It’s no secret that I am a fan of G. A. Lungaro’s Isidora comic series (as my prior interviews with him on my website as well as on the H. P. Lovecast Podcast can attest). The series combines the neo-peplum genre with the Lovecraft Mythos with a badass female protagonist – so it checks off many of the boxes of media I am interested in.
Earlier this year Lungaro ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund production of issue two of Isidora and it was a great success. In October, backer rewards began to ship to pledgers and over the weekend I received my copy. What follows is a picture story of unboxing my pledge because it turned out to be some amazing stuff contained in the box. A confession: when I donate to a Kickstarter, I do not pay attention to the stretch goals as I like to be surprised with what I received. And I was certainly surprised with my loot!
To begin with, my backer award came in a handsome cardboard box, sporting some nice artwork (taken from the Jay Espin variant cover) that depictions a R’lyehthian-style city with a hint of Giger.
Upon opening the box I was greeted with a divider/cover with an envelope embedded in.
The envelope contains a thank you card, packaged and presented in the same fashion as the Kickstarter for issue one (see below).
Under the cover that contained the thank you note was three art prints. From left to right they are by:
Samantha Branch – This is a print of one of the variant covers of issue one and I love the antiquity elements to it.
George P. Gatsis – This is my favourite of the three. I love the colours used in this one and the depiction of Isidora. She looks both pinupy and badass.
Deti – This is the artwork used on the edition that combines issue 1 and 2. This one has a very alluring Isidora with overt Lovecraftian imagery.
Under the art print was some stickers and trading cards. Because I love to keep things in mint condition, I did not open the booster pack of cards. Those will forever remain a mystery.
The envelope contained a cute little charm.
The last item in the box was the comic! In this case, I went for the special edition that combines Isidora one and two into one collected edition with a metallic cover! The presentation on this edition is extravagant.
And in one picture, here is the contents of everything in the Isidora #2 box.
And here is everything from both Kickstarters together. What can I say, everything here is above and beyond and of high quality. As an extra bonus, everything fits perfectly into the Isidora #2 box!
Lungaro hope to get started on issue three very soon, so I am excited for that. If you are interested in Isidora, I suggest you follow Lungaro on his social medial channels to see what happens next with his projects.
New episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast is now online! In this episode Michele and I talk about “Every Hole in the Earth We Will Claim As Our Own” by Gemma Files and “Eye of the Beholder” by Nancy Kilpatrick both from the Dark Regions Press published, Lynne Jamneck edited anthology, Dreams from the Witch House: Female Voices of Lovecraftian Horror.
Thumbnail by Michele Brittany
This episode can be streamed from our Buzzsprout website or via your podcast app of preference.
McFarland Horror Book Sale
McFarland Publishing is doing a promotion during October for their horror books: if you use the code SPOOKY25 during check out, you’ll get a 25% discount.
There are three books I am involved with that are part of this promotion:
This is a great opportunity to pluck these books up!
Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference CFP
The CFP for the 2022 AnnRadCon is now LIVE! Open until the end of December, AnnRadCon 2022 will be hybrid, both online and in person. The CFP can be found at the AnnRadCon page at the StokerCon website. Please share far and wide!
Michele at HWA Halloween Haunts
Michele has an article up at the Horror Writer Association’s website for their Halloween Haunts series going through the month of October.
Thumbnail created by the HWA.
Michele’s article is a “how to” feature called “How To Make a Spooky Zig Zaggy Mini Halloween Journal.” There is a contest open as well: if you leave a comment (you don’t need to be an HWA member) you have a chance to win the journals Michele made.
General Neo-Peplum News
History of the World Part 2
Looks like a sequel to Mel Brooks’ History of the World: Part I is in the works! Per this article at Variety, it sounds like it will be a series on Hulu with Brooks writing and producing.
For those curious, Tatiana Prorokova writes extensively about History of the World: Part I in her essay “Laughing at the Body: The Imitation of Masculinity in Peplum Parody Films” that appears in The New Peplum.
