The Legions of Cleopatra (1960)

Original title: Le Legioni di Cleopatra

Peplum/Historical. Italy/France/Spain. Starring Linda Cristal, Ettore Manni, Daniela Rocca & Andrea Aureli. Directed by Vittorio Cottafavi.

NS (Korea). English dubbed. Fullscreen. Poor print - but at least it's in english, unlike the great-looking but french dubbed dutch tape. If I were more technical i'd try to make a composite...

La Salamandra del Deserto (1970)

Biblical/erotic! Italy/Spain/Israel/West Germany. Starring Michael Maien, Claudia Wedekind & Ettore Manni. Directed by Riccardo Freda.

UFA (Germany). German dubbed.

Biblical erotic drama about everybody's favorite self-defiler Onan! Directed by Freda! This one has to be good...

Rome Against Rome (1964)

Original title: Roma contro Roma

Peplum. Italy. Starring John Drew Barrymore, Susy Andersen, Ettore Manni, Ida Galli & Philippe Hersent. Directed by Giuseppe Vari.

Jef Films (UK). English dubbed. Fullscreen. OK quality.

Very good peplum with lots of horror overtones. They even throw in an army of zombies! Deserves a better DVD than this (the image is pretty clear and the colors are good but the fullscreen was a downer. Also it's the shortened version. The shitheads at Jef Films strike again...). 4/5

Herod the Great (1959)

Original title: Erode Il Grande

Historical. Italy/France. Starring Edmund Purdom, Sylvia Lopez, Massimo Girotti, Sandra Milo, Ettore Manni, Alberto Lupo & Sylva Koscina. Directed by Viktor Tourjansky.

Video King APS (Denmark). English dubbed. Widescreen.

This historical spectacle is noteworthy for the excellent performance by Purdom as the paranoid and half-mad king Herod. The dramatic ending have an almost Bava-esque gothic horror feel. Above average stuff by a director who've been around since the silent days. Appears to have had pretty high budget for an italian production. This 30 year old danish VHS looks like a blu-ray compared to pan-and-scanned, piss quality UK DVD I had earlier. 3/5

Attila (1954)

Peplum/Historical. Italy/France. Starring Anthony Quinn, Sophia Loren, Ettore Manni, Henri Vidal & Irene Papas. Directed by Pietro Francisci.

Video For Pleasure (Holland). English dubbed. Fullscreen. BETA.

Angelique and the Sultan (1968)

Original title: Angélique et le Sultan

Romance/Arabian adventure. France/West Germany/Italy. Starring Michèle Mercier, Robert Hossein, Jean-Claude Pascal, Ettore Manni & Helmuth Schneider. Directed by Bernard Borderie.

Wahlters/Romantic (Sweden). Selltape. Fullscreen. French with swedish subtitles.

Untamable Angelique (1967)

Original title: Indomptable Angélique

Romance/Adventure. France/West Germany/Italy. Starring Michèle Mercier, Robert Hossein, Roger Pigaut, Ettore Manni, Christian Rode & Paul Muller. Directed by Bernard Borderie.

Wahlters/Romantic (Sweden). Selltape. Fullscreen. French with swedish subtitles.

They Were Called Three Musketeers But They Were Four (1973)

Original title: Li Chiamavano i Tre Moschettieri... Invece Erano Quattro

Sowrd/Comedy. Italy. Starring Tony Kendall, Ettore Manni, Stan Cooper &
Seyna Seyn. Directed by Silvio Amadio.

Videoklubben (Sweden). English dubbed. Letterboxed.

From the director of the great gialli Amuck and Smile Before Death comes this bizzarre costume slapstick with nudity, toilet humor, swashbuckling and even some (bad) kung fu! I know i've expressed praise for such daft adventure/slapstick atrocities such as Ricci's Robin Hood, Arrows, Beans and Karate, but this is where I draw the line. 2/5

Cleopatra's Daughter (1960)

Original title: Il Sepolcro dei Re

Peplum/Romance. Italy/France. Starring Debra Paget, Ettore Manni, Corrado Pani, Erno Crisa & Rosalba Neri. Directed by Fernando Cerchio.

