Musings!

Tom Baker in THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1973)

This scene, when the statue of Kali comes alive, is one of the best from any Ray Harryhausen movies. So why isn't it more famous? Or as famous as the skeleton army JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963)? Tom Baker was a great villain. The release of this movie in 1973 re-ignited a short but strong explosion of PEPLUM movies, including the re-release of HERCULES (1958) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959). I find this fascinating. The PEPLUM genre was all but dead by the end of the 1960s but this short revival buckled the trend. It didn't last long though. The movie was a hit and signalled movie audiences were ready for escapist movies which STAR WARS (1977), a PEPLUM in space, ran away with.