Thursday, October 24, 2019

By the Gods!

Bernadette Lafont and Enrico Montesano in THE GOOD THIEF (1980)

Another raunchy 'Sex & Sandal' movie? Yes and no. The quality of the production is much better than the sleazy CALIGULA knock-offs of the period  There's no use of stock footage. The actors, crew are legit. This is an actual movie set in Biblical times with a good looking cast, surprisingly realistic looking locations and sets, and beautiful cinematography that captures the sunny Mediterranean (Tunisia) setting. It's basically a humorous take on BARABBAS(1961) in that Enrico plays this unscrupulous thief and scammer who, through circumstances, ends up crucified next to Jesus. He's impressed by Jesus' miracles and wants to use the same 'tricks' for his shady ways. The women are mostly busty and show lots of cleavage. Bernadette Lafont would later appear in GWENDOLINE (1984). Edwige Fenech made just a handful of PEPLUM type of productions. Raunchy? Yes but not sleazy like your typical Sex & Sandal movie from Italy. It can be seen as part of Biblical comedies of the time, such as MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN (1979) or WHOLLY MOSES! (1980). Entertaining if a bit overlong.

Edwige Fenech as Deborah. The two just meet and proceed to make love. Yes, it's a comedy. 

1 comment:

Richard Svensson said...

Edwige Fenech certainly paid her dues with a seemingly endless string of Gialli and horror movies. Some of them are classics in the genre, though.