(1964, Anamorphic Widescreen) Alan Steel, Wandisa Guida, Daniele Vargas, Livio Lorenzon, Andrea Aureli.  A plot is underway in ancient Rome by the leader of the Praetorian Guard, who wishes for the Emperor’s daughter to marry his foppish son. When the emperor refuses, he ends up a corpse, stabbed by an assassin.  The Praetorian leader then declares himself emperor.  Enter Steel, as Hercules...

(1962, Anamorphic Edition) Pascale Petit, Gordon Scott, George Ardisson, Rik Battaglia.  This sword and sandal opus covers the early life of Cleopatra. It chronicles the power struggles with her brother, her courtiers, her generals, and lastly, the Roman Empire...

(1961, Anamorphic Edition) Ed Fury, Moira Orfei, Alberto Lupo, Giacomo Furia, Gérard Herter.  Lupo, one of the best villains of the Peplum era, plays another dastardly dictator whose armies attack a nearby kingdom.  The rulers of the besieged capital city place a royal medallion around the neck of their infant son (Ursus) and have him removed from the city.  He ends up being raised by Lions...

(1957) Francisco Rabal, Sylva Koscina, Gianna Maria Canale, Rik Battaglia.  It’s heroic European Christians pitted against a Muslim villain and his Islamic army. Look for some well-staged action sequences, including a big siege at the end of the film.  Great to see two beauties, Sylva Koscina and Gianna Maria Canale, pitted against each other as love rivals.  Battaglia, of course, is in the center of all the action—both kinds! Color, 35mm.

(1961, Anamorphic Widescreen) Yvonne Furneaux, John Ericson, Renzo Ricci, Gianni Rizzo, Germano Longo.  In this sprawling peplum tale, Furneaux plays the drop-dead gorgeous Semiramis, a vile, scheming member of the King of Assyria’s court. She is an overtly ambitious beauty who doesn’t hesitate...

(1964, Updated 4-7-25) Alan Steel, Mario Petri, Toni Sailer, Wolfgang Lukschy. This film was originally supposed to be a peplum film, but because of the success of A Fistful of Dollars, the script was changed to a mostly western setting, though there are still definitely moments of peplum action, especially toward the end when Steel yanks his shirt off...

(1959, Anamorphic Edition) Massimo Serato, Irène Tunc, Luisella Boni, Luciano Marin, Pierre Cressoy.  Riding into danger is a masked vigilante called the Dark Knight.  His advisory is a cruel ruler (played by longtime sword and sandal veteran Serato) who has seized and imprisoned the peaceful ruler of nearby region...

(1960, Upgraded 12/29/22) Mark Forest, Chelo Alonso, Vira Silenti, Angelo Zanolli, Carlo Tamberlani, Frederica Ranchi. Samson's son, Maciste, turns up in ancient Egypt where he leads a slave revolt against the evil Queen Smedes. His goal is to dispose of the Queen and restore the throne to its rightful heir.  But can he resist Smedes incredible...

(1964) Alberto Lupo, María José Alfonso, Beni Deus, Stephen Forsyth.  After his wedding to the beautiful Alfonso, Lupo sets out to join the crusades, leaving his beautiful new bride in the care of one of his trusted friends.  What he doesn’t know is that his “pal” has his own desires for the fair maiden...

(1964, Anamorphic Widescreen) Ray Danton, Franca Bettoia, Guy Madison, Mario Petri, Mino Doro.  Ray Danton, as Sandokan, is perfectly cast as the dashing warrior and do-gooder. In this lively film, Sandokan’s beautiful future wife, Samoa (Bettoia) is kidnapped, hidden in a cave, and held under a hypnotic spell by her evil cousin, who seeks revenge against Sandokan...

(1962, Anamorphic Widescreen) Giuliano Gemma, Jacqueline Sassard, Pedro Armendáriz, Antonella Lualdi, Serge Nubret. This great sword & sandal film is filled with fantastic elements and supernatural creatures, including a cyclops and a gorgon.  Gemma plays Crius, the youngest of the Greek titans, all of whom are imprisoned by the gods.  Freedom for him and his brothers is promised in return for...

(1957) Sebastian Fischer, Ilaria Occhini, Rolf Tasna, Katharina Mayberg, Georgio Costantini. A retelling of the legend of Siegfried, who slayed a dragon and bathed in its blood to become nearly invincible.  Siegfried then travels to Burgandy where he wins the heart of the King’s daughter, Krimhilde...

(1963 aka SAMSON AND THE SEA BEASTS) Kirk Morris, Margaret Lee, Daniele Vargas, Tullio Altamura.  An evil pirate menaces the sea lanes, attacking and looting ships.  Crews are slain and women are sold off as slaves.  Samson comes to the rescue...

(1968 Anamorphic Widescreen) Laurence Harvey, Orson Welles, Sylva Koscina, Honor Blackman, Robert Hoffman, Michael Dunn, Lang Jeffries, directed by Robert Siodmak.  Disc One: Kampf um Rom I. It’s not long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (early 500s AD).  One of the last Roman leaders, Cethegus (Harvey), makes a bid to return Rome to its former greatness.Disc Two: Kampf um Rom II, Der Verrat: Cethegus gets a war started between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantine Empire...

(1963) Joe Robinson, Suzy Andersen, Harry Baird, Maria Fiore. Our mighty hero battles the Njala civilization of Amazonian women. This is perhaps the schlockiest sword and sandal film ever made--really over-the-top in a nearly hysterical manner...

(1965, Upgraded 3/10/24) Mark Forest, Rosalba Neri (Sara Bay), Mimmi Palmara, Dea Flowers.  The son of a sultan is kiddnaped by a desert bandit. It's later discovered that the son (Forest) has some kind of strange magical power and is...