HD Alert!

Jean Marais as PONTIUS PILATE (1962)

A HD version that was shown on TV and streaming in Europe. The movie's excellent production shines through in this crystal clear print. I already stated that I'm not a big fan of the script but the production values, cast, score, etc, are top notch. A must see in HD. Also stars Jeanne Crain (below). Not available in HD anywhere or on Blu-ray. Not even Prime in the US.

 

BY THE GODS! magazine and new projects!

A couple of announcements to make.

Above is the final cover of issue 2 of BY THE GODS! magazine, which I already posted about at the BY THE GODS! blog. I'm still working on it, making adjustments and changes. It should be ready soon. 

Below is a movie poster designed and created by me with AI. I'm currently working on a couple of projects, including one involving poster art inspired by PEPLUM movies. Even though there are tons of movies in the PEPLUM genre, I wish there were even more. And these recreations of movie posters and images, book covers, etc, make it possible. 

My other project is not PEPLUM related but it's from the same period. Recreations of pulp men's magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. I'm still thinking of a monthly magazine for this (yes, monthly) and or a coffee table book filled with colourful art. I'm still debating. My only problem: I want to use Amazon's self-publishing service but I'm still confused by it. MagCloud, which I use for BY THE GODS!, is so much simpler. If anyone can give me some tips on self-publishing in the US and Canada (and for the world), please leave a comment.

In an attempt to avoid any issues with copyrights, I won't be using real names on the poster art. So Steve Reeves becomes Steve Mitchell. And Sylva Koscina is Sylva Lopez. You get the idea. I really like the artwork above (it's a collage I created) and I try to recreate the poster style of PEPLUM movies.

This is not new to me. I already did faux magazine covers of famous magazines with stars of PEPLUM movies. I can't sell these but I had fun making them. The movie poster recreations are 100% original.

Edmund Purdom from THE EGYPTIAN

Claudette Colbert from CLEOPATRA

Charlton Heston from EL CID

Musings!

Abbe Lane and Gordon Mitchell are a tempestuous couple in CAESAR AGAINST THE PIRATES (1962)

Directed by Sergio Grieco, this brawny movie has one of the best performances by Gordon Mitchell. IMO, it even surpasses the one in FURY OF ACHILLES (1962). I mean, Mitchell is usually always angry or ultra macho but this role, director Grieco let him loose. A lot of people don't like this movie but I do. It's very entertaining. Abbe Lane makes a good actress for PEPLUM roles. She only starred in a handful of them. And yes, Julius Caesar was taken hostage by pirates. Of course, this movie is just a pulpy dramatization of that slice of history. I have multiple copies of this, including a TV broadcast from the UK. This screenshot was taken from a recent copy from a TV broadcast in Italy. Not quite HD. Also known as JULIUS CAESAR AGAINST THE PIRATES. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

German poster of CLEOPATRA'S DAUGHTER (1960)

The German title translates as THE PHARAOH'S CURSE. Nice poster. Different than all the other ones. Starring Debra Paget.

Image of the week!

Tamar (Scilla Gabel) meets her fate with a blind Arno (Mimmo Palmara) in SODOM AND GOMORRAH (1962)

Lobby Cards Set: THE EROTIC LIFE OF URSUS (1973)

Original French lobby cards of THE EROTIC LIFE OF URSUS (1973) starring Reg Park, Ettore Manni and others.

This is a great find, well, to me it is. There's a lot of background stuff to write so here goes. HERCULES  - PRISONER OF EVIL, aka URSUS AND THE TERROR OF THE KHIRGIZ, was released in 1964. It starred Reg Park. It's a legitimate PEPLUM movie. That movie was re-released in 1973 as THE EROTIC LIFE OF URSUS with added 'adult' scenes edited in. That movie is not available on disc or streaming. It's obscure. 10 years ago, I found the official poster of the 1973 movie and posted about it here. I recently found the official lobby cards of the adult URSUS. The set has 21 cards so this is just 8 from that set. The 6 first photos are from the 1964 release (well, except for card number 2 which is a scene from  THE SEVEN REVENGES (1961) which was reused in the 1964 film). Anyway, the two photos at the bottom are from the 1973 version. The added x-rated scenes. Again, that version is not available which means these lobby cards with the 'new' scenes are the only source of pictures from it. Also, what's interesting is that there seems to be some scenes that were not in the final cut of the 1964 and used for the 1973 re-release as one lobby card shows scene not in HERCULES - PRISONER OF EVIL but looks too elaborate for the 1973 one. The only way to know for sure is to view this adult version.

Musings!

