The sons of the aging Genghis Khan jockey for position as the Polish kingdom prepares to try to wrest back the city of Tuleda, which is in Mongol hands. Bianca (José Greci), the rightful heir, has been raised ignorant of her status, while her father languishes in a Mongol dungeon. Bianca loves and is loved …
Read the full post →“<em>Hercules Against the Mongols</em> (1963)”
It’s another road rally for Jimmy Bondi (Rudolf Zehetgruber) and Dudu, in Switzerland, where Dudu’s ability to fly comes in handy. At stake this time around are a hotel (whose one employee occupies a variety of roles) and an orphanage (on whose behalf two nuns, one played by Zehetgruber’s wife, Kathrin Oginski, enter the race). …
Read the full post →“<em>Superbug – The Craziest Car in the World</em> (1975)”
In this weird fantasy movie, Xuxa’s dog Xuxo (a puppet) is kidnapped by Baixo Astral (“Bad Mood”), who wants to turn everyone gloomy, and especially Xuxa. She then goes on a quest to rescue her dog, making friends (often puppets) and facing strange obstacles along the way, and finding time for song as well. Perhaps …
Read the full post →“<em>Super Xuxa Contra o Baixo Astral</em> (1988)”
Aeneas (Steve Reeves) and his followers, refugees from the sack of Troy, seek a place to settle in the lands of King Latinus (Mario Ferrari), but though the monarch is willing, some of his allies — most notably the proud, hot-tempered Turnus (Gianni Garko), but also the warrior queen Camilla (Liana Orfei) — oppose giving …
Mark Forest, among the more charismatic of the strongmen in the swords-and-sandals epics, has the title role in this one, originally titled Maciste, l’eroe più grande del mondo, as he battles both to free a nation from the domination of Babylon and to help a friend (Giuliano Gemma) win the hand of a princess (José …
Read the full post →“<em>Goliath and the Sins of Babylon</em> (1963)”
Johnny stars as a character named Johnny Weissmuller rather than Jungle Jim in the first of three such pictures made after the last of the Jungle Jim movies, are well-nigh indistinguishable save for new names for the protagonist and the chimp. This time around, Johnny investigates reports of thefts of cobalt from a uomine operated …
Read the full post →“<em>Cannibal Attack</em> (Columbia, 1954)”
A version of ancient Egypt is the setting for this sword-and-sandal flick, originally titled Il trionfo di Maciste. This time around, the hero, Maciste (Kirk Morris) tackles the forces of an evil queen (Ljubica Otasevic), who has usurped the throne of Thebes, but himself falls prey to the queen’s sorcerous power. There’s the expected test …
Read the full post →“<em>Triumph of the Son of Hercules</em> (1961)”
An unusual storyline set among the gods, but operating on Earth, makes this sword-and-sandal movie, originally titled Vulcano, figlio di Giove, distinctive. Jupiter (Furio Meniconi), tired of the promiscuity of his daughter Venus (Annie Gorassini), plans to give her in marriage to either Mars (Roger Browne) or Vulcan (Iloosh Khoshabe), but Venus takes matters into …
Read the full post →“<em>Vulcan, Son of Jupiter</em> (1962)”
Wandering hero Maciste (Kirk Morris) — hence the original title, Maciste contro i cacciatori di teste — rescues some people from the volcanic destruction of their island home, but upon their arrival at what should be a land of refuge, the folk are taken captive by the forces of Queen Amoha (Laura Brown), whose own …
Read the full post →“<em>Colossus and the Headhunters</em> (1963)”
A tale of espionage and revenge: Michael Lanyard, the Lone Wolf (Henry B. Walthall), pursues a German agent, Karl Eckstrom (Lon Chaney), to avenge the killing of his sister and nephew, a pursuit that takes him from the World War I battlefields of France to a ship sunk by a German submarine and to a …
Read the full post →“<em>The False Faces</em> (Paramount, 1919)”
