Category: peplum

CONQUEST (1983) Blu-ray…

Italian director Lucio Fulci has an avid cult following: he has a legion of fans who love all his ultra-violent movies. Personally, I like many of his movies but I’m definitely not a cult-like follower. One of his lesser known title is the Sword & Sorcery called CONQUEST (1983) starring Jorge Rivera in this Italian – Spanish production. The way the movie is shot is odd: tons of filters, smoke, vaseline on the lens.  To the point where you can barely see what’s going on. The movie has been finally released on Blu-ray and though the image is crisper than previous versions, from the reviews I’ve read and from the screenshots (below), the ‘dreamy’ filters still keep the image itself from ever being fully clear. It’s probably one of the murkiest movie I’ve ever seen, PEPLUM or not. I don’t hate it. It has some interesting imagery but it’s more of a curio than anything else.

The Blu-ray edition is very rare, with only 700 copies made. The going price on eBay is at around $45 up to $70. I’ll never purchase this title at this price.  The Blu-ray comes with a new artwork which I admit is pretty good. It also includes the original poster art as a second slipcover (above).

Below are screenshots of the Blu-ray (at 1280×720). Try to make out what’s going on.

New Blu-rays…

YOR – HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE (1983) starring Reb Brown and Corinne Cléry. Directed by Antonio Margheriti. Though this movie was released by Columbia Pictures this was an Italian production. They planned to do a TV mini-series. Remarkably enough, the Blu-ray is released by Mill Creek Entertainment, the company which made the 50 MOVIE PACK: WARRIORS, the first PEPLUM DVD set I ever bought.

ARABIAN ADVENTURE (1979) starring Christopher Lee. US release. I sorta like this movie but I love the super elaborate flying carpets chase scene. It’s mind bogglingly complex. The movie is worth watching for that one extensive scene alone.

Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend

Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend is a Canadian-made animated series that was based on Greek mythology. In the US, it was shown on CBS and lasted two seasons. Many episodes are on Youtube. It’s for kids but it’s still fun to watch.

Below is the Hercules and the Golden Apples episode.

 

 

Upcoming Blu-rays…

A new batch of Blu-rays will be released soon or early next year, most of them from KINO LORBER. They are all US releases.

GOLIATH & THE VAMPIRES (1961) starring Gordon Scott. The Blu-ray will be released as SAMSON VS THE VAMPIRES…why? I dunno. The prints currently available are mostly poor so a nice Blu-ray of this title is highly anticipated.

THE WAR LORD (1965) starring Charlton Heston. Excellent movie. Looking forward to this.

RASPUTIN – THE MAD MONK (1966). Maybe my favourite Christopher Lee / Hammer movie.

THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE IN THE LAND OF THE YIK YAK (1984),  or just GWENDOLINE, starring Tawny Kitaen. Story starts in contemporary times and ends up in a lost civilization with female gladiators and a chariot race with women in lieu of horses. The second half is a must see for PEPLUM fans. For those who don’t know, boatload of female flesh and Brent Huff as the sole provider of male flesh. The emphasis is on nudity. Excellent soundtrack. Totally silly and yet entertaining. From the Just Jaeckin, director of EMMANUELLE (1974).

THE MAGIC SWORD (1962) starring Gary Lockwood. Classic film.

COBRA WOMAN (1944) starring Maria Montez, Sabu and Jon Hall. Can’t wait to see this!!! Love this movie! Incredible Technicolor.

THE WONDERS OF ALADDIN (1961) starring Donald O’Connor. This release will be interesting. I must say that I’m not a big fan of it but maybe the Blu-ray treatment will change my mind. There’s really good stuff in it but the story is lacking. I’m still happy for its BR release.

New batch of PEPLUM figurines

I came across a vast array of elaborate figurines of characters based on recent PEPLUM movies. TROY (2004), 300 (2006),  and 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (2014). There are even more figurines for other titles, such as HERCULES (2014).

Over $300 for some figurines.

Above and below: Figurine of Eric Bana as Hector from TROY (2004).

Above and below: Brad Pitt as Achilles from TROY (2004). Thank Zeus they didn’t use the blue costume.

Based on 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (2014)

Who’s going to buy these? Is there such a big demand?

Them blue costumes in TROY…

As a PEPLUM fan I come across many comments (from fans and non-fans) about the costumes men wear in those productions, including the tiny tunics heroes wore. Personally, I never had an issue with any of them…until TROY (2004)

Above and below: Brad Pitt, as Achilles, sporting some truly unflattering costumes.

Not to be outdone, Orlando Bloom (Paris) and Eric Bana (Hector) also wore some unflattering costumes. The one on Bloom doesn’t look as bad as the one on Bana, which makes him look like he’s got cleavage with the tank top style drooping on him. The costumes might be authentic to a certain extent but nope, they’re not good. Never came across such costumes in old PEPLUM movies.

THE LOVES OF HERCULES…monster show!

Halloween week at BY THE GODS!

The fun thing about PEPLUM movies are the many monsters and creatures that appear in them even if the movie itself is not considered a horror movie. Something like PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE or MEDUSA VS THE SON OF HERCULES. Or even any Ray Harryhausen movie filled with animated monsters. THE LOVES OF HERCULES (1960) is another of such movie. It’s a veritable monster show.


Hercules (Mickey Hargitay) fights the Hydra


There’s this monster at the very end of the movie.

And these men turned into killer trees…with Jayne Mansfield in the clutches of killer branches.

Rejoice…THIEF OF BAGHDAD in HD!

Great news on the Blu-ray front:  THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961)  starring Steve Reeves, Giorgia Moll, Hedy Vessel and Arturo Dominici will finally get a proper HD transfer. This has been a long time coming. All DVD releases were terrible, which horrible pan & scan or faux widescreen aspect ratios, and murky image quality. This is one of my most sought after titles and it’ll be available in Germany. I’ve already ordered it. This Blu-ray also has the Italian, German and English audio. This is a great Christmas present. In fact, the movie has a very Christmassy feel to it so hopefully I’ll receive before the holidays. Thanks to Chris for this tip.

Link to Amazon.de : THIEF OF BAGHDAD

Check out the screengrabs.