The Seven Tasks of Ali Baba (1962)

Original title: Le Sette Fatiche di Alì Babà

Arabian fantasy. Italy. Starring Rod Flash & Bella Cortez. Directed by Emimmo Salvi.

VCI (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Ursus (1961)

Peplum. Italy/Spain. Starring Ed Fury, Cristina Gaioni, Moira Orfei, Soledad Miranda & Cris Huerta. Directed by Carlo Campogalliani.

PM Video Galaxy (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

This has got to be one of the worst video transfers ever: the scratchy pan-and-scan is bad enough in itself, but the whole thing is also drenched in red and green color to the point that it's almost like watching a 2D movie with 3D-glasses on! It seems like a fun flick but I just couldn't get through it in this wretched form...

Messalina, Messalina! (1977)

Sex comedy/Peplum. Italy. Starring Anneka Di Lorenzo, Tomas Milian, Vittorio Caprioli, Salvatore Borghese, Lori Wagner & Raf Luca. Directed by Bruno Corbucci.

VCI (Greece). English dubbed. Widescreen.

Lifeaffirming, playful, sensual comedy in toga and sandals from the acclaimed director of When Women Played Ding Dong and other subtle comic masterpieces that would make Jacques Tati green of envy... or maybe not. This lowbrow tits-'n-farts romp actually surprised me by being pretty funny (albeit in a retarded way) and fully watchable! Milian is great fun as always and the over-the-top Peter Jackson-style bloodbath near the end sure came as a nice surprise out of nowhere! If I didn't know better i'd say i've just given a Bruno Corbucci comedy a mild recommendation... you may kill me now. 3/5

Niebelungen Part 1: Whom the Gods Wish to Destroy (1966)

Original title: Die Nibelungen, Teil 1 - Siegfried

Fantasy. West Germany/Yugoslavia. Starring Uwe Beyer, Rolf Henniger, Maria Marlow, Terence Hill, Hans von Borsody, Samson Burke & Fred Williams. Directed by Harald Reinl.

Video Alsen (Greece). English dubbed. Widescreen.

Visually imaginative and quite good Niebelungen adaption. But of course it's no match for the more poetic Fritz Lang silent version which, despite being made 40 years ealier, is better in every aspect, even in the special-FX department. Anyway, does anyone have part 2 of this thing? 3/5

The Black Duke (1963)

Original title: Il Duca Nero

Sword. Italy/Spain. Starring Cameron Mitchell, Conrado San Martín, Maria Grazia Spina, Gloria Milland, Robert Dean & Franco Fantasia. Directed by Pino Mercanti.

Video Cronos (Greece). German dubbed. Fullscreen.

Surcouf, L'eroe dei Sette Mari (1966)

Pirate. Spain/Italy/France. Starring Gérard Barray, Antonella Lualdi, Terence Morgan, Gérard Tichy, Giani Esposito, Fernando Sancho, Aldo Sambrell & Luis Barboo. Directed by Sergio Bergonzelli & Roy Rowland.

Xphema Video Ltd. (Greece). French language with greek subtitles. Fullscreen.

Pontius Pilate (1962)

Original title: Ponzio Pilato

Biblical/Peplum. Italy/France. Starring Jean Marais, Basil Rathbone, John Drew Barrymore,
Jeanne Crain, Massimo Serato, Livio Lorenzon, Gianni Garko & Paul Muller. Directed by Gian Paolo Callegari & Irving Rapper.

Manhattan Video (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Iron Warrior (1987)

Fantasy. Italy. Starring Miles O'Keeffe, Savina Gersak & Jon Rosser. Directed by Alfonso Brescia.

Orion (Greece). English dubbed. Letterboxed.

This "Al Bradley"-signed unofficial third entry in the Ator series is silly but immensely fun! Complete with that artsy/kitschy late 80s aestethic we all love. 4/5

The Invincible Barbarian (1982)

Original title: Gunan il Guerriero

Fantasy. Italy. Starring Peter McCoy, Malisa Longo & Sabrina Siani. Directed by Franco Prosperi.

Key Video (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen. This tape is no longer in my collection.

Crappy and extremely low budget sword and sorcery nonsense. This film is noteworthy for being shot almost completely in slow motion (for budgetary reasons no doubt)! 2/5

Ursus in the Land of Fire (1963)

Original title: Ursus Nella Terra di Fuoco

Peplum. Italy. Starring Ed Fury, Claudia Mori, Nando Tamberlani & Luciana Gilli. Directed by Giorgio Simonelli.

