Category: Peplum

Category for all things peplum, neo-peplum, historic epic, toga and sandal, sword and sandal, sword and sorcery, sword and planet, and all genres in between.

Categories
Peplum

Pillage! Plunder! Possession!: Viking Horror in Seidr #1

The past decade has been extremely kind to bringing Vikings (as a historic mythology and a distinct narrative genre) to the pop culture spotlight, beginning with the History channel debuting its original series, Vikings, in 2013. Comics, video games, music (the Viking metal genre had been popular in the extreme music scene since Bathory in the early 90s), books, films, and so on, followed in the wake of the series’ critical success. With the release of Robert Eggers’ The Northman in the spring of 2022 combined with reoccurring appearances of Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, interest in Vikings remains kindled.

Cover art provided courtesy of Michael Nunneley.

Seidr is a three issue comic miniseries that adds to the burgeoning Viking canon. Created by Michael Nunneley (writer) and Tosin Awosika (artist), Seidr aims to distinguish itself from other Viking neo-peplum stories by incorporating elements of horror into its fold. Viking armadas, grandiose battles with undead warriors mixed in, beheadings galore, and a vengeful, magic-wielding seeress, if all this sounds violent, epic, and maybe even a little metal, the feeling is intended. Per Nunneley: “I am a pretty big Amon Amarth fan and I actually listened to the Twilight of the Thunder God album before each interview I did about Seidr #1 to get in the mood. The Vikings show and Vikings: Valhalla were big inspirations for me. I basically wanted to capture the same spirit of the Vikings shows and make [something] paranormal, mythological.”

The first issue of Seidr is told in flashback. Viking warrior Björn Ulrichson stands on trail for murdering King Ingvar’s son Eric and brother Lars. The events leading up to the deed are recounted: Ingvar and his army lead a raid into King Victor’s lands, but encounter a greater resistance army thank expected. However, the tide turns with the arrival of the seeress Völva who resurrects all the dead to fight for King Ingvar. The Vikings may win the battle, but there is a darker future in store for them when Völva becomes vengeful. 

Page art provided courtesy of Michael Nunneley.

Violence and Vikings go hand-in-hand, and Seidr is not short on depicting bloodshed. Vikings and soldiers are immolated, bombarded with arrows, slashed and beheaded, all while falling slain into pools of blood. And yet with all this violence, Seidr (at least issue one) is surprisingly chaste and does not steer into visceral territory. There’s no prolonged suffering (like in a Blood Eagle depiction) or drawn out dismemberment with an emphasis on gory entrails (like one would find in an Avatar published comic). Seidr may draw its action from violence, but it draws horror from elsewhere. Nunneley took the approach of a “slow burn build up” before turning to “violence, gore, the undead and the paranormal.”

Page art provided courtesy of Michael Nunneley.

Sans the splatstick element, Seidr has quite a bit of common with the Evil Dead/Army of Darkness series. Aside from the resurrected army of the dead in both the comic and in the film and buckets of blood, there’s quite a bit of horror drawn from the loss of autonomy when possessed by a malevolent, unseen force. This facet of Seidr works extremely well. The Viking genre has often dipped into the fantasy and sword and sorcery genres (intervening Norse gods, shamans, and so on) and Seidr parlays this aspect successfully by harnessing the innate (but not often explored) horror elements.

If there is a flaw with Seidr, it is the over reliance on narration boxes to tell the story as actual dialogue between characters in scarce. Though the story is told in flashback, it does devalue the other characters by taking away their voice by relying on the disembodied narration of King Ingvar. Telling, not showing – which is unfortunate as the mise-en-scenein the panels does a great job at conveying the Viking excursion and subsequent confrontations, be it human or paranormal. 

Seidr is planned to be a three issue mini series with big plans, and it is off to a promosing start, building on a unique premise for the genre. Per Nunneley, “things just get more crazy and out of hand with each issue” cumulating with the destruction of the Church of St. Cuthbert in the final issue. Aside from Seidr and eventually collecting it into a trade paperback, Nunneley is also writing Omen & Gallows Men and has “a brand new martial arts-fantasy/superhero called Dragon Girl/Albino Warrior #1 coming to Kickstarter in July.”

Seidr can be found at:

Sincere thanks to Michael Nunneley for the quotations used in this article. He, and more information on Seidr, can be found at:

Categories
Interview Peplum

Heavenly Voices and Flickering Images: Interview with Matthew Page on 100 Bible Films

In early 2006, Matthew Page launched his website, Bible Films Blog, devoted to the study, analyzing, and reviewing of Biblical films, including Biblical pepla. Page is one of the leading experts on the subject, demonstrated by his appearances in documentaries and contributions to scholarly books and edited essay collections. May of this year sees the publication of Page’s first solo book, 100 Bible Films, from BFI. What follows is an interview with Page about his upcoming book. 

Cover provided courtesy of Matthew Page.

What was the catalyst of writing 100 Bible Films?

