo's roles as leading lady. After the success of GOLIATH AND THE BARBARIANS (1959), she was probably hot property and landed this role. She's pretty good in it. Directed by Sergio Grieco, the machismo is at 110% even if it's the story is centered around a woman. The costumes are a bit too 'costumey' but I like it, certainly the out of left field ending. Unfortunately, it's the PEPLUM movie with the ugliest poster ever!

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Belgian poster of GOLIATH AGAINST THE GIANTS (1961) 

Typically colourful poster from Belgium. But the artwork looks nothing like the movie. I think it's taken from a Kirk Morris movie.

Next week's banner!

Brad Harris in SAMSON got the most votes, after counting the votes here at the blog and at Facebook and X. So it's the banner for this week. Sylva will come back as a choice for another time.

Here are the choices for next week's banner.

Dancers from APHRODITE - GODDESS OF LOVE (1958) or Reg Park and Wandisa Guida in MACISTE IN KING SOLOMON'S MINES (1964)

Image of the week!

Ursus (Samson Burke) is forced to work on a millstone in VENGEANCE OF URSUS (1961)

PEPLUM Movie Quotes

 REVENGE OF THE BARBARIANS (1960) starring Daniela Rocca and Mario Scaccia

Onorius (talking to rooster): Or shall we say Caius Petilius (sp)? He's as brave as anyone. He's up on all the arts of warfare and I'm told he's always been very lucky which is a gift that's indispensable if one decides to become a great warrior.

Galla Placidia: You're still trying to make a counsellor out of your rooster who is so much wiser than you that he will certainly never give his approval whatever you propose.

Onorius: But why? Why shouldn't he give me an answer?

Galla Placidia: It would seem that the names you suggested aren't worth one single cock-a-doodle-doo.

Next week's blog banner!

Vote on which banner you want to see next week. I also count the votes posted on Facebook and X (twitter). For now, it's a tie, with 3 votes for Sylva and 3 votes for Brad. 

The banner is changed on Sunday night.

Sylva Koscina in SIEGE OF SYRACUSE or Brad Harris in SAMSON?

BY THE GODS! magazine issue no 4 on sale for a limited time!

Support the blog by buying the newest issue of BY THE GODS! Information on the discount at the link below:

BY THE GODS! magazine issue no 4

Musings!

Alan Steel, as Ursus, and his two Annoying Sidekicks, Arnaldo Dell'Acqua and Enzo Maggio, in THE THREE AVENGERS (1964)

I've already written about this movie in the past. I like it. Except for those two industrial-strength 'Annoying Sidekicks' of Ursus. They almost ruin the movie. Almost. But the location, great cast and, well, just Alan himself is enough to overlook those two liabilities. The story is not super compelling and there's a bizarre 'blind' interlude that doesn't go anywhere but for the most part is an eye-pleasing, fun movie. So today I want to write about Alan. 

Mind you, Alan is my second favourite PEPLUM star, right after Steve Reeves. I think he just adds so much to the movies he's in. With that being said, and if I'm being honest, Alan had some issue with body weight. In some movies he's super fit. In other, he obviously gained some weight, like in HERCULES AND THE BLACK PIRATE (1964). He still looked great but...plump. Sorta what they call Fit Fat. In this movie he's in between the two stages. The costume he wears here, well, mostly the pants, don't help him. I don't know if it's because of the heat of the Tunisian location, but his hair looks terrible as well. It's an odd situation in which his appearance fluctuated so much between productions. Sometimes even during the entire movie itself (movies can, in some cases, take months to shoot). It's the same thing with Steve Reeves but not weight issues but how his physique changed so much in between movies. In THE GIANT OF MARATHON (1959), Steve looked fashion model slim but in HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959), he looked massive. It's one of those particular things which is part of dealing with and that's very specific to the PEPLUM genre.

Behind-the-Scenes

Fabrizio Mioni (Jason), Gianna Maria Canale (Antea) and Steve Reeves (Hercules) relax on the set of HERCULES (1958)

Clip of the week: THE SON OF SPARTACUS (1962)

Randus (Steve Reeves) escapes with the help of a friend (Hassan Ahmed) with good teeth. With Enzo Fiermonte.

 

Portrait

José Greci as Regia in GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON (1963)

HD Alert!

Sybil Danning and Donald Pleasance in WARRIOR QUEEN (1987)

I got this HD copy a couple of years ago but never got to write about it. It's one of those Sex & Sandals movies from the 1980s, ala CALIGULA (1979), but on a much smaller budget. Joe D'Amato is credited so if you know you know. The movie is sorta listless and there's very little acting to be found. There are two versions, a shorter one with less explicit stuff and a longer version with more explicit stuff. Personally, I like it not because it's good (it's not) but this is the closest to a PEPLUM movie from the Golden Era made in the 1980s. Incidentally, the movie, which is set in Pompeii, has a lot of scenes from old PEPLUM movies, mostly from THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1959), the Steve Reeves one. I love watching this back and forth switch. The HD copy I have is the shorter version and the image is surprisingly nice. The story centres around slaves sold to bored and lustful people who try to have their way with the women and men. There's even a character named Goliath but he's a bad guy. I'll post a clip from it soon. I don't remember what's the source of the print.

Added to the List of PEPLUM movies in HD permanent page.

 

Rick Hill and Tally Chanel.

Yes, there's gladiatorial action in it...so I'm watching it. 😂