Hercules in the Haunted World (1961)

Original title: Ercole al Centro della Terra

Peplum. Italy. Starring Reg Park, Christopher Lee, Leonora Ruffo, George Ardisson, Ida Galli, Rosalba Neri & Raf Baldassarre. Directed by Mario Bava & Franco Prosperi.

EVC (Holland). English dubbed. Letterboxed (slightly). By adjusting your TV settings you could get a pretty good widescreen.

Wonderful, trippy gothic-peplum! Bava demonstrates again his ability to create gold from nothing - this low budget film looks like a mega-budget epic and is hands down THE most visually imaginative peplas around. According to me and many others this is about as good as the genre gets! 5/5

Lionman (1975)

Original title: Kiliç Aslan

Biblical bat-crazy adventure. Turkey/Greece. Starring Cüneyt Arkin. Directed by Natuk Baytan.

Video 49 (Holland). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

One of those perfect trash movies that just has to be seen to believed. Nothing you hear or read will prepare you for the wonder that is Lionman! 5/5

Hercules in the Haunted World (1961)

Original title: Ercole al Centro della Terra

Peplum. Italy. Starring Reg Park, Christopher Lee, Leonora Ruffo, George Ardisson, Ida Galli, Rosalba Neri & Raf Baldassarre. Directed by Mario Bava & Franco Prosperi.

DVD: Fantoma (USA). English dubbed. Widescreen. Excellent quality!

Wonderful, trippy gothic-peplum! Bava demonstrates again his ability to create gold from nothing - this low budget film looks like a mega-budget epic and is hands down THE most visually imaginative peplas around. According to me and many others this is about as good as the genre gets! 5/5

The Gorilla Kid (1977)

Original title: El Rey de los Gorillas

Jungle adventure. Mexico. Starring Hugo Stiglitz. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

DistriMax Inc. (USA). Spanish with english subtitles. Fullscreen. Not the best quality but just the subtitles makes it a must!

An infant is raised by men in gorilla costumes and grows up to be Hugo Stiglitz, the mexican and slightly more romantic Tarzan! As you understand this is 100% classic. Films don't get much better than this! 5/5

Sandokan the Great (1963)

Original title: Sandokan, la Tigre di Mompracem

Pirate/Exotic. Italy/France/Spain. Starring Steve Reeves, Geneviève Grad, Andrea Bosic, Rik Battaglia, Adolfo Celi & Mimmo Palmara. Directed by Umberto Lenzi.

DVD: Impulso Records & Films (Spain). English/spanish language options. Widescreen. Good quality, except for a 5-10 minute part in the middle which appears to be sourced from VHS.

Lenzi's first Sandokan flick - 100% classic stuff! My favorite Steve Reeves film. 5/5

Sandokan 2 (1976)

Pirate/Exotic. Italy/France/West Germany/UK. Starring Kabir Bedi, Philippe Leroy, Carole André, Andrea Giordana & Adolfo Celi. Directed by Sergio Sollima.

Wahlters Video (Sweden). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

The second and last part of the feature lenght edit of Sollima's classic Sandokan mini-series. 5/5

Sandokan 1 (1976)

Pirate/Exotic. Italy/France/West Germany/UK. Starring Kabir Bedi, Philippe Leroy, Carole André, Andrea Giordana & Adolfo Celi. Directed by Sergio Sollima.

Wahlters Video (Sweden). English dubbed. Letterboxed (slightly).

Sollima's beloved Sandokan mini-series was also edited down to two feature lengh films. This is the first part and it's a classic all the way: simply the best romantic swashbuckler I have seen in my life! Everything is class A in this film/series: the story, the camera work, the sets, the music, the cast - especially Kabir Bedi, who was born to play this type of swashbuckling hero! I've liked him in everything i've seen him in (even the awful The Archerer and the Sorceress) but as Sandokan he really shines, this is the one he'll be remembered for. My highest recommendation. 5/5

Sandokan the Great (1963)

Original title: Sandokan, la Tigre di Mompracem

Pirate adventure/Exotic. Italy/France/Spain. Starring Steve Reeves, Geneviève Grad, Andrea Bosic, Rik Battaglia, Adolfo Celi & Mimmo Palmara. Directed by Umberto Lenzi.

VTC (Sweden). English dubbed. Letterboxed.

Lenzi's first Sandokan flick - 100% classic stuff! My favorite Steve Reeves film. 5/5

Treasure of the Amazon (1985)

Jungle adventure. Mexico. Starring Stuart Whitman, Donald Pleasence, John Ireland, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Hugo Stiglitz, Bradford Dillman & Sonia Infante. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

DVD: Italian Shock (Holland). English language. Fullscreen. Not the best quality but at least it's uncut.

Very, very entertaining mexican adventure film! Stuart Whitman is the tough, aged adventurer who encounters nazis, cannibals, pirahnas and vicious crabs (!) on a treasure hunt in the amazon jungle. This surprisingly gory and exploative film is a personal favorite and probably my favorite adventure film of the 1980s (fuck Raiders of the Lost Ark!). You can always trust the Cardona's. 5/5

El Pequeño Robin Hood (1975)

Adventure/Family. Mexico. Starring René Cardona III & René Cardona. Directed by René Cardona.

Westcon Home Video (Sweden). Spanish with swedish subtitles. Fullscreen. Selltape.

