NON-PEPLUM PEPLUM films!

ZAN - KING OF THE JUNGLE (1969)


Everything about ZAN - KING OF THE JUNGLE (1969; Tarzán en la gruta del oro), starring Steve Hawkes, follows the PEPLUM formula but set in contemporary times. There are 'feats of strength,' as seen above and the last image, both which looks straight out of Maciste movie. And then there's the Amazon-like group of women. Pretty much a Maciste movie but with our Hero wearing a loincloth instead of a tiny tunic.

A lot of stars of the PEPLUM genre began with Tarzan or Tarzan-like productions, including Gordon Scott, Lex Barker, and even Steve Reeves with KIMBAR OF THE JUNGLE (1949) short film. The TAUR/THOR movies starring Joe Robinson were supposed to be Tarzan stories but changes were made to avoid lawsuits from the E. R. Burroughs estate and the Hero became Thor or Taur. So more Tarzan or Tarzan-like movies to be posted here.





SANTO VS THE MARTIANS (1967)

What seems to be an unlikely edition to the NON-PEPLUM PEPLUM movies is actually a distant relative of the PEPLUM genre so it's not surprising that there is a Santo story with a PEPLUM angle. But this one also has a sci-fi aspect to it, which, as we know, is a very common mash-up as well.


Argos (Wolf Ruvinskis), the leader, tells his fellow martians that they need to blend in more with humans.


They emerge out of the chamber as Greek gods and Goddesses!

Argos starts identifying everyone with their new personas (from right to left): Cronos (El Nazi), Morpheus (Ham Lee) and Hercules (Ben Galan)

Female martians tuned into Greek Goddesses (from left to right): Aphrodite (Maura Monti), Selene (Eva Norvind), Artemis (Gilda Miros) and Diana (Brenda Corel).

They start their reign of terror, by appearing out of nowhere and terrorizing humans.

Santo is on the case!

Argos neets Santo in the ring.

But Santo is master of the ring. Argos has no chance of winning!

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HECTOR THE MIGHTY (1972)


HECTOR THE MIGHTY (1972) is a "raunchy sex comedy/modernization of the HELEN OF TROY (or Iliad) story set in contemporary times." As one can see below, the opening credits show, in great details, the name of the mythical characters and the actors playing them in modern times. Not a PEPLUM film in the classic sense but still a PEPLUM one nonetheless, certainly with such a cast that includes Rosanna Schiaffino.












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STAR CRASH 2

This movie is not a PEPLUM and yet...

By looking at this image, wouldn't you think it was a PEPLUM?

The costume sure look like those from a PEPLUM movie.

There's a scene filmed at that famous waterfall.

There's revelry, with handmaidens plying a man with libations.

There's even a dance number.

Our heroes are surrounded by men with lances! That's Fausto Di Bella and Sherry Buchanan.

As you can see, this is actually a (disco) science-fiction movie.

The original Italian title is GIOCHI EROTICI NELLA TERZA GALASSIA (1981) which roughly translates as EROTIC GAMES IN GALAXY THREE. This movie was retitled with a myriad of different titles, including STARCRASH 2. The only connection this movie has with the Luigi Pozzi opus is that it uses special effects from the original STARCRASH. But it's actually just a PEPLUM movie with a (then) new fresh coat of paint.


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