Women in Classical Video Games Cover Reveal
Bloomsbury will be releasing a new book called Women in Classical Video Games edited by Jane Draycott and Kate Cook. Here is the cover reveal:
Salomé Footage Found
Per an article at Benzinga, 2 minutes of footage of the 1918 lost, porto-peplum film Salomé has been found.
The classic era of sword and sandal films is an unappreciated genre and nowhere is this more illustrated than its lack of representation in Criterion-esque physical releases.
Cover art of Fury of Achilles from Gold Ninja Video. Used with permission from Justin Decloux.
During the aughts and early 2010s, as the battle of between Blu-ray and HD DVD raged on, standard DVDs reigned king. It was a golden age of physical media as big studios, boutique publishers, and even low budget companies saturated the market with releases, re-releases, special editions, limited releases, and so on. This was also an era of when budget publishers, such as Mill Creek Entertainment and Brentwood Home Video, took a quantity over quality approach and flooded the market with megapack DVD boxset releases that contained a buffet of mostly public domain and low budget films. Though the overall quality was poor, American edits of sword and sandal films flourished on these releases.
Budget releases of pepla. Photo from my own collection.
Further into the 2010s, Blu-ray won the format battle, but over all lost the war to streaming services. Each year there are fewer and fewer physical film releases, though there is an uptick in boutique publishers such as Vinegar Syndrome, Severin Films, and others filling the niche market for consumers who still cherish physical releases, especially those with assorted bonus material, such as essays, deleted scenes, and commentaries.
Pepla, though considered cult cinema, has fallen through the Blu-ray cracks. Most peplum films that received the Blu-ray treatment have been American involved productions that already had high quality surviving prints that merit suchreleases. The vast majority of English-edited peplum exists as low quality, full screen, saturated colour versions that bypassed the Blu-ray format and went directly to YouTube.
Today, physical releases of old school pepla are drying up. Budget companies, such as Synergy Entertainment and Something Weird Video, that used to churn out these releases have halted the practice. Only a smattering of the more prestigious peplum are honoured with Blu-ray releases, and even those are mostly bare bones. For example, the recently released Twilight Time version of Messalina contains only a booklet. Nary a commentary track or video essay to be found (for my thoughts on Messalina, click here).
Twilight Time release of Messalina. Photo from my own private collection.
For such an important and influential genre, the lack of supplemental laden physical releases is a sad state of affairs.
Enter Justin Decloux’s Gold Ninja Video label, an independent boutique label that strives to give the Criterion treatment to forgotten, obscure, and public domain films. Per Decloux’s Indiegogo campaign:
My original intent was to release public domain films on Blu-ray, ones that are treated like crap and that you could easily find floating around in a hundred different places on the internet, with the respect they had never before received. I created lavish deluxe editions that featured commentaries, video essays, and bonus films that would provide context and a deeper appreciation of productions that most of the world had dismissed.
Justin Decloux
Gold Ninja Video has released special editions of films such as Joy N. Houck Jr.’s Creature from Black Lake (1976), Hwa I Hung’s Kung Fu Zombie (1981), and Antonio Margheriti’s And God Said to Cain (1970). Gold Ninja Video has released films encompassing a variety of niche subgenres: from spaghetti westerns to Brucesploitation films to kaiju films. While perhaps not as renown as other exploitation labels, such as the aforementioned Vinegar Syndrome and Severin Films, Decloux makes up with it with pure gusto:
I love those companies, as my sagging Blu-ray/DVD shelves indicate. Still, I can’t come close to competing with the resources they have at their disposal when it comes to finding elements and remastering films. So I try to make up for it with a sheer force of passion and the hope that a GNV disc will serve as a starting resource to explore different worlds of cinema.
Justin Decloux
Earlier in 2021 Gold Ninja Video took their first plunge into the peplum genre by releasing a supplemental-laden edition of Marino Girolami’s Fury of Achilles (1962). Contrasting against their current catalog, a mythological sword and sandal film may initially seem out of place for a Gold Ninja Video release. Decloux elaborates on the genesis of publishing Fury of Achilles:
The peplum has always been on my list for a release through Gold Ninja Video for two reasons:
1. They are almost all considered in the public domain. 2. There have been very few discs that have explored the genre in-depth.
Through GNV, I always loved to tackle genres that many people are familiar with but haven’t really sat down and considered. The opportunity to provide context to something like peplums was something that was always appealing to me, even if I was a little nervous because it wasn’t a subject I had off-the-cuff expertise about, beyond passing familiarity with films like Steve Reeve’s Hercules and Mario Bava’s Hercules in the Haunted World. The Fury of Achilles disc was probably one of the projects that took me the longest to put together because I wanted to make sure I had done enough research to talk confidently about the subject. It took me ages to pick Fury of Achilles, but I finally landed on the title because I liked the fantastic elements, its a mixture of personal and grand, and the gravelly face of Gordon Mitchell.
Justin Decloux
There’s been a few releases of Fury of Achilles prior, typically by low budget publishers such as Alpha Video, Synergy, and Inspired (whom released it as a double feature with Lion of Thebes [1964]).
Inspired’s release of Fury of Achilles. Photo from my own private collection.
While the print used in the Gold Ninja Video release of Fury of Achilles may be on par with these other editions, Decloux elevates his version with a variety of supplements:
Short introduction to the film
A black and white essay booklet spotlighting peplum directors
A commentary track with Decloux’s insights and observations
A 15 minute short feature that acts as a primer to the peplum genre
Another short feature that spotlights fantastique peplum
An extended battle sequence (see below)
And a version of Perseus Against the Monsters (1963) making this release a double feature
There’s certainly a variety of features on the Blu-ray disc. Decloux had a Herculean task ahead of him putting this edition together:
I didn’t realize until I started recording the commentary that the movie was two hours long! But I somehow got through it by breaking it down over a few days.
I tinkered with the main presentation more than I usually do. The audio had a noticeable hum to it, so I performed some noise reduction surgery, and I had to subtitle some footage that wasn’t in English.
I also noticed that one of the battle scenes had some extra violence in it not present in the primary transfer used on the disc. Unfortunately, the additional battle footage was only present in a much lesser quality copy, so I had to decide if I cut it into the main feature or not. After many sleepless nights, I decided to include it as an extra – because it felt like an entirely different version of the scene – instead of shots that were cut out.”
Justin Decloux
The disc begins with a short, introduction on why Decloux chose to release Fury of Achilles as he felt it was a good introduction to the genre. Decloux has an infectious enthusiasm that is present on all the supplements of the Blu-ray. This enthusiasm is much needed because, as stated above, there is not much love for the peplum genre, so it is a welcome sight to see excitement for sword and sandal fare. Decloux offers some insight at to why pepla isn’t as revered as other cult Euro genres:
I feel like it has a lot to do with peplums having an old-fashioned structure and execution, throwing back to a type of cinema that modern audiences only have a passing familiarity within their media diets. The Giallos and Spaghetti Westerns are twists on genres that have been burned into our cultural consciousness – the slasher and the classic American western. Those types of movies also offer direct thrills – violence and action – which resonate universally. Peplums are frankly tamer than most European exploitation cinema because of their model and the “Golden Period” of the genre was before Giallos and Spaghetti Westerns.
Justin Decloux
The most important special feature on the Blu-ray is Decloux’s “A Beginner’s Guide to Peplum: A Video Essay.” The feature is about fifteen minutes in length and begins with a brief overview of the genre. With over 300 titles in the sword and sandal canon, Decloux states that finding an entry point into the genre can be problematic. He proffers eight peplum titles and explains what makes each of them a stand out film:
Ulysses (1954)
Hercules (1958)
Hercules Conquers Atlantis (1961)
Duel of the Titans (1961)
Fury of Achilles (1962)
The Trojan Horse (1961)
Revenge of Spartacus (1964)
Giants of Rome (1964)
It must be underscored the importance of such a primer in order to regain interest and attract new fans to the genre. It is strongly recommended to watch the primer and listen to Decloux’s musings.
