Musings!

 Gordon Scott as Goliath in GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES (1961) 

October is Halloween month and continuing with spooky PEPLUM movies is one of the best of the bunch. I really like this movie. As much as I like it there are some slight issues. First, we don't see a lot vampirism in it. It's violent but the vampirism is almost non-existent. The tone of the movie changes at one point. Two directors are credited for this movie. One can see the shift 2/3s into it. And spoilers: everyone dies except for Scott, Leonora Ruffo and Jacques Sernas. They're celebrating at the end of the movie but there's no one left to celebrate with. 😂 There are a couple of other issues but it doesn't matter, it's a real rock'em sock'em movie. Atmospheric, colourful and full of Feats of Strength stuff, like this photo here, which is always fun to watch. It seems there are no good prints available anywhere (which is hard to believe), which explains why there's no HD version available yet. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Gordon Scott and Rocco Vidolazzi on the set of GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES (1961). It looks cold.

Clip of the week: HERO OF BABYLON (1963)

Gordon Scott to the rescue. With Geneviève Grad and Andrea Scotti.

New PEPLUM Imagery

THUNDER OF ROME

MEN OF PULP

HD Alert!

Alan Steel 

A new HD print of HERCULES AND THE BLACK PIRATE (1964) is streaming in Europe. Gorgeous print. I really hope this one gets the Blu-ray treatment. Seriously, the movie's quality skyrockets by being presented in the way it was meant to be viewed. The trader added the English audio to it. I got this print after publishing the latest BY THE GODS! issue, WITH FIRE & SWORD, in which I wrote about this fun movie.

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

Romantic scene with Alan Steel and Rosalba Neri. Nice transfer.

Rosalba Neri

 

Andrea Aureli - Piero Lulli

WITH FIRE & SWORD

In the latest issue of BY THE GODS!, the subject is the Swashbucklers of the PEPLUM genre. 

The massive category is broken down into 2 subcategories: LAND Adventures and SEVEN SEAS Adventures

Here's a sample of the 38 pages long article.

The subcategories in LAND Adventures are:


SWORD & BREECHES

Gérard Landry in THE BLACK ARCHER (1959)

Action movies on land, as opposed to the SEVEN SEAS. Mainly centred around castles and royalty. Medieval, Renaissance, and even Colonial period stories fall under this category. Regardless of the era the stories are set in, there are sword fights in them.

These movies can have boats and/or navigational action, like THE LION OF St. MARK (1962). It mostly takes place on land, but there are riverboats and boats around Venice.


MASKED HERO

Renato Rossini (aka Howard Ross) in ZORRO THE REBEL (1966)

Zorro or Zorro-like storylines with a masked hero causing mayhem.


DUMAS Classics 

George Nader in THE SECRET MARK OF D'ARTAGNAN (1962)

The many movies based on Alexandre Dumas's many books. The classic ones, such as THE THREE MUSKETEERS.


HISTORICAL HELLRAISERS

Tamara Lees and Germano Longo in A SWORD IN THE SHADOW (1961)

Stories based or inspired by actual people or events of history, no matter how accurate they are. More Drama than action even if there's action in it.


FANTASY

THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF GUERRIN MESCHINO (1952)

Monsters, magic, and the supernatural figure in these movies.


The subcategories for SEVEN SEAS Adventures are:


SWASHBUCKLERS 

Robert Shaw in SWASHBUCKLER (1976)

The most popular subcategory. Action on boats, ships, and vessels. The term is a bit broad. Swashbucklers can describe every category here but thanks to Hollywood's gargantuan influence, the term Swashbucklers is often associated with pirates and stories from the SEVEN SEAS. 


FEMALE TROUBLE

Lisa Gastoni in QUEEN OF THE SEAS (1961)

Stories set either on LAND or the SEVEN SEAS in which the main lady is the heroine. 

Click on the link below for the latest issue 5.

https://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/3388773

Musings!

Irène Tunc in APHRODITE - GODDESS OF LOVE (1958) 

I really like this movie and Irène. It's quite the revealing dress there. Irène made a lot of films in the 1950s and by the early 1970s, her career ended after a tragic car accident. She became famous in PEPLUM movies and by the end of the 1960s, she became a darling of filmmakers like Claude Lelouch and Alain Resnais. A big number of actors and filmmakers started their careers in PEPLUM movies. Very few people know this. It's frustrating. In the movie, we see the transition from paganism to Christianity. Her character is the subject of a sculptor's statue that represents Aphrodite but the artist, played by Anthony Steffen, falls in love with a Christian girl and the statue looks like her, not the Irène's character. Great film. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Turkish poster of HERCULES (1958) 

This is the artwork for HERCULES AND THE TYRANTS OF BABYLON (1964), which I studied recently. It doesn't look like Steve Reeves or Sylva Koscina.

Last Week's Views

283K for the week. Over 70K yesterday!

BY THE GODS! issue 5

WITH FIRE & SWORD

It's all about Swashbucklers, pirates, heroes in breeches! The subject is huge so there's a lot of stuff to cover. There are two categories: Land Adventures and Seven Seas Adventures. I wrote that there are two movies that influenced each individual category. 

