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the european film review > miscellaneous european films
 
miscellaneous european films
Miscellaneous european genre films on DVD

Click here for a selection of action, comedy, horror, peplum and war DVDs

 
Latest reviews

Demons 3: The Ogre
Nasty critters in the basement, beetles in the kitchen, busty babysitters being ravaged. It's the holiday from hell in this Lamberto Bava flic.

  AD79
Reasonable Brad Harris peplum directed by Gianfranco Parolini. He stars as an all round hero who has to foil a plot by some vile senators and falls in with a bunch of irritating christian types whilst doing so.

Days of Hell
Rambo rip-off from Tonino Ricci, starring Conrad Nichol as a musclebound idiot on the loose in Afghanistan

  New Barbarians, The
Very, very silly post-apocalypse nonsense from Enzo Castellari. Watch Timothy Brent and George Eastman race around in customised golf carts.
 
Adventure films

Jungle Master
Cult Movie Maximus. Goofball jungle adventure from Demofilo Fidani and starring 'Johnny Kissmuller' as a halfwit Tarzan.

 

Secret of the Inca's Empire
Terrible, terrible Raiders of the Lost Ark rip-off from the normally estimable Gianfranco Parolini.

 
Comedy films

After the Fox
Peter Sellers? In a Vittorio De Sica comedy caper? With Britt Ekland? Whaddaya mean you want more?

Les Espions
Henri-Georges Clouzot's classic early spy film. Peter Ustinov, Sam Jaffe and Curd Jurgens are amongst the agents hassling a poor doctor in his isolated asylum.

 

I figli del leopardo
Django meets Franco & Ciccio. Yes, Sergio Corbucci directs this silly but remarkably lush comedy film that's well worth a look.

This Time I'll Make You Rich
More Parolini, this follows the Bud Spencer / Terence Hill model by casting Antonio Sabato and Brad Harris as a pair of adventurers in Hong Kong.

 
Horror films

An Angel for Satan
One of the more obscure of Barabara Steele's Italian horror films. Undeservedly so, it's an effectile slice of gothic fatastique

Black Sabbath
Classic portmanteau horror film from Mario Bava, starring Boris Karloff, Mark Damon and many others

Devil's Commandment, the
The film that ushered in the Italian gothic boom of the early 1960s, Riccardo Freda's film stars Gianna Maria Canale.

Horror Rises from the Tomb
A hokey slice of insane nonsense from Carlos Aured, featuring Paul Naschy in about ten roles. Great fun.

 

Night of the Sorcerors
More Spanish nonsense, Armando De Ossorio directs Jack Taylor and Simon Andreu in this voodoo / jungle adventure

Vampires Night Orgy, The
Jack Taylor and Dianik Zurakowska stumble across a village entirely populated by vampires. Better than average Spanish horror, with a darker-than-dark sense of humour.

Whip and the Body, The
More Mario Bava, this plays like an early giallo, and features a manic Christopher Lee and the gorgeous Daliah Lavi

 
Peplums and swashbucklers

Aphrodite, Goddess of Love
Slow moving historical drama, with Anthony Steffen as a Greek sculptor falling foul of his corrupt employers. Features lots of burning Christians.

Beatrice Cenci
Riccardo Freda's interpretation of the well known tale (Lucio Fulci also had a go at it). Gino Cervi is the star.

Black Pirate, The
Partner piece to The Masked Man Against the Pirates, this is a real obscurity that wasn't released for almost seven years after being finished. George Hilton stars.

Devil's Cavalier, The
Frank Latimore stars in this middling late-fifties swashbuckler. Anthony Steffen has a supporting role

Erik The Conqueror
Great viking film from Mario Bava, with Cameron Mitchell and Giorgio Ardisson as the Nordic brothers fighting on different sides

Flag of Death
Pirate fun from cheapjack specialist Roberto Mauri. Richard Harrison is the star.

Goliath against the Giants
The giants may look like ugly teletubbies, but this is a jolly enjoyable peplum from Guido Malatesta and with Brad Harris.

Maciste in Hell
Another peplum / horror film hybrid, but this one is more silly than effective. Riccardo Freda directs.

 

Hercules in the Haunted World
Popular peplum / horror film hybrid, with Reg Park as the mythological hero battling against a vampirical Christopher Lee

Kindapped to Mystery Island
Entertaining bit of sub-Sandokan adventure fluff from Luigi Capuano, with Giacomo Rossi Stuart and Guy Madison

Masked Man against the Pirates
More pirate fun, this time starring George Hilton, Tony Kendall and assorted yo-ho-ho'ing character actors. Directed by Vertunnio De Angelis.

Old Testament, the
Well, it's not a literal adaption of the old testament but the tale of an Israeli uprising against their Syrian oppressors. Another Gianfranco Parolini and Brad Harris film.

Samson
Entertaining peplum from Goanfranco Parolini, with Brad Harris as the titular muscleman.

Sandokan Strikes Back
Ray Danton took over from Steve Reeves in this modest pirate movie from Luigi Capuano. Guy Madison co-stars.

Sodom and Gomorrah
Big-budget - and somewhat overblown - epic directed by the legendary Robert Altman. Lots of euro character actors support Stewart Granger in the cast.

 

 
Science fiction films

Atlantis Interceptors
Jesus Christ, what's going on here? Utter lunacy from Ruggero Deodata, with Christopher Connelly and Tony King

Caltiki The Immortal Monster
Enjoyable Italian monster movie from Mario Bava and/or Riccardo Freda.

 

Shark's Cave
Utter crap, which is what you'd expect from director Tonino Ricci. Aliens cause ships to crash in the bermuda triangle.

 
War films

Battle of El Alemein
Better than average war film, telling the story of El Alemein from an Italian perspective. Giorgio Ferroni directs.

Black Gold Dossier
Awful late-70s Paolo Solvay action movie, with Richard Harrison and Gordon Mitchell trying to sabotage some oil fields

Desert Battle
Good desert war film, this is more of a melodrama than an action film. Mino Loy directed George Hilton, Robert Hossein and Frank Wolff.

 

Dirty Two, the
One of Tonino Ricci's better films, which isn't saying much, but at least you get to watch Klaus Kinski being... Klaus Kinski

Five for Hell
Zany war film from Gianfranco Parolini. Gianni Garko leads a bunch of oddballs into occupied Italy to steal some nazi plans

 

 
Hard to classify films

African Deal, The
Giorgio Bontempi's obscure 1973 erotic thriller set in Africa. George Hilton & Calvin Lockhart are the stars.

La Dicciotenni
Rather straightlaced schoolgirl drama from the late 50's. Mario Mattoli is the director, Virna Lisi the star. Anthony Steffen plays a much-lasted-after teacher.

 

La Mepris
Every so often I get this strange urge to watch a Jean-Luc Godard film. It's always painful and I never learn, but there you go...