To begin with this new feature I decided to start with THE MIGHTY URSUS which has more villains in it than any other PEPLUM film ever made. Practically every character is a villain or nemesis. There are so many of them that it would take a long post to go through all of them. So instead I'll just list the top three villains. And it doesn't get any more villainous than the super slimy Setas perfectly played by the wonderful Luis Prendes who's solid performance grounds this episodic story. He's definitely one of my favourite villains of the genre.
María Luisa Merlo as Doreide, Luis Prendes as Setas and Ed Fury as Ursus
But because there are so many villains in this film, siding with Setas is not so bad and in the end his behaviour sorta makes sense in light of everything but he still is one bad, nasty fellow.
Second villain is Attea, played by the over-the-top Moira Orfei. Her character starts off on the good side but by the end of the film, her character changes radically. She and Mok (pictured below) make for a gruesome twosome: he wants to rule over the kingdom and also have Attea as his wife but Attea has different plans. Both of them are cruel.
Moira Orfei as the crazed Queen
Moira Orfei and Rafael Luis Calvo as Mok
Great topic ... one of my favorites is Piero Lulli as Balthazar in HERO OF BABYLON, a.k.a. SON OF HERC VS BEAST OF BABYLON. Leering at just about anything, he stomps around his palace in tiered crowns reminiscent of wedding cakes.
ReplyDeleteTo propitiate the Gods Balthazar and his malefic favorite, Moira Orfei begin a new round of human sacrifices in which beautiful virgins in white gowns with flowers in their hair are tossed by a negro slave into a flaming pit ... while Balthazar grins and leers.
He has women crucified above the walls of Babylon and their agonies upset the royal feast ("Those screams are ruining my dinner ... can't they die fast enough?" he says). Balthazar vows to make the Babylonians drown in their own blood during the nascent rebellion. "DON'T SCREAM, IT WON'T DO YOU ANY GOOD!"
Yes, Piero Lulli as Balthazar in HERO OF BABYLON is great. I'll definitely mention him. And don't forget Moira Orfei is his side villainess.
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