It was sometime around 2007-09. I’d been running my blog on Bible Films for a while and had gone to see something rare at the National Film Theatre in London. I was browsing in the amazing bookshop there and I came across this series of books the BFI had put out, 100 Westerns, 100 Silent Films, 100 Film Noirs and so on, and I just thought it would be amazing to do one of them for my specialism of Bible Films. I figured I could pull together some of my stuff on the blog and the podcast and it would practically be done. I had no idea it would take me quite so long to get to this point.

What were the biggest challenges you faced while writing the book? What was the easiest?

Well, I guess the reason it took so long is that I’m not employed to do this stuff. I’m not a university lecturer, or a professional film critic. So, every bit of writing I’ve done has been written before or after work, at weekends and on holidays, and alongside bringing up a family and all the other challenges life throws at us. So, it’s been a slog. I’m not sure I’d describe any aspect of it as “easy,” but I’ve been very privileged to have received great encouragement and advice from so many people at various stages of the process. I owe them all a massive debt of thanks.

How does your Bible Films Blog relate to 100 Bible Films?

At the moment I use it very much as a place just to get some initial thoughts down and to explore ideas. It also makes me easier to find on the internet. But I guess I also use it as a place to bookmark things that I might want to find again in the future or as a way of easily finding things I’ve done in the past. Plus, I’m able to go into much greater breadth there than the book where I’m limited to one-hundred films. I haven’t counted how many films I have covered there (not to mention episodes of TV series) but it’s far higher.

What were some of the fascinating things you discovered while writing 100 Bible Films?

As a group of films they cover so many different film movements, from so many different nations throughout film history, that they are kind of unique, and as a researcher that forces you to delve into so many areas of film you would never otherwise have encountered. So, the penny dropped when I was writing about the Indonesian peplum film Samson dan Delilah (1987), I would never have learnt the first thing about its star (Indonesian horror queen Suzzanna), I might possibly have never watched an Indonesian film otherwise, but here I am, my perspectives and horizons being broadened by the experience of chasing this genre. And its reworking of particularly the 50s/60s Italian pepla is intriguing, especially how it combines them with more Eastern, martial arts-type fighting styles.

What is the main goal you want to accomplish with 100 Bible Films?

I suppose I’d like to see film critics, academics, and fans come to appreciate this group of films, both in terms of Hollywood epics and Italian pepla, but also that the array of different forms that other filmmakers adopt to retell these stories. I also feel that a lot of the discussion about Biblical films revolves around a core group of movies made by middle-aged, white, western, straight men and I’d like to broaden that to include a far greater range of filmmakers.

Noah Blu-ray from my personal collection.

What Bible films would you recommend as the best entry point into the genre for folks who are interested but have not otherwise watched any? 

I think it depends on the kind of films you already like. If you like pepla [then] King of Kings (1961) [and] DeMille’s Samson and Delilah (1949) will also very much work for you. If your thing is more neo-pepla, then try Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014). Horror? Then there are elements of that in films such as Aronofsky’s Noah (2014). If you like all three then you really should try and track down Samson dan Delilah/La Revanche de Samson that I mentioned earlier.

For those that prefer more high-brow cinema then Pasolini’s Il vangelo secondo Matteo (Gospel According to Matthew, 1964) is a revered classic. Please, PLEASE don’t watch a colourized/dubbed version though. 

What are some of the non-Occidental/non-male-made Biblical films you want to underscore?

Yes, those perspectives became an increasingly important aspect of the book as it went on. I think La Genèse (Genesis, 1999) by Mali’s Cheick Oumar Sissoko is excellent movie very much outside of the Hollywood perspective. Karunamoorthy (Oceans of Mercy, 1978), isn’t quite to the same artistic standard, but it’s nevertheless a great example of the Jesus story told from an Indian perspective and features some fantastic Bollywood-style dance numbers. In terms of women directors, Alice Guy’s La vie du Christ (1906) comes from when cinema was less than a decade old and was a step forward in so many ways. While Lotte Reiniger’s The Star of Bethlehem (1956) is a little spoilt by the narration/soundtrack, the animation is wonderful. More recently, Nina Paley’s Seder Masochism (2018) is another a great piece of animation, combined with a kick-ass soundtrack and wickedly biting satire.

You say your feelings about some Biblical films have changed over the years, but flipping the coin, what major shifts, progressions, or changes have you seen over the genre’s lifetime?

Well, I think it’s related to what I was just saying, that democratisation of the medium, with voices from what might once have been considered the margins finding space while there is still room for mega productions such as Noah.

You recently did a retrospective of Richard H. Campbell and Michael R. Pitts’ book, The Bible on Film: A Checklist 1897-1980, at your website. What are other Biblical film books that you’d recommend or perhaps act as companion pieces to your book?

