Goliath (Brad Harris) tries to save his friend, Briseo (José Rubio) in GOLIATH AGAINST THE GIANTS (1961)
I love these scenes. Those 'Improbable Death Contraptions' are unique of the genre. In this one, there's a bunch of slaves being whipped in some separate room, who pull the circular device towards Briseo. It's Goliath's turn to reverse the trajectory of the device, so now it becomes a power struggle between Goliath vs a dozen desperate men. Brilliant! There were those kind of contraptions in old serial films and also in TV series like BATMAN TV series but the ones in PEPLUM films are totally different. I always wonder: who came up with these amazing ideas?
I agree that the bizarre death machines in Peplum films are a significant part of the "campy" enjoyment of the genre.
ReplyDeleteThe most common one may be spiked walls closing in on the hero.
My 2 favorites are that stone? contraption from TRIUMPH OF HERCULES, and Mark Forest trying to save his friends from being killed by that whatever it is in MACISTE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD .
ReplyDeleteThis is what got me into the Peplum genre in the first place--when I saw the execution contraption in "The Lion of Thebes".
ReplyDeleteI write stories that sometimes feature elaborate contraptions such as this. They can be found at netrap.deviantart.com.