Category: hercules

Luciano Marin…

The remarkable thing about Luciano Marin’s career in PEPLUM movies is the number of PEPLUM actors he worked with.

Here’s just a short example:

Luciano starred along Steve Reeves in GOLIATH AND THE BARBARIANS. With Giulia Rubini.

Luciano worked on THE TARTARS with Victor Mature

Then Luciano co-starred as the son of Hercules (Reg Park) in HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN

Then the Italian actor was in COLOSSUS OF THE STONE AGE with Reg Lewis.

And Luciano also starred with Alan Steel in SAMSON AND THE MIGHTY CHALLENGE.

There are other movies but just this list is quite amazing. What a lucky dude!

WHAT TITLE NEEDS TO BE IN HD THE MOST…

The most wanted PEPLUM title that desperately needs to be on Blu-ray or HD.

On the top of my head, I think:

HERCULES (1958) – The fact that this game changing PEPLUM movie is still not available in a proper HD transfer is a crime. The closest thing available  is the Japanese Blu-ray but the print has some odd filters. Starring Steve Reeves and Sylva Koscina.

HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959) – Same thing as HERCULES above. Why is this movie still not in HD? It was broadcast in HD in Italy but the print is the same murky one found on the Japanese Blu-ray. Starring Steve Reeves, Sylva Koscina and Sylvia Lopez.

THE MINOTAUR (1960) – Solid production and PEPLUM movie that even though it has a nice DVD a copy in High Definition would be amazing. Another movie stuck in limbo. Starring Rosanna Schiaffino, Bob Mathias and Alberto Lupo.

SAPPHO THE VENUS OF LESBOS (1960) – This movie, eternally lost in limbo, would be fabulous in High Definition. Starring Tina Louise and Kerwin Mathews.

TRIUMPH OF MACISTE (1961) and MACISTE IN HELL (1962) – These two Kirk Morris PEPLUM classics are still not in HD. Mind boggling. TRIUMPH OF MACISTE is a perennial favourite so I’m waiting impatiently here for it to be in HD. And MACISTE IN HELL was directed by Riccardo Freda. That alone is a reason to watch it.

THE GIANTS OF THESSALY (1960) – Another epic PEPLUM movie directed by Riccardo Freda. One of the best PEPLUM movies ever made. So where’s the Blu-ray? Starring Roland Carey, Massimo Girotti, Luciano Marin (below) and more.

PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE (1963) – This is Richard Harrison’s best PEPLUM movie. It’s a classic and yet it’s not on Blu-ray. Such a bizarre mystery why these fun movies are not available in HD. With Anna Ranalli.

These are just a handful of titles that, in a perfect world, would already be in HD but nope.

Looking for…

I’m looking for a copy of the Finnish VHS tape of THE DEVILS OF SPARTIVENTO (pictured). The VHS tape was in English and it’s out there but where. If you know someone who has a copy, please post info in the comment section.

I’m also looking for a Scandinavian copy (Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, etc) of THE SEVEN REVENGES starring Ed Fury. Also in English.

 

I got the SON OF SAMSON Blu-ray…

I received the Kino Lorber SON OF SAMSON (1960) Blu-ray on Friday so I had the entire weekend to check it out. I have very complaints about it. The only issues are the audio is sorta not loud, there are no extras about the movie and this is not the actual version released in the US 60+ years ago. That’s it. The Blu-ray itself is pretty amazing. Brilliant colours. No transfer issues to be seen anywhere (aside from the soft audio). It’s a must have for fans of the genre.

I’ll have a full review at the main PEPLUM TV blog this week.

Vira Silenti and Mark Forest

Price drop on SON ODF SAMSON Blu-ray…

The upcoming SON OF SAMSON Blu-ray from Kino Lorber has just gotten a price reduction at Amazon. It was priced as $24.95 before but now sells for $17.99. That’s a pretty good deal. If you haven’t pre-ordered it yet, do it now and support PEPLUM movies. Official release date: May 10.

AMAZON.COM

Mark Forest and Chelo Alonso

SON OF SAMSON pre-order…

SON OF SAMSON Blu-ray release by KINO LORBER is now available for pre-order at Amazon. This is great news.

SON OF SAMSON BD @ AMAZON

The BD is still available for pre-order in Canada but there’s still two months left so I’ll wait and see.

Below is the official artwork of the release. Looks great.

This Blu-ray release is a complete opposite of the KL attempted release of the ill-fated GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES.

SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD Blu-ray….

Kino Lorber has announced that they will be releasing a Blu-ray later this year of the neglected SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD (1960), directed by Riccardo Freda and starring Gordon Scott, Yoko Tani, Gabriele Antonini and more. This is excellent news. From the sporadic info going around the internet, it seems the Blu-ray release will have the original Italian cut and the shorter US cut. This is perfect. Every PEPLUM release in North America should include both the original Italian version and the often cut US release.

There’s already a beautiful copy of the movie shown on RAI in Italy (screenshot below). The thing is: will the cut scenes, almost all of them at the beginning, will be in English or in Italian with English subtitles. The US version starts approximately 10 minutes into the original Italian cut. No English dubbing has ever been heard of those 10+ missing minutes.