Hélène Chanel and Rosalba Neri meet in DESERT RAIDERS (1964) 

PEPLUM movies always have two main actresses. In HERCULES (1958), it was Sylva Koscina and Gianna Maria Canale. In GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES (1961), it was Leonora Ruffo and Gianna Maria Canale. DESERT RAIDERS is no different. And this is the awkward moment when the two actresses are on screen together. I like this movie but compared to other Kirk Morris actioner (he's the male lead), this one is more serious and sorta downbeat. It still has all the trappings of a PEPLUM movie, but the tone is different. The production is almost identical to MACISTE IN THE VALLEY OF THE THUNDERING ECHOES (1964) which Kirk Morris and Hélène Chanel also star. It's a Twin Production.

Behind-the-Scenes

The set of THE ROBE (1953) with Victor Mature and Richard Burton.

Below: how it looked like in the final film. Looks pretty good! First film in CinemaScope, or widescreen.

Clip of the week: URSUS - THE REBEL GLADIATOR (1962)

Ursus (Dan Vadis) shows his might! 

SPFX DEPT.

Scenes from SIGN OF THE PAGAN (1954)

Two scenes with matte paintings. The artist is not credited. Very nice, certainly the one below. Quite spectacular. The film has several of these cool shots but the studio bound movie needed more scenes like this.

Vintage Article

Yet another article on Steve Reeves in MUSCLES & FITNESS May 1983. It has photos of HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959; above and below) and Steve in THE TROJAN HORSE (1961).
 

Musings!

Richard Harrison in THE SARACENS (1963) 

A mini-Richard Harrison fest today. This movie is another fun action adventure with Richard. This film is often overlooked and albeit it's not the biggest budgeted film ever made but it's quite memorable in parts. The best thing about it, aside from Harrison, is the score. Once you hear it, you'll never forget it. The sword fight at the end is one of the best in the PEPLUM genre. I have several copies of this, including on Fan Dub in English, but no HD version. I wonder how Richard is doing these days. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

French poster of THE INVINCIBLE GLADIATOR (1961) 

Nice poster. Generic but it sells the movie's highlights, which are the gladiator scenes. Starring Richard Harrison.

The Year in PEPLUM

Blog and holidays

Because of the way the holidays fell, on Mondays...it doesn't feel right to start posting with the week already started so the blog will come back full time next week. In 2024, Christmas and New Year's fall on Wednesdays so that'll mean no posts for two weeks as well.


The blog was shadow banned

I don't want to go too much in details about this but the blog was shadow banned by Google. It's been ongoing since October. I've contacted a couple of humans to get things fixed. I could go into deep details but it's too tedious. Needless to say, things seem to be looking up for 2024. For those who don't know, shadow banning means the web site becomes invisible to searches on Google (but not other smaller search engines like Duck Duck Go).

When I make searches for PEPLUM stuff on the internet, posts and images from my blog usually come up first. The subject is fairly specific which is why my blog is often the source of it. Well, I realized something was wrong when I searched some specific title like GODDESS OF LOVE (1957), which my blog is almost the only source of info on the internet about it, and nothing from my blog showed up on Google. 

 

I also checked the stats of my blog (above) and it went from over three thousand that day

down to 500 overnight. On *average* the blog gets 1500 to 2500 views a day. As you can see with the graph above, views were super high prior to Oct 1, up to ten thousand views a day! So I knew something was up. The views remained low for over two months. Remarkably enough, it all started with the release of BY THE GODS! magazine. The views are slowly coming back to normal. The blog is still not out of the woods yet but it's getting there.

Youtube, which is own by Google, also shadow banned my PEPLUM channel. Google hates me. This is all to say that your support is *very* important. 


Not many HD releases 

The year in PEPLUM movies released on Blu-ray or HD has been disappointing. I usually create two folders filled with stuff (6 months of stuff per folders). This year I only made one folder for all of 2023 new releases or old discoveries. Most of the new HD releases have been coming from streaming services not Blu-ray.


Magazine and upcoming projects!

BY THE GODS! magazine was well received. I don't know if people will continue buying it though. I will do at least three issues and see where it goes from there. It takes a lot of time and effort on my part and I don't want to work that hard and interests disappears. I'm happy with the response but I'm cautious as well. You can buy it here.

I also have many new projects set for this year. Maybe this will keep interest in the magazine. The projects are a secret now but some of them are related to the PEPLUM genre and some are not even though they're from the same era. 

I've also completed part of my (humongous) novel. I have yet to print it in paper and revise it from there. I wrote nonstop since 2017 and didn't realized I probably wrote a novel with over two thousand pages. Lol! 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my followers and visitors, regulars and casual lurkers! 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and joyous holidays!

Image(s) of the week!

