Tacky PEP

Here are a few examples of tacky production design, even by the genre standards. Many will say that the PEPLUM genre is, by itself, tacky of which, of course, I disagree. Yes, there's a certain amount of kitschiness innate to the genre, because of variety of reasons such as anachronistic details or dated vision of the past or budget limitations, but all in all it's mostly straightfoward, even with the over-the-top ones.

Linda Cristal as Cleopatra in LEGIONS OF THE NILE. I don't know who came up with this look but it's thoroughly tacky. It must have taken, what, 2 minutes to come up with it. It's distracting for all the wrong reasons, certainly during crucial dramatic moments of the conclusion. The rest of the film is fine so I don't know what happened here. Total fail.

From LOVES OF HERCULES (Hercules vs the Hydra). I don't know who these men are supposed to be but the costumes are ill-fited. There's something just off about them that says tacky. I actually don't hate them it's just that there's a detail that's not right, like the knot in the center/chest area. The costumes were re-used in other films including GIANT OF METROPOLIS.

These guards/soldiers in THE INVINCIBLE BROTHERS MACISTE are supposed to be tough and intimidating but with animal print mittens, which were surely cumbersome, they looked like anything but tough.