Video Art (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

A pretty standard peplum. While entertaining enough for a rainy sunday afternoon it could have used a few surprises or a little bit of charm... 2/5

Behind the Mask of Zorro (1965)

Original title: El Zorro Cabalga Otra Vez

Zorro. Spain/Italy. Starring Tony Russel, María José Alfonso, Jesús Puente & Ángela Rhu. Directed by Ricardo Blasco.

PM Video Galaxy (Greece). English dubbed. Letterboxed (slightly).

Naive and shoddy spanish Zorro flick. One for the completist. 2/5

Zambo (1972)

Original title: Zambo, il Dominatore della Foresta

Jungle adventure. Italy. Starring Brad Harris, Gisela Hahn, Daniele Vargas & Daniele Vargas. Directed by Bitto Albertini.

VCI (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Very nice jungle adventure! 4/5

Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules (1962)

Original title: Maciste Contro i Mostri

Peplum. Italy. Starring Reg Lewis, Margaret Lee, Luciano Marin, Andrea Aureli & Birgit Bergen. Directed by Guido Malatesta.

Pepikahs Video (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

This is one of those craptastic low budget peplum/fantasy cheeze-fests that italians cranked out like crazy during the early sixties (often starring C-list "actors" like Dan Vadis and Kirk Morris) and that have entertained ten year olds and immature B-movie buffs like myself ever since. Noone would mistake this for a good movie, but it's a minor classic of its kind. It's about our hero Maciste ("Maxus" or "Hercules" in some prints) who basically just walks around in stoneage and slays some monsters, rights a few wrongs or fights a bunch of evil cavemen who likes to kidnap blond cuties in fur bikinis and perfect make-up. What more do you need when Reg Lewis is simply the perfect sword and sandal cheeze hero? Why? He throws a mighty fine boulder, sports a bloody rockabilly due that could only have been made in heaven and delivers his lines with the bombastic and smug diginitide of a peplum God! Why he only got to put on the loin-cloth in this one Cinecittà role I will never understand... 4/5 (entertainment value)

Tex and the Lords of the Deep (1985)

Original title: Tex e il Signore Degli Abissi

Western/Adventure/Fantasy. Italy. Starring Giuliano Gemma, Isabel Russinova, William Berger, Aldo Sambrell & Frank Braña. Directed by Duccio Tessari.

Hi-Tech Video (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Caesar the Conqueror (1962)

Original title: Giulio Cesare, il Conquistatore delle Gallie

Peplum/Historical. Italy. Starring Cameron Mitchell, Rik Battaglia, Dominique Wilms, Carlo Tamberlani, Carla Calò & Bruno Tocci. Directed by Tanio Boccia.

Athens Video Club (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Mistress of the World (1960)

Original title: Die Herrin der Welt - Teil I

Exotic adventure. West Germany/Italy/France. Starring Lino Ventura, Gino Cervi, Sabu & Martha Hyer. Directed by William Dieterle.

EK Video (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Zorro the Fox (1968)

Original title: El Zorro

Zorro adventure. Starring George Ardisson, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Spartaco Battisti, Artemio Antonini & Femi Benussi. Directed by Guido Zurli.

Cinehollywood (Greece). English dubbed. Letterboxed. Selltape.

Brennus, Enemy of Rome (1963)

Original title: Brenno il Nemico di Roma

Peplum. Italy. Starring Gordon Mitchell, Massimo Serato, Tony Kendall ,Ursula Davis, Carla Calò & Andrea Aureli. Directed by Giacomo Gentilomo.

Venus Video (Greece). English dubbed. Widescreen. Nice print!

Wonderful peplum that really showcases Gordon Mitchell strenghts in roles like "ruthless warrior chief"! Very well made, very entertaining... and surprisingly violent and dark in tone for a sword and sandal flick (even the kid hero dies!). One of my personal favorites, highly recommended! 4/5

Tharus Son of Attila (1962)

Original title: Tharus Figlio di Attila

Peplum. Italy. Starring Jerome Courtland, Lisa Gastoni, Mimmo Palmara, Rik Van Nutter, Livio Lorenzon & Riccardo Montalbano. Directed by Roberto Bianchi Montero.

Video Alsen (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Mystery of Thug Island (1965)

Original title: I Misteri della Giungla Nera

Exotic adventure. Italy/Monaco/West Germany. Starring Guy Madison, Ingeborg Schöner & Giacomo Rossi-Stuart. Directed by Luigi Capuano.

Original Video (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Veeery dull bengal adventure. 1/5