HD Alert!

Steve Reeves in A LONG RIDE FROM HELL (1968)

For Steve Reeves completists, someone uploaded an HD copy of this on Youtube. As I previously stated with SAMSON AND THE LOST TREASURE OF THE INCAS, as odd as it is, there's a Western sub-category to the PEPLUM genre. Movies that were either started as a PEPLUM movie and changed after the success of FOR A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964) by Sergio Leone. Studios in Italy abandoned the PEPLUM genre and left many actors and directors without a genre to work with. This was Steve's last film before retiring from acting, which is a shame because he was a charismatic presence on the big screen. Leone apparently wanted Steve to star in FISTFUL but Clint Eastwood was cast instead after Reeves declined the offer. Reeves and Leone worked together on THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1959). What's really fascinating about this movie is the fact that many actors of the PEPLUM genre, many of which didn't work with Steve, finally worked with him. This includes Rosalba Neri. As a die-hard PEPLUM fan, it's great to see Rosalba and Steve together. There was a 4 years gap between SANDOKAN - PIRATE OF MALAYSIA and this movie.