Part of the main cast in SEVEN REBEL GLADIATORS (1965)
Left to right: Pietro Torrisi, Roger Browne, Harold Bradley and Mario Novelli.
By the time this film was released, the PEPLUM genre was in its last gasp. Michele Lupo directed movies were sorta cartoonish in tone, with hyper action, hyper fast editing, over-the-top comical violence, goofy humour, etc. I like them but since they were the last movies made, they sorta were the movies people remembered of the genre more than HERCULES (1958) made 7 years previously. A lot of detractors of PEPLUM movies always cite the general goofiness, which wasn't true in regards to the entire genre. Just a handful of them.
3 comments:
I've found that most people I know, who remember the genre at all, associate it with the Sons of Hercules movies on TV. They were given great exposure along with the Embassy TV package of Sword and Sandal films. Not the best way to see these films to be sure. The original Hercules seems to be more fondly remembered by film fans.
Yes, the SONS OF HERCULES TV series had a huge impact on the genre's popularity. I'm talking more in general in regards to SEVEN REBEL GLADIATORS. HERCULES is remembered fondly (thanks to the blog? Haha) but it's also a target of ridicule by MST3K types. I created the blog, in a way, to counter that ridicule. To show how great the genre is. Many 'serious' cinephiles dismiss the whole genre and the fact that most PEPLUM movies are hard to get, in HD or any other format, show the little respect the genre gets. It's sad really.
MST3K may be the worst thing that ever happened to old movies. I cringe whenever I read a Wikipedia entry which lists what episode the movie in question was trashed by MST3K. Like that is some sort of barometer for judging the movie.
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