PEPLUM Break!

I take a break roughly every two months so this is that time again. I will be back soon. 

So stay tuned!

I'll leave you now with King Leonidas (Richard Egan) from THE 300 SPARTANS (1962), saying "From this wall, we do not retreat!"

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Note: some are expecting me to review the new Artus Films editions of HERCULES and HERCULES UNCHAINED. You can go to BY THE GODS! to read what I think of them.

Buy BY THE GODS! magazine

Buy BY THE GODS! magazine.

Image of the week!

The brothers Maciste (Iloosh Khoshabe and Mario Novelli) help build a house in THE INVINCIBLE BROTHERS MACISTE (1964)

Lobby Cards Set: CONQUEROR OF ATLANTIS (1965)

Original Italian lobby cards set of CONQUEROR OF AtLANtIS (1965) starring Kirk Morris, Hélène Chanel and others. Great set. Very colourful. There's one card that doesn't belong there though. Card number 4 is from MACISTE IN THE VALLEY OF THE THUNDERING ECHOES (1964), also with Kirk and Hélène. This was a strange but standard practice in Italian posters/lobby cards.

Musings!

A wounded Agi Murad (Steve Reeves) is transported to his enemies in THE WHITE WARRIOR (1959)

This is the only film Steve did with director Riccardo Freda, who was a great director. I wished the two had done more films together. It's one of the many What If... the PEPLUM genre is riddled with. The scene previous to this one is one of the best scenes Steve acted and was involved with. Steve was solid when paired with a great director. The screenshot is from yet another HD copy of this movie I just got today! Why this film is not on Blu-ray I'll never know. All of Steve's films should be available on Blu-ray. 

Side note: Yesterday I got the Artus Films French Blu-rays of HERCULES (1958) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959). I'll have more on this in the future.

Behind-the-Scenes

Alan Steel (Sergio Ciani) and Luisella Boni pose for a photo on the set of SAMSON (1961)

Clip of the week: HERCULES THE INVINCIBLE (1964)

Hercules (Dan Vadis) doing all sorts of action, including the infamous human kebab.  With Ugo Sasso and Mario De Simone.

Funnies!

Brad Harris and Mara Lane in 79 AD: THE DESTRUCTION OF HERCULANEUM

Recent Acquisitions!

There's so much stuff is going on right now I can't keep up. I'll post most of my recent acquisitions (even though there's more)

 

- SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR (1959)

AIP release. I finally got a copy of this rare US print. The quality is not that good but it's good enough to watch. I'll have a more detailed post on this release. 


I bought Blu-rays of the following titles:

- COLOSSUS OF THE STONE AGE (1962) - German release. 
- TIGER OF THE SEVEN SEAS (1962) - German release

- 79 AD: THE DESTRUCTION OF HERCULANEUM (1962) - German release

- PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE  (1963) - French release
- THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF GUERRIN MESCHINO (1952) - French release
- THE MASKED MAN AGAINST THE PIRATES (1964) - German release
- SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD (1961) - German release
- FIRE OVER ROME (1965) - German release
- HERCULES AGAINST THE MONGOLS (1963) - German release
- HERCULES AGAINST THE BARBARIANS (1964) - German release

I also got a digital copy of NERO AND POPPEA: AN ORGY OF POWER (1982) from a German Blu-ray release which are expensive.


I also bought DVD from Germany:

- CAESAR THE CONQUEROR (1962) - English audio included.
- GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON (1963) - German audio.
- TWO GLADIATORS (1964) - Great print but only German audio.

- HERCULES THE INVINCIBLE (1964) - Nice print. German and Italian audios.

German DVD pack (above):

- THE TROJAN HORSE (1961)
- COLOSSUS OF ROME (1964; Hero of Rome) 

- THE CENTURION or Conqueror of Corinth (1961).

English audio included in all of those three titles. The pack is uneven.

 

- THE LAST ROMAN (1968) - part 1 and part 2. Only German audio.

For more info, you can check out BY THE GODS!


I got these titles trading with someone:

- SON OF ZORRO (1973) - in HD. Spanish and English audios. Fan Dub.
- THE BLACK INVADERS (1962) - In Italian with English subs
- SHADOW OF ZORRO (1962) - in HD - Fan Dub in English and Spanish.

- HERCULES OF THE DESERT aka MACISTE IN THE VALLEY OF THE                         THUNDERING ECHOES (1964). So many different prints of this one!

And from different sources:

- THEODORA - SLAVE EMPRESS (1954; above) - Stunning HD copy from a streaming service in Italy. First real HD print of this great movie. With Gianna Maria Canale and Renato Baldini.

- SANDOKAN - PIRATE OF MALAYSIA (1964) with Steve Reeves - in HD (below). I don't remember where I got this one! Italian and French audios.

Steve Reeves and Leo Anchoriz in a beautiful print of SANDOKAN - PIRATE OF MALAYSIA

And lastly:

- SEVEN SLAVES AGAINST ROME (1964) which I've posted about yesterday.

More to come!

Blog notes

Views for the bog skyrocketed recently. Over 13 thousand views on Feb 24. And Over 7000 views. The blog has never been more popular.


 

First look at Matt Damon as Odysseus in the upcoming THE ODYSSEY production set to be released next summer. Additional actors were added to the already problematic cast making it even more problematic. I can't take this seriously. 

 BY THE GODS! magazine at 20% off through March 7!

code: 20MARCH2025

Buy BY THE GODS! magazine.

Musings!

Roger Browne and Scilla Gabel in SEVEN SLAVES AGAINST ROME (1964; Seven Slaves Against the World)

So many things happening right now. The HERCULES (1958) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959) Blu-rays from France and Artus Films have been shipped. I should get them soon. I can't wait to see how good these transfers will be. I also got hold of more super rare stuff. Included in all of this is the English version of SEVEN SLAVES AGAINST ROME, which was only available in Italian since forever. Someone got the UK VHS tape, transferred it digitally and made a Fan Dub with the recent HD version (it's only available in HD from streaming in Europe). I've watched this movie in Italian for soooo long that it's odd to watch it in English. I also have the super rare US version of SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR! More on this in the future.

So, 2025 looks like a promising year. 

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Italian poster of THE GIANTS OF THESSALY (1960)

Very odd poster. It looks nothing like the movie. With so many amazing scenes in that movie and this is what they come up with? At least there are multiple other posters for the movie which are great.