Click on the link below for the latest issue 5.

https://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/3388773

Image of the week!

Hercules (Reg Park) tries to rescues his wife, Deianira (Leonora Ruffo ), from a sacrificial altar in HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD (1961)

PEPLUM Movie Quotes

HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959) starring Steve Reeves (Hercules) and Sylvia Lopez (Omphale)

Hercules: Somehow I recall that...you had a different face.

Omphale: Prettier?

Hercules: No. Just different. Blonde hair. Sweet smile.

Omphale: So you began to betray me in your dreams.

Musings!

Rosy De Leo, Alan Steel and Pierre Brice, under the mask, in SAMSON AND THE SLAVE QUEEN (1963)

This is one of the best PEPLUM movies ever, imo. It has all the elements that make it work. Zorro, played by Pierre Brice, who's excellent in it, and Samson (Alan Steel in top form) vie for the document/letter and Carmencita (De Leo) happens to have it so Samson and Zorro jump on the document. The two men fight over it throughout the movie making a fun and entertaining competition between the two heroes. I wrote about this movie in the latest issue of BY THE GODS! which is on sale until tomorrow. Supporting the magazine guarantees future issues. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Christopher Plummer, as Commodus, on the massive set of THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (1964). The best scene in the movie.

Clip of the week: MACISTE - AVENGER OF THE MAYANS (1965)

Maciste (Kirk Morris) vs Goliath (Koloss). With Barbara Loy.

Funnies!

Gordon Mitchell in THE GIANT OF METROPOLIS (1961)

HD Alert!

Richard Johnson in COLUMNA (1968) 

This movie, a sequel of sorts with DACII (1967), in HD. It's the continuation of the story in DACII 20 ears later. There's a copy of this movie in HD on Youtube. But this file is different. The details are nicer than the one on Youtube but the colours seems to be a bit off. The movie itself is dark and gloomy. It's difficult to find a beautiful shot to showcase the clarity. Below is a comparison with this streaming copy.

Above: screenshot from the streaming print. The resolution and details are better than the version on Youtube (below) but the colours are off. There's a blueish tint in many scenes, which are not present in the Youtube version.  Why is there always some issues with PEPLUM movie prints? Richard Johnson with Antonella Lualdi

List of PEPLUM movies in HD

Then & Now: Joan Collins

A 20 year old Joan Collins in LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (1955); Joan at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.

Musings!

King Lico (Christopher Lee) is about to sacrifice Deianira (Leonora Ruffo) in HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD (1961)

Christopher Lee was hot property when he decided to make this movie. His DRACULA (1958; Horror of Dracula in the US) role put him on the map and the movie was a worldwide hit. He decided to appear in this movie to continue with his successful streak in the Horror genre. It's fun to watch but I have to admit that he's not much of a threat to Hercules, who tosses him like a rag doll during the climax. His dark powers are what makes him dangerous. Leonora spends a good part of the movie being unconscious. I like Leonora but a meaty part this wasn't. This movie is one of many with an amazing combo of PEPLUM - Horror to watch during October aka Halloween month.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Poster study of the artwork for MACISTE - GLADIATORE DI SPARTA ((1964) or MACISTE - GLADIATOR OF SPARTA. 

It starts with one photo from the movie (above) with Mark Forest in full glory. Notice what's in the photo and compare it with the artist's excellent work below. See what was added and changed.

The ape was changed for another gladiator. In the original photo, Mark is not holding a sword which was added in the artwork. And the position of Mark's left leg was slightly changed. And Mark's, eh, 'mettle' was reduced/changed. 

 

Side by side.

Original Italian poster

Turkish poster

French poster

Image of the week!

Alan Foster (Richard Harrison) gets the Koh-i-Noor, known as the 'Mountain of Light,' in TEMPLE OF A THOUSAND LIGHTS (1965; aka Sandok)

At the movies...

HERCULES (1958) playing at the Pilgrim theatre in Boston in the summer of 1959.

Musings!

Susy Andersen, John Drew Barrymore and Ettore Manni in WAR OF THE ZOMBIES, aka ROME AGAINST ROME (1964)

My favourite genres are horror and PEPLUM, so this month is the month of spooky stuff and Halloween. There are a good number of PEPLUM movies with horror elements, which pleases me. This is one of the most obvious ones. The original Italian title was ROMA CONTRO ROMA, which didn't sound like a horror movie but for the US market, it was retitled WAR OF THE ZOMBIES, which is a bit more like it even if the war in sort of short lived. The concept, or story, is brilliant. A big budget remake would be something else. The movie as is is still great even if it's obvious of the budget limitations for such a high concept story. The cast is great. I just need a stunning HD print with English dub. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Steve Reeves and director Sergio Corbucci have a chat on the set of DUEL OF THE TITANS (1961)

Clip of the week: MACISTE - GLADIATOR OF SPARTA (1964)

Poseidon (Mark Forest; Maciste in the original) vs Sefatius (Robert Hundar) in MACISTE - GLADIATOR OF SPARTA. With Marilù Tolo and Franco Cobianchi.