An angry Hercules (Steve Reeves) confronts Omphale (Sylvia Lopez) in HERCULES UNCHAINED.

BY THE GODS! magazine..

You can buy BY THE GODS! magazine at MagCloud.

Click link below:

https://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/2574706

BY THE GODS! magazine mentioned at Nicholas Diak's website.

Lobby Cards Set: HERCULES AGAINST ROME (1964)

German lobby cards set of HERCULES AGAINST ROME (1964) starring Alan Steel. Colourful set with Alan in 7 out of 8 cards. This is how it's done. lol. There should have been at least one card with Wandisa Guida or Mimmo Palmara but I digress. Great set.
The German title translates as HERCULES - THE AVENGER OF ROME...which is the complete opposite of the original title.

Musings!

Joseph (Bekim Fehmiu), Mary (Maria del Carmen San Martin) and a young Jesus (Matteo Bellina) in the middle of the desert in A CHILD CALLED JESUS (1990)

It's that time of the year when it becomes awkward for the PEPLUM genre. Christmas is basically the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Oddly enough, there aren't that many movies about that period. Yes, there are some movies like BEN-HUR (1959) which shows Joesph and the virgin Mary in the manger with baby Jesus but the story instantly fast forwards to when Jesus is an adult. Since there are so few movies about the birth of Jesus, it's always difficult for me to post about it during this festive time. Well, there's this Italian mini-series directed by Franco Rossi, who also directed the more famous THE ODYSSEY (1968) which also starred Bekim Fehmiu. The original Italian mini-series had 4 episodes but there's an English version which was abbreviated down to a 3 hour movie...I think. Anyway, the mini-series shows scenes of a young Jesus with scenes of a 30+ year old Jesus. It goes back and forth like this throughout the series. Even though it was made in 1990, the mini-series looks like THE ODYSSEY, made 22 years before that. 

Behind-the-Scenes

Jeffrey Hunter, as Jesus, and Siobhan McKenna on the set of KING OF KINGS (1961)

Clip of the week: THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961)

Karim (Steve Reeves) is in a tight spot! 

 

HD Alert!

Steve Reeves in THE WHITE WARRIOR (1960)

I posted about this movie on November 23. Someone mentioned that there is an HD copy of this Riccardo Freda movie with cinematography by Mario Bava. Well, I finally got hold of this copy. Let me tell you...lol! I watched the HD MKV file via the VLC app. I thought the image was extremely dark (like many of these HD transfers). Screenshot below. Well, while working on this movie and taking screenshots of all the different I have I realized something: the VLC app unnecessarily darkens the image. I made an MP4 file of the movie and the image (above) is much better. The movie looks great in HD but it is a bit on the dark side. Not as much as viewing it with VLC below.

I'll make a comparison of all the different versions soon (I already have all the screenshots taken). It's interesting to see which version is the correct one. I'm please with it even though it's not as colourful as other prints. 

Note: never watch a movie with the VLC app.

The dark image as seen while using the VLC app. 

PEPLUM Banners

The THE GIANT OF MARATHON banner above has been at the blog since June 2021. I'm not tired of it but should I change it with the banner below, from HERCULES UNCHAINED. Do you like it? Should I keep the MARATHON one for 2024?

There's a new banner for the Christmas - New Year period. It's Steve Reeves and Giorgia Moll in THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) which has a very Christmasy feel to it. The tiny Christmas tree is not in the movie. I already used a scene from that movie for a previous banner.

You can view all previous banners of the blog for the past 13+ years at the Banners permanent page. 

PEPLUM Blog Banners

Here are some of my favourites:
 

Steve Reeves in MORGAN THE PIRATE. Also used for my short-lived FIRE & SWORD Youtube account. 

 

From APHRODITE - GODDESS OF LOVE.

Dan Vadis in HERCULES THE INVINCIBLE. For X (Twitter) and Facebook accounts.

Fredric March and Claudette Colbert in SIGN OF THE CROSS

Musings!

Massimo Girotti and Luisa Ferida in THE IRON CROWN (1941) 

This is an incredible movie, a heady mix of genres, all in one amazing film. It's PEPLUM, of course, but it's an incredible combo of Medieval or Robin Hood, Religious, Mystical, Tarzan (hero living in forest), etc. It has so many elements in it, as I mentioned above: religion and mysticism. Violence and love. For an old movie, it's loaded with stuff. The US version is re-edited from the original, and oddly enough, it actually made some improvements to it in some aspects but the entire film needs to be seen to experience. Directed by Alessandro Blasetti, who would re-ignite the PEPLUM genre with FABIOLA (1949). A young Massimo would become a big star of Italian cinema. Of course, the movie is not available in English in HD.