Wonderful, wonderful adventure/family film with the whole Cardona family assembled (Cardona Jr. wrote the script). The old gypsy Aramis and his young protogé Robin Hood are travelling the country with their bow and arrow-show. While the villagers watch the show their trained monkey Lucifer empty their pockets. After an encounter with the law and an escape from jail everything ends happy for the three friends and Lucifer dances a kosack-dance while Aramis plays the accordion while the snow starts falling (if you don't melt there you have no heart). I love this film. 5/5

Treasure of the Amazon (1985)

Jungle adventure. Mexico. Starring Stuart Whitman, Donald Pleasence, John Ireland, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Hugo Stiglitz, Bradford Dillman & Sonia Infante. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

Sonet Video (Sweden). English dubbed. Fullscreen. Cut!

Very, very entertaining mexican adventure film! Stuart Whitman is the tough, aged adventurer who encounters nazis, cannibals, pirahnas and vicious crabs (!) on a treasure hunt in the amazon jungle. This surprisingly gory and exploative film is a personal favorite and probably my favorite adventure film of the 1980s (fuck Raiders of the Lost Ark!). You can always trust the Cardona's. 5/5

Lionman (1975)

Original title: Kiliç Aslan

Biblical bat-crazy adventure. Turkey/Greece. Starring Cüneyt Arkin. Directed by Natuk Baytan.
Boomerang (Canada). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

One of those perfect trash movies that just has to be seen to believed. Nothing you hear or read will prepare you for the wonder that is Lionman! 5/5

Tarkan Viking Kani (1971)

Peplum/Vikings. Turkey. Starring Kartal Tibet & Eva Bender. Directed by Mehmet Aslan.

Video Imwa Kaset (Germany). Turkish language. Fullscreen.

Turkish hero Tarkan encounter the vikings (turks in silly red wigs) in this totally madcap and brilliant peplum! When you don't think things can possible get any better they throw in the giant octopus monster! 5/5

El Pequeño Robin Hood (1975)

Adventure/Family. Mexico. Starring René Cardona III & René Cardona. Directed by René Cardona.

Nm. International (Sweden). Selltape. Spanish with swedish subtitles. Fullscreen.

Wonderful, wonderful adventure/family film with the whole Cardona family assembled (Cardona Jr. wrote the script). The old gypsy Aramis and his young protogé Robin Hood are travelling the country with their bow and arrow-show. While the villagers watch the show their trained monkey Lucifer empty their pockets. After an encounter with the law and an escape from jail everything ends happy for the three friends and Lucifer dances a kosack-dance while Aramis plays the accordion while the snow starts falling (if you don't melt there you have no heart). I love this film. 5/5

Goliath and the Vampires (1961)

Original title: Maciste contro il Vampiro

Peplum. Italy. Starring Gordon Scott, Gianna Maria Canale & Jacques Sernas. Directed by Sergio Corbucci & Giacomo Gentilomo.

Mariann Video (Sweden). English dubbed. Letterboxed.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! Goliath gets my vote for the best ever peplum - and one of all-time favorites of any genre I might add. This film is the essance of everything that is fun and entertaining with the peplum - there's just no beating it! 5/5

The Gorilla Kid (1977)

Original title: El Rey de los Gorillas

Jungle adventure. Mexico. Starring Hugo Stiglitz. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

Phoenix Home Video (Holland). Spanish with dutch subtitles. Fullscreen.

An infant is raised by men in gorilla costumes and grows up to be Hugo Stiglitz, the mexican and slightly more romantic Tarzan! As you understand this is 100% classic. Films don't get much better than this! 5/5

Zorro (1975)

Zorro. Italy/France. Starring Alain Delon, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart & Stanley Baker. Directed by Duccio Tessari.

Eion Video (Japan). English dubbed. Widescreen.

Perhaps the best ever Zorro film! Constantly exiting film with a perfectly cast Alain Delon and one of the best swashbuckling duels of all time! And remember kids :"La-la-la-la-lala, Zorro's back!". This Japan video has the long 2 hour cut, and it's in widescreen unlike the DVD:s. 5/5

Lionman (1975)

Original title: Kiliç Aslan

Biblical bat-crazy adventure. Turkey/Greece. Starring Cüneyt Arkin. Directed by Natuk Baytan.
Rex Video (UK). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

One of those perfect trash movies that just has to be seen to believed. Nothing you hear or read will prepare you for the wonder that is Lionman! 5/5

The Mysterious Island of Captain Nemo (1973)

Original title: La Isla Misteriosa

Adventure/Sci-Fi/Fantasy. Spain/France/Italy/Cameroon. Starring Gabriele Tinti, Gérard Tichy, Jess Hahn, Omar Sharif, Rik Battaglia. Directed by Juan Antonio Bardem & Helri Colpi.

Select Video/Starbox (Sweden). English dubbed. Fullscreen. Feature lenght version.

Lovely european Jules Verne fantasy TV-series edited down to feature lenght (I also have the complete series on german DVD). Fantasy films don't come much better than this! 5/5

The Fury of Achilles (1962)

Original title: L'ira di Achille

Peplum. Italy. Starring Gordon Mitchell, Pierro Lulli, Mario Petri, Gloria Milland & Cristina Gaioni. Directed by Marino Girolami.

DVS (Denmark). English dubbed. Widescreen.

One of my alltime favorite peplas! Gordon Mitchell is always reliable but I have never seen him better than here, as the tormented warrior Achilles. A must-see! 5/5