There are so many excellent books on the subject, even while this book has been in the process of coming to fruition Phil Hall’s Jesus Christ Movie Star and Katie Turner has a great book Costuming Christ in the works. I suppose the one that always gets cited is Bruce Babbington and Peter W Evans’ Biblical Epics. W. Barnes Tatum’s Jesus at the Movies was really formative on me when I first discovered the subject. These days one I probably dip into most often is David Shepherd’s The Bible on Silent Film. That said, some of the most interesting and extensive writing on this subject is found online at Peter T Chattaway’s blog, FilmChat.

What are your favourite Biblical films?

Perhaps the reason that I’ve written about 100 films is that I find it really hard to narrow it down and my feelings about various films has changed over the 20+ years I’ve been researching the subject. I could probably list about twenty that I really love, but I suppose no list would be complete without Pasolini’s Gospel According to St. Matthew and Life of Brian (1979), though I find some elements in the latter problematic. In terms of classic peplum, for some reason I have a soft spot for Kings of Kings.

Gladiator Blu-ray from my personal collection.

Of course, what is your favourite non-Bibilical peplum film?

Assuming neo-peplum count, then Gladiator (2000). It has its flaws, but it’s one of the best reworkings of that wronged-man justice/revenge narrative. Crowe is a totally engaging lead here and it gets the action scenes just right. Plus one or two very quotable lines.

Photo provided courtesy of Matthew Page.

Aside from 100 Bible Films, what are other upcoming projects or news you’d like to share?

Everything has been so channelled into this book that I’ve not really had time to develop much else. I guess that’s a function of this not being my day job. What I am eager to do is go out on the road more with this stuff. For years I’ve wanted to talk to more people about it, but have had to earn the right. Now that the worst of the pandemic seems to be behind us, I’m hoping there will be a few more opportunities to talk to film clubs, churches, festivals, etc. I really enjoy that two-way interaction.

Sincere thanks to Matthew Page for this interview. 100 Bible Films will be published May 19 by the British Film Institute. It can be pre-ordered at Amazon and Bloomsbury in hardcover, softcover, and electronic editions. 

In the meantime, check out Page’s Bible Films Blog or give him a follow on Twitter.

Categories
Peplum

Hidden Inside: Unpacking the Troy Director’s Cut Boxset

Picture by Nicholas Diak. Boxset from my own collection.

The essay “Hail to the Lions: Gold Ninja Video’s Fury of Achilles” lamented about the lack of special edition treatments given to physical releases of pre-neo-peplum era sword and sandal films. However, post-Gladiator neo-peplum films benefitted from the DVD boom of the 2000s and saw releases spread across a variety of forms: standard, special, outlet exclusive, and ornate boxset editions. The physical releases of Wolfgang Petersen’s 2004 film Troy demonstrates this spectrum of editions during the aughts, with its DVD Director’s Cut boxset edition showcasing Caligula levels of luxurious excess.

The 2000s was, perhaps, the first and only golden decade of the DVD medium. The 90s saw the emergence of the platform, with most DVDs being extremely barebones, with “interactive menus” as the primary special feature. The later 2000s saw the introduction of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray formats, which would eventually usher in the end of the DVD medium.

Though home viewers had traded in their VHS players for DVD players (very likely in the form of a Playstation 2), they had not quiet yet swapped in their CRT TVs for plasma and flat screen TVs. To accommodate both types of home systems, DVDs were often released in fullscreen and widescreen editions. In addition, each of these editions might seen a standard edition with no features, or a special edition with additional supplemental material, often spread across multiple discs. On top of this, retailers (such as Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Wal-Mart, etc.) also put out their own exclusive versions.

$1.99 at Amoeba Records in LA! Picture by Nicholas Diak. DVD from my own collection.

Troy saw two disc full and widescreen editions along with a three disc full/widescreen edition that was exclusive to Best Buy. Present in the two disc version was a folded insert that contained images from the movie along with the film’s chapters. A DVD insert was common place – almost expected! – back in this era, but like video game manuals, they would be phased out in the next decade.

The aughts also saw the proliferation of extravagant boxset releases. Often times these were anniversary releases of older films, but presented in ornate packaging and including many physical extras, such as mini-books, faux-lobby cards, fold-out posters, and other trinkets. The reason for these over-the-top releases was to entice buyers to give up older (probably VHS) versions of movies they already owned. Why own a classic on pan-and-scan VHS when you could have the ultimate DVD collectable edition? This can be exhibited in the 2002 luxurious re-re-re-release of Ben-Hur.

Blurry photo taken from Google Images search.

The practice wasn’t exclusive to re-releases, but also afforded to contemporary films, including neo-peplum. For example, Scott Snyder’s 300 was released in a boxset that contained a Spartan helmet. A European edition of Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven came in a 4 disc fold out digipack with slipcase. Troy is another neo-peplum on the receiving end the luxurious treatment.

Bought for $9.00 at Zia’s Records! Photo by Nicholas Diak, from his personal collection.

Troy: The Director’s Cut comes in a sturdy cardboard box with a close up of Achilles on the cover.

Photo by Nicholas Diak

The box flips open like a giant pocket or satchel. There are three smaller boxes inside: a folded digipack for the DVDs, a small hardcover booklet, and other paper flip pocket/satchel.