PZ Video Films (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Worthless peplum melodrama. 1/5

Hercules Conquers Atlantis (1961)

Original title: Ercole alla Conquista di Atlantide

Peplum. Italy/France. Starring Reg Park, Fay Spain, Ettore Manni, Luciano Marin & Mario Petri. Directed by Vittorio Cottafavi.

Videoform (UK). English dubbed. Widescreen. Excellent print - I haven't seen the Retromedia DVD but considering their track record I would guess that this video snuffs it!

Considered by me and many others as one of the most accomplished, visually imaginative and entertaining peplas out there. Reg Park is the perfect Hercules, it's a shame he only starred in a handful of films. 4/5

The Legions of Cleopatra (1960)

Original title: Le Legioni di Cleopatra

Peplum/Historical. Italy/France/Spain. Starring Linda Cristal, Ettore Manni, Daniela Rocca & Andrea Aureli. Directed by Vittorio Cottafavi.

GMV (Holland). French language with dutch subtitles. Widescreeen.

Ursus and the Tartar Princess (1961)

Original title: Ursus e la Ragazza Tartara

Peplum/Historical. Italy/France. Starring Joe Robinson, Yoko Tani, Maria Grazia Spina & Ettore Manni. Directed by Remigio Del Grosso.

Via Video (Holland). English dubbed. Widescreen.

The badass tartars are raising hell in Poland in this enjoyable semi-peplum (the bare-chested muscleman Ursus is not the main character and it's set in the 18th century). No matter what the dutch video cover art implies Gordon Mitchell is sadly not in this film. 3/5

Attila (1954)

Peplum/Historical. Italy/France. Starring Anthony Quinn, Sophia Loren, Ettore Manni, Henri Vidal & Irene Papas. Directed by Pietro Francisci.

Video For Pleasure (Holland). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Hercules and the Masked Rider (1963)

Original title: Golia e il Cavaliere Mascherato

Peplum/Zorro. Italy. Starring Alan Steel, Mimmo Palmara, Arturo Dominici, Ettore Manni & Sal Borgese. Directed by Piero Pierotti.

VTC (Sweden). English dubbed. Widescreen. Very nice print, blows away the dutch EVC tape I had earlier!

Curious genre mixture between peplum and Zorro adventure. Actually the Goliath/Hercules (depending on which print you're watching) character plays second fiddle to the Zorro character, plus he's 100% gay (watch the ending if you don't believe me)! Highly entertaining, good- natured swashbuckling with a little muscleman action thrown in for good measure - what's not to like? 4/5

Karzan: Master of the Jungle (1972)

Original title: Karzan, il Favoloso Uomo della Jungla

Jungle adventure. Italy. Starring Johnny Kissmuller Jr., Ettore Manni & Roger Browne. Directed by Demofilo Fidani.

Trix Video (Sweden). English dubbed. Letterboxed.

"Karzan" starring "Johnny Kissmuller (!)" - Ha, who do they think they're fooling!? I hope that many familys got suckered into renting this cheap and extremely dumb Tarzan-ripp off during the early days of video. Directed by hack Demofilo "let's make a shitty spaghetti western" Fidani with his usual attention to detail and logic. In short: very entertaining trash! 3/5

Karzan: Master of the Jungle (1972)

Original title: Karzan, il Favoloso Uomo della Jungla

Jungle adventure. Italy. Starring Johnny Kissmuller Jr., Ettore Manni & Roger Browne. Directed by Demofilo Fidani.

Tamline TY (Finland). English dubbed. Letterboxed.

"Karzan" starring "Johnny Kissmuller (!)" - Ha, who do they think they're fooling!? I hope that many familys got suckered into renting this cheap and extremely dumb Tarzan-ripp off during the early days of video. Directed by hack Demofilo "let's make a shitty spaghetti western" Fidani with his usual attention to detail and logic. In short: very entertaining trash! This tape is no longer in my collection (found the swedish tape). 3/5

Attack of the Normans (1962)

Original title: I Normanni

Peplum/Vikings. Italy. Starring Cameron Mitchell, Geneviève Grad, Ettore Manni, Piero Lulli & Paul Muller. Directed by Giuseppe Vari.

Inter-Ocean Video (UK). English dubbed. Letterboxed.

Not the best, nor the worst viking peplum, but it's pretty good for what it is. As usual when there's vikings involved, Cameron Mitchell got the lead. How that guy got typecast as a viking i'll never understand... 3/5