The next feature, “Weird Swords and Sandals: A Video Essay” has Decloux disclosing a few noteworthy peplum films that has weird or fantastique elements, such as giant monsters and magic. His list includes:
Hercules in the Haunted World (1961)
Maciste in Hell (1925)
Goliath and the Vampires (1961)
Goliath Against the Giants (1961)
Conqueror of Atlantis (1965)
The Triumph of Hercules (1964)
War of the Zombies (1964)
Hercules and the Black Pirates (1963)
The Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules (1964)
The essay inserted includes in the Blu-ray sleeve contains information on noteworthy peplum directors Gianfranco Parolini, Alberto De Martino, Mario Caiano, Michele Lupo, Giorgio Ferroni, and Vittorio Cottafavi, along with notes about the film transfer.
The last major supplement on the Fury of Achilles release is Decloux own commentary track. Decloux is up front in the various supplements that he is not an expert on the sword and sandal genre, but he doesn’t give himself enough credit as his commentary track is quite insightful. For example, early in the commentary he brings up the importance of non-Italian (mostly American) productions to the peplum canon. This is usually an overlooked facet of Italian genre filmmaking by other scholars or enthusiasts. During the prosperous years of the 1960s, Italy had a robust and prolific film industry, cranking out films from A-list directors such as Fellini, Antonioni, Visconti, and others. However, in order for Italy to financially support the risky ventures of its auteurs, it needed a foundational genre industry that churned out profitable pepla, spaghetti westerns, macaroni combat, gothic horror, gialli, Eurospy, and other genre fare. This genre industry was not restricted to national cinema as other countries (America, England, Spain, France, and so on) took advantage of the same studios, crew, and actors that made up these films. This is a key component to understanding the Italian filmmaking industry and Decloux is right in the ballpark talking about it.
Fury of Achilles is an ambitious release by a small label, but it certainly accomplishes what it sets out to do: give the film the respect it deserve via a plethora of supplemental material that underscores its importance. Since publishing Fury of Achilles, Decloux has been satisfied with how well the edition is faring:
I’ll be candid and say I’ve received very little feedback about the disc [..but..] it has surprisingly been one that has been a pretty big seller. I stock copies at a local store in Toronto called Bay Street Video, and it’s the one that regularly sells out the most.”
Justin Decloux
Photo of Justin Decloux provided by Decloux.
Fury of Achilles may currently be Gold Ninja Video’s sole peplum release, hopefully it is not the last. While Decloux has other immediate plans for his label, there is the open possibility for more sword and sandal action:
A few months ago, I did a crowdfunding campaign to scan some film prints that had come into my possession. Thanks to a surprisingly positive reaction, I received enough contributions to purchase a film scanner. So, Gold Ninja Video is moving into the world of new scans! The first release with a brand new scan will be a Taiwanese film called Thrilling Bloody Sword which is currently available for preorder at goldninjavideo.com. And if I stumble upon a 16MM or 35MM print of an intriguing peplum film that doesn’t exist in any decent home release, I can assure you I’ll jump on it!”
Justin Decloux
A sincere thank you to Justin Decloux for answering these interview questions. Please see the links below to find out more about Gold Ninja Video:
For the month of October, we’ve had to flipflop out flagship episode with our Fragments episode. In this month’s Fragments episode we discuss Robert Eggers’ folk horror film, The Witch (2015).
Thumbnail by Michele Brittany
This episode can be streamed at the HP Lovecast Podcast Buzzsprout website or via your Podcast application of preference.
Bram Stoker Campaigning
For the first time ever, I am going to throw my hat into the ring for the Bram Stoker Award process. I have an essay called “Cullzathro Fhtagn! Magnifying the Carnivalesque in Lovecraft Through the Comic Book Series Vinegar Teeth” that is eligible for the short non-fiction award. If you are a member of the Horror Writers Association that is recommending works and are curious about my essay, it can be read at Academia dot Edu.
AnnRadCon CFP
The CFP for the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference is now complete. It will be put online on Monday and I’ll be posting it at this website as well.
General Neo-Peplum News
Follow Me Down Table Top RPG
Drowning Moon Studios has started a Kickstarter campaign of their TTRPG called Follow Me Down.