Photo by Nicholas Diak

The outside of the digipack shows Achilles running toward the camera, shield full of arrows.

Photo by Nicholas Diak

The digpack opens first to reveal some smooching.

Photo by Nicholas Diak

Then opens all the way to show the two DVDs that make up the movie and supplemental material. Both discs simply say “Disc 1” and “Disc 2” so one has no idea what is on what until you put the DVD in.

Photo by Nicholas Diak

The next item is a small, hardcover book titled The Art of Troy Director’s Cut.

Photo by Nicholas Diak

Inside are production photographs, maps, sketches, models and concept drawings, with some pages printed on transparent vellum paper. There isn’t any associated textual commentary, though art pieces have proper attribution credits.

Photo by Nicholas Diak

The last item in the boxset is the smaller flip envelope that mimics the outer casing. The back of the box calls this the “Director’s Portfolio.” There is a plethora of inserts contained within.

Photo by Nicholas Diak

The first is a personal message from director Wolfgang Petersen himself! Well, it’s not so personal since it’s addressed to “Dear Movie Fan.” It’s a small missive that state he first had to deliver a studio cut of the film, but once released and successful, he could go and release the version he wanted to. In other words, the studio gets to cash in twice!

Photo by Nicholas Diak

Next is a letter from lead star, Achilles himself, Brad Pitt, to Wolfgang Petersen and producer David Benioff with production ideas of what the characters should look like and why.

Photo by Nicholas Diak

A four page stapled excerpt from the book Troy: Embedded in the Trojan War, written by Petersen’s son Daniel Petersen is included. Daniel was present for the Troy shooting, acting as an assistant to his father. The four pages contain some of his musings and observations.

Photo by Nicholas Diak

The next item is an except of Wolfgang’s shooting script.

Photo by Nicholas Diak

This is the most useless item in the boxset as it has no practical functionality other than a curio for someone who has never seen a script with handwritten notes on it before. Either the script in its entirety should be present (so thus it has a practical use) or it should be absent.

Photo by Nicholas Diak

Finally, there is a set of ten postcards that show various scenes of production.

Photo by Nicholas Diak

These postcards, unlike the script, are a nice addition to the boxset.

Photo by Nicholas Diak
Photo by Nicholas Diak
Photo by Nicholas Diak

The only let down in the boxset is the script. All the other trinkets present in the Director’s Cut boxset are rather nice, informative, or contain some neat pictures and/or artwork. Do the accessories add to the moving going experience? Not really. Are they neat? Absolutely.

Getting into the 2010s, studios began to shift away from these extravagant boxset releases. Certainly there were some nice Blu-Ray sets, but Blu-Ray wasn’t enjoying the success or longevity as DVD had, mostly due to be overtaken by streaming services. Physical media is on the decline while digital is on the rise.

Boutique labels still deliver the goods on on cult films with luxury releases. Simply take a look at this unboxing article of Severin Films’ All The Haunts Be Ours boxset.

Photo by Nicholas Diak. Blu-Ray from my own private collection.

Major studios, however, seem to be taking a cue from the budget release companies by releasing/re-releasing films in multi-film discs. While certainly economical for a consumer, there is not much love for the collector. Although there is an irony to this specific three pack release pictured here: it seems the director’s cut of Troy is now the preferred, canonical version instead of the theatrical version.

If you enjoyed this unboxing article, consider checking out these other ones:

And also these DVD/Blu-ray write ups:

Categories
Interview Peplum

Getting the Band Back Together: Samuel George London Interview #2

Back in January I had the honour to interview Samuel George London about the release of the first issue of his neo-peplum comic, Band of Warriors. Currently there is a Kickstarter going on for issue two of the comic and London has graciously returned to do a second interview about his continuing series. 

First things first, it’s been since January since we last talked. How are you, and aside from Band of Warriors, what has been going on?

What a year!? I’ve been busy badgering away on some other comics I’m pitching to publishers but also my son was born a few weeks ago. He’s our second child, so it’s been wonderful to see them interact but it’s also a game changer in terms of time management. On the whole though, I’m good and looking forward to seeing what 2022 brings.

The first issue of Band of Warriors was released earlier this year. What has been the feedback and comments you’ve received thus far?

The feedback on BoW #1 has been really positive. The general feeling seems to be that it’s a strong start and people are looking forward to seeing where it goes. Pipedream Comics gave me a positive review which I’m really happy about.

Since issue one has been out for a while, spoil away! What has been the most delightful thing for you personally about that issue?

As you say SPOILERS AHEAD, but the most delightful thing for me about issue one was killing off who seemed to be a main character. I think most people thought that King Minos would be sticking around but unless they find a cure for decapitation, that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.

Has there been any experiences, encounters, something read, watched or learned in the last few months that has had an impact on Band of Warriors?

I went to visit my in-laws in France over the summer and we visited a beach that inspired the front cover of issue two. It’s always good to base things off of experience when you can.

Any new obstacles or hurdles encountered while trying to get issue two up and running?

Haha… The only thing was my son being born the week before. I was in a mad rush to get everything ready, so that I could just press the launch button. I almost had everything ready but hadn’t got round to the video. I managed to cobble something together, which does the job.

Your Kickstarter has some new characters mentioned. Tell us about them!

We know Gaia and Girogos a little already, although we’ll find out more about them in this issue. The main difference is that we’re ten years in the future from the previous issue, so they’re ten years older. The other two main characters in this issue are Sarpedon and King Brutus. Starting with Sarpedon, he’s King Minos’ brother and chief of Aremorio, which is where Gaia and Giorgos reside and is located in modern day Brittany, France. King Brutus hails from Cornovii, which is modern day Cornwall, England. He has an interesting back story to say the least but you’ll have to read issue 2 before finding out what that is.

Whats been your soundtrack while writing Band of Warriors? What do you suggest as a soundtrack for your readers?

When writing I usually listen to the same music whatever I’m writing, which is Tycho. It doesn’t distract me but helps boost my thought process. If I was to recommend a soundtrack for BoW #2 though, it’d be traditional Breton music. If you watch this video closely you’ll see that in the background there’s a triskell symbol, which you’ll also find on Giorgos’ shield.

You’ve been contributing to the canon of neo-pepla with your comic. The genre seems to thrive on in other medias except for film nowadays. What do you feel the sword and sandal genre needs to do in order to stay relevant?

Relevance is always difficult to a handle on but people just need a compelling story they can relate to. I’m hoping that this and the next issue (#3) of BoW does that through the journey that Gaia and Giorgos are about to go on.

A little outside scope for Band of Warriors, but still relevant to you: you have a podcast called Comics for the Apocalypse. Can you tell us about this endeavor?

Comics for the Apocalypse is a lot of fun. I interview other comic creators about what comics they’d take into an apocalypse. I started it a few years ago and I now have over 130 episode with the likes of Charlie Adlard, Alison Sampson, Mark Waid, and Rachael Smith having been on the show.

As spoiler free as possible, what are some amazing things readers can look forward to in issue two of Band of Warriors? The main thing is that readers will get to see who Gaia and Girogos are. In the first issue they were being protected by their parents, but now they’re all on their own.

Thank you very much for this second interview, wishing you and all your endeavors continued success!

Links

Categories
Lovecraft Peplum

Opening Pandora’s Box: Isidora #2 Unboxing

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.

For reference, here was all the swag I got from the Kickstarter of issue one.

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.

Categories
Interview Peplum

Hail to the Lions: Gold Ninja Video’s Fury of Achilles

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:

If you enjoyed this Blu-ray article, consider checking out these other ones:

Categories
Peplum

Peplum Ponderings: Messalina (1960)

Messalina is a 1960 Italian toga and sandal film, directed by Vittorio Cottafavi (who directed many proto-peplum films in his career) and starring Belinda Lee as the titular character. A historic epic, Messalina tells the story of Valeria Messalina (Belinda Lee), the new wife to Roman emperor Claudius (Mino Doro), and her rise to power via her charms and schemes. The story also follows Lucius Maximus (Spiros Focas), a respected soldier who falls in love with Messalina but comes to realize her cutthroat ways. What follows are some general musings and observations about this film. 

Toga and Sandal Genre Conventions

Messalina falls into sword and sandal subgenre called the “toga and sandal” film. While the “sword” in sword and sandal draws martial images and has strong connotations to combat (be it physical combat as when a strongman engages with an opponent with his fists, or when a soldier or gladiator fights melee with weapons), the “toga” in toga and sandal downplays the action aspect of these films. Instead, in a toga and sandal film, what is underscored are politics, with an emphasis on intrigue, espionage, strategy, scheming, planning, oratory and speeches. In these films, the loincloth wearing Herculean character is replaced by the well dressed solider or statesman, the gladiator replaced by the assassin, and the dangerous cavern or labyrinth replaced by the palatial court. These films also tend to be more grounded in realism and overlap with the historic epic genre.

That is not to say the toga and sandal film is completely void of martial content, it is simply not the primary focus. Messalina contains a peppering of traditional sword and sandal scenes: these include two strongmen fighting each other as part of the festivities and entertainment when Claudius officially takes over as emperor, and the ending contains a small battle of Maximus and his loyal soldiers fighting the corrupted praetorians who were sent to assassinate Claudius. 

In a greater Italian cross-genre (filoni) sense, the courts of Claudius, full of food, wine, and entertainment (be it dancers,musicians, fighters, or all of the above), is akin to the bars of the spaghetti western and the nightclubs in the Eurospy film. Of note, early in Messalina, Maximus returns back from a military campaign and engages in a celebratory bar fight. 