The RPG is based on the myth of Orpheus & Eurydice and the Kickstarter page describes it as such:
Follow Me Down is a tabletop roleplaying game for two players [and is] divided into eight sections, called Books of the Dead, where the characters journey through different parts of the underworld in search of one another. It is designed to be GMless, with each player portraying two roles during the course of the game. In each Book, one player takes on the role of The Fates (in what would normally be considered the GM role) while the other player portrays a character based on the archetype of Orpheus or Eurydice. The two players trade off, alternating who is playing their character and who is playing The Fates, until they reach The Gauntlet of Hope and Regret to determine how their story ends. There is a final scene between Orpheus and Eurydice, called the Denouement, which reflects upon the journey the characters have taken, and their relationship to one another at the end of the game.
This past week we published not one, but two episodes of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast (due to timing: 4th Sunday and last day of the month).
Episode thumbnail by Michele Brittany
For the Fragments episode we took a look at the 1997 Guillermo del Toro’s film, Mimic. This episode can be heard on our Buzzsprout website or via your podcast application of preference.
Episode thumbnail by Michele Brittany
Next, our Transmissions episode also went up. This is our interview episode, and we talked to three folks, all three who are alumni of the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference:
Farah Rose Smith on their short story collections Of One Pure Will
Rahel Sixta Schmitz on their debut non-fiction book The Supernatural Media Virus
Kevin Wetmore on their newest book, Eaters of the Dead: Myths and Realities of Cannibal Monsters
This episode can also be streamed at our Buzzsprout website or via your podcast app of preference.
Exotica Moderne Cover Reveal
Issue 13 of Exotica Moderne will be released soon! House of Tabu has done a cover reveal:
This issue will contain my review of the book Cuban Cocktails. The pre-order page for this issue can be found at the House of Tabu website.
Of note, my article for issue 14 is in the can! It will be an interview with pinup model Miss Corsair Debonair. The interview is done and sent in, just waiting on photos to go with the article. That issue will be released in early 2022.
Issue 15 I hope to finally do my write up on Caltiki: The Immortal Monster.
Academic CV
Updated the About Me page to include a link to the newest version of my academic CV.
General Neo-Peplum News
Aegean RPG
Stoo Goff has a Kickstarter going for an interesting neo-peplum table top RPG called Aegean RPG.
The Kickstarter description is as follows:
Aegean is a tabletop role-playing game about a group of mythic heroes building a new, free city on the shores of the Aegean Sea. There are neighbouring cities to trade or war with, monsters to kill, gods to appease, deceptions, negotiations and bloody skirmishes.
The world of Aegean is an ancient Greece that never existed – a mix of mythology and classical history. The gods visit the earth and converse with mortals, granting gifts of magic and life to some and fear and terror to others. Fearsome monsters roam the lands and seas making every journey an adventure. Strange creatures, some mortal, others half-divine, can be found in the wilderness. These centaurs, nymphs and tritons teach, harass or ignore humans as their whim takes them.
The polis—the city and its surrounding lands—is your home and where your loyalties lie. Your polis is a recently founded colony on the coasts of the Aegean Sea. The leader is called an arkhon, a democratically elected ruler after the Athenian fashion, rather than the hereditary king that many cities still use. The polis sits in a precarious position, between many similar neighbouring states who may wish to trade, ally or make war.
Your character fits somewhere in this world, between the capricious force of the gods, the wilderness and the structure of the polis and its ambitions.
Gladiator 2 Being Written
An article at IndieWire says that Gladiator 2 is current being written and will be ready to hit production after Ridley Scott’s Napoleon movie is made.
Afterlives Podcast
Egyptologist Kara Cooney has started a new podcast in September called Afterlives.
It can be streamed on Spotify or your podcast application of preference. Newest episode talks about being an academia, so extremely helpful!
Recent Aquisitions
Figure I would jazz up my news my showcasing any new neo-peplum texts I pluck up. While at a Zia’s Records last week I happened upon two metal releases: Warkings’ Revolution and Ex Deo’s The Thirteen Years of Nero.
I’m enjoying both, especially the adventure metal sound of Warkings. That album is interesting in that in a true neo-peplum fashion, it’s blending genres/histories together: Vikings, Spartans, Templars, etc.