Lady Peplum

Messalina is one of the rare non-Cleopatra female-centric peplum films that came out of the golden age of historic epics and sword and sandal films. Decades later, peplum media would see a smattering of more female-led titles. Most of these were 1980s sword and sorcery flicks, such as Red Sonja (1985), Barbarian Queen (1985), Amazons (1986), and Hundra (1982), but also include the television show Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001), and the video game Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey with Kassandra as one of the two playable characters. 

As a typical sword and sandal film focuses on a muscleman’s body, so too does Messalina emphasis the titular character’s body. Messalina makes use of veils to both obfuscate and draw attention to her form. Sequences of her taking a milk bath and when she disrobes, (the camera pans down her exposed legs), show no nudity, yet offer much in the way of titillation. Messalina also utilizes a great deal of seductive pinup poses: laying on her back, body stretched and tilted to showcase her lithe figure.

Messalina and the strongman both make use of their bodies as tools to overcome obstacles. While Ursus may singlehandedly lift a horse-drawn cart out of a pit, Messalina uses her body to seduce an assassin. Though her body is a great asset, Messalina also uses her intelligence, intimidation, guile, and charms to plot, scheme, and advance her agenda. In this regard, she is a multifaceted character, more than just her sex appeal. 

Waterfalls of Monte Gelato

Towards the end of the film, there is an epic battle between Maximus’ men and the praetorian guards atop a waterfall. These are the Waterfalls of Monte Gelato.

Many other films have been shot in these waterfalls. Other pepla filmed here include:

Self Censorship

Messalina straddles the line of acceptable and taboo, particularly in the representation of the sexualized Messalina (she doesn’t show nudity and there is no on screen sex, but the film comes really close to depictions of both with lots of not-so-subtle winks and nods).

During this period, Italy was under the Christian Democratic government, which held great influence over the film industry and could dictate what was able to be depicted on screen or not. Genre productions active through these decadeswere able to have their cake and eat it too by showcasing sex, (sometimes) nudity, violence, blood, and other taboo activities, so long as the film as a whole was able to affirm Christian Democratic morality: reward the righteous and punish the wicked.

For Messalina, her crimes, of course, is showing pseudo-nudity, engaging in affairs and sexual trysts, and (the greatest crime of all) being a successful woman. By the movie’s end, she is killed when stabbed through the stomach with a gladius. Her sexual proclivities are punished by death.

Maximus also must adhere to these provisions. Though he is the (male) hero of the story, he still falls for Messalina’s charms and becomes an agent of her when he forces Christians from their homes. His atonement comes with conversion: at the end of the film he takes the side of Silvia (Ida Galli) and travels with her to a new Christian land. Maximums has given up his love for Messalina, Rome and her wicked ways, and found a new (and subservient) love interest and perhaps salvation. 

Miscellaneous Thoughts

History is written by the winners and it is no doubt that Messalina (the historic figure) has been portrayed in a hyper negative fashion by later, misogynistic historians, which of course has influenced her depiction in pop culture (such as this film). In the past few years, Medusa has seen a great shift in in perception and interpretation (from monster to victim), so it’s possible that Messalina will receive some reconsideration as well. 

The big question that Messalina leaves viewers with is did Messalina truly love Maximus in the end? The romantic notions of the period, as depicted in other films, strongly hints that she did, for in the end, Messalina is still a love story, and in order to have a love story, there’s got to be a great love. Messalina, when she is in the embrace of other men, tilts her head away from them, so only the audience can see her facial expressions of disgust and revolt. She does not do this with Maximus, strongly suggesting that she truly loved him, but was not able to negotiate having his love and her power at the same time. 

Categories
Peplum

Peplum Ponderings: Ursus in the Valley of the Lions

Ursus in the Valley of the Lions is a 1961 Italian sword and sandal film starring Ed Fury as the titular Ursus, a strongman character in the same vein as Hercules. Ursus in the Valley of the Lions is an origin story of sorts, depicting Ursus as being raised by lions and eventually overthrowing the evil Ayak (Alberto Lupo) who usurped the kingdom from Ursus’ parents. What follows here are general and informal observations about the film. 

In Chains

When Ursus is locked in Ayak’s dungeon, he is chained up in a fashion that mimic’s the iconic shot of Hercules (Steve Reeves) at the end of Hercules (1958): arms outstretched, chains pulled in opposite directions.

There is a major difference though: Hercules’ strength allows him to pull his chains and cause the pillars they are attached to to collapse. Ursus, on the other hand, is unable to break his bonds. Instead, Attea (Moira Orfei) frees him. This portrayl of Ursus diminishes the notion that the strong man in pepla are 100% independent and can rely solely on their body’s capabilities to best any situation. This dungeon scene, along with a scene later in the film where Simba the lion helps free Ursus from a cave, demonstrate that a strong man does, indeed, need the help of others. A better way to put it: as much as the strong man helps those in need, he, in turn, needs help when he is in need (and that is ok!).

Swordless and Sandals

Ursus doesn’t use a sword or any other melee weapons in the film. Aside from a few instances of improvisational weapons (such as the throwing of tables or other debris at attackers) Ursus relies entirely on fisticuffs in all his battles. This is exceptional, consideration a) his opponents typically have an arsenal of weapons (swords and nets) and b) being raised by lions he doesn’t really have a combat school to adhere to. 

Tarzan and Romulus/Remus?

Some texts, such as the film’s Wikipedia entry and Barry Atkinson’s book Heroes Never Die! (pg 140) compare Ursus in this film to Tarzan in that both characters are considered feral children, with noble births, raised by animals (Ursus by lions and Tarzan by apes). Though the comparison is certainly apropos, it would be worthwhile to factor in the mythology of Romulus and Remus as well considering that many peplum films drew heavily from Grecian and Roman mythologies. Ursus’ upbringing, and eventual destiny, shares much in common with Romulus and Remus: as babies they represented threats to their respective kingdoms, they were raised by animals (lions/the she-wolf), and eventually go on to restore the throne to the proper heir. Echoes of Ursus (and Romulus and Remus) can also be found in episode four of the first season of the Netflix series Blood of Zeus where the character of Seraphim is also a baby that represents a threat to the throne and is eventually raised by bears.

The Revolt of the Slaves

The ending of Ursus in the Valley of the Lions shares similarities to The Revolt of the Slaves (1960). Both films end with rebels of sorts (Christians in Revolt and rebels proper in Ursus) being captured and put into an arena where many are burned alive for the amusement of others. 

Depiction of Animals

As a low budget Italian genre film, it probably goes without saying that animals were, indeed, harmed in the making of this film. The beginning scenes showing Ursus trying to coerce a kiss from a lion who clearly didn’t want to give one, to the hyena pit, and the climatic end where elephants are forced down to their side. Of note when the film introduces an adult Ursus interacting with this lion family: any shots of Ed Fury’s face are close up with nary a lion in frame, while all instances of Ursus interacting with the lions are wide shots, with Ursus’ back to the audience. What can be inferred here is that these scenes don’t actually contain Ed Fury but an animal handler instead.

Some of the plot synopsis of Ursus in the Valley of the Lions claim that Lothar and his men kill all the lions (but Simba) by poisoning them. When Ursus finds the lions, they all appear to be on their sides in a drowsy state. Is can be surmised from the film that the lions were not killed, only tranquilized. Also, these are well kept lions and not dumb creatures, they can probably use their sense of smell to suss out that the meat they’ve been tossed is not consumable. 

Ursus as a Hero and Political Leanings

Ursus is a hero with goals and motivations that seem to change throughout the film, which may be a combination of him adapting to the evolving narrative coupled with with his own naivety. The film implies Ursus is a feral child, raised by lions, however he contains a degree of civility, saying he has learned the language from caravans that pass by. The early scenes that show interactions between Ursus and the traveling slave trader convey that Ursus doesn’t know much about money or the value of objects (hence why he gives up his royal necklace so readily). However, there is a wink and a nod in the performance of Ed Fury that hints that Ursus knows more than he leads on, and is perhaps not as naive as the audience think he is. 

Regardless, Ursus begins the film not as a hero and without a goal, save perhaps to make Annia (Mary Marlon) his love interest. When Annia is captured by Lothar (Gérard Herter) and his men, Ursus’ motivating goal is to rescue her. When brought before Ayak, Ursus’ goal now changes to vengeance, to kill Ayak. When finally freed and grouped with the rebels, Ursus states his revised motivation: “I didn’t come here to claim a throne, though your words touch me. I came for only one reason: to return all your lands to all of you, the rightful owners.”

As Michael C. Cornelius states in the introduction to Of Muscles and Men, one of the selling points of these peplum films is that (corrupt) empires topple (page 5) and certainly that occurs at the end of Ursus in the Valley of the Lions. Politically, the film is concerned with overthrowing overly maleficent dictators and warlords, but restoring the government back to one with a monarchy and landowners, probably a form of Feudalism. 

Waterfalls of Monte Gelato

Towards the beginning of the film, Annia is swimming in a pool under a set of waterfalls. Later Lothar’s men attempt to capture Ursus here by throwing a net on him. These are the Waterfalls of Monte Gelato:

Screen capture from Alpha Video release.

Lots of other films have been shot in these waterfalls. Other pepla filmed here include:

  • Messalina (1960)

Categories
Essays Peplum

We About to Shop Salute You!: Genre Blending in Angela Sylvaine’s Chopping Spree

Chopping Spree is the debut novella of Angela Sylvaine and the 27th entry in Unnerving Press’ Rewind or Die series. The novella is about Penny, a young teenager who works in a fashionable, 80s inspired mall in Eden Hills, Minnesota. After working her shift at a clothing store, she and her coworkers stay late in order to have a party. They soon become menaced by a wolf-masked murderer who chases them through the mall. The tables turn when Penny’s coworkers capture the wolf man and take him to a secret room in the mall in order to sacrifice him to the Greek god Plutus, who will in turn guarantee wealth to his followers. It is a night of terror as Penny has to not only survive a murderer, but cultists that count her own family in their ranks. 

Sylvaine’s Chopping Spree is an ambitious novella that, much like a mall proper, offers up a variety goods for readers (consumers) in the form of genre blending. Overtly Chopping Spree is a horror novella, but it is a combination of two distinct forms of horror: the 80s slasher (such as Halloween and Final Exam) along with the occult/secret society genre (such as Rosemary’s Baby, but perhaps more appropriately, The Wicker Man). In addition, the novella dips a toe in the neo-peplum genre while at the same time, by virtue of its faux 80s mall setting, flirts with the 80s retrowave genre style without going full synthwave/outrun. These genre juxtapositions merit a closer look.

Firstly, and Chopping Spree’s strongest aspect, is its combining of the slasher/secret society genres. The first three chapters (first half) of the novella recreates the feel of being trapped in an 80s mall while being pursued by a masked killer. Penny, of course, is the virginal final girl, seeking acceptance from her friends and fawning over a coworker named Dirk. After vomiting from drinking whisky, Penny soon discovers a murdered pretzel store employee, which leads to the wolf man giving chase to the teens. 

At this point in the story, Chopping Spree could run with the genre formula, have the teens get picked off one by one by the wolf man, with Penny performing some final girl trickery at the end to best the villain and escape the confines of the mall. Instead, it turns out that Penny’s friends/coworkers are all part of a secret cult that worships the Greek god Plutus. They take out their ceremonial daggers and more-or-less become slasher villains themselves. They apprehend the wolf man and take him to a secret chamber in the mall to sacrifice him. Chopping Spree has now left slasher territory and entered the niche horror subgenre that deals with secret societies and the occult. It is in this genre that folks sell their souls for power and prosperity. Rosemary’s Baby is a fine example of this type of genre, with Rosemary’s husband making a deal with the devil. However, Chopping Spree is much more akin to the classic The Wicker Man. Both Chopping Spreeand The Wicker Man feature communities that are down on their luck and turn to sacrifice to bring in prosperity: the cult of Plutus needs to sacrifice people to guarantee the mall’s prosperity while Lord Summerisle needs a sacrifice to guarantee a bountiful crop for the island. The fact that The Wicker Man contains diegetic folk singing while Chopping Spree peppersclassic 80s synthpop and new wave songs in its narrative further strengthens the connection making them both musicals. 

What makes this genre turn so unique is the subject of the sacrifice: in these stories it is usually the protagonist (or final girl) that is to be the offered sacrifice. Chopping Spree turns this on its head by instead offering its slasher villain as the sacrifice. 

With its mall setting, Chopping Spree joins the ranks of films such as Chopping Mall and Dawn of the Dead that offerscritiques on consumerism and capitalism, though Chopping Spree is a bit heavy handed at times. Employee bathrooms in the mall have motivational John Locke quotes scribbled on the walls, while characters robotically recite pro-capitalist verses. These moments are not so subtle and perhaps a bit handholdy, however there are other brilliant elements of the story that accomplish the critique in a much more creative and subtle fashion, specifically via Howard the wolf-masked slasher villain. 

Howard’s donning of the wolf mask as his villain MO is multifaceted. At a base level, it is leveraging the 80s slasher trope of the masked killer (Leatherface, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and so on), which of course, is appreciated by genre connoisseurs. Intentionally or not, there is also a Scooby Doo vibe with his character, manifested when his mask is removed (by meddling kids no less) to reveal “old man Howard.” As Howard pursues Penny and entourage he makes various references to “The Three Little Pigs” and “This Little Piggy,” which seems fitting for a wolf character, but it is when he is juxtaposed against another horror character that new meaning (specifically a critique on capitalism and consumerism) is taken on. In the film Motel Hell (another 80s cult horror film), the character of Vincent Smith is an aged farmer and butcher who also runs an inn. As with the cultists in Chopping Spree, Smith is an unabashed capitalist, and his ace in the hole to keep his business ventures afloat are to capture other people, plant them in his farm, and then butcherthem to create smoked meats. At the film’s climax, Smith gets into a chainsaw duel and dons a pig’s head as a mask. Smith’s pig facade and what it stands for (protecting business ventures built on murder [the very same as the cultists in Chopping Spree]) becomes a visual counterpoint to Howard’s wolf facade, aimed at tearing down those ventures. Chopping Spree is the ying to Motel Hells’ yang. 

Leaving the horror genre, Chopping Spree flirts with the neo-peplum genre by way of having the cultists worship Plutus. Genre expectations would have normally lead to the cultists engaging in devil worship, but having them revere a Greek deity is a welcomed surprise (though the story sometimes conflates Greek with Roman, but this can be attributed to Penny’s educated guesses). Visually, the sword and sandal elements are presented in the story via Grecian decorations displayed on the hidden chamber’s entryway (“Dirk pushed open the wooden doors, which were carved with figures of ancient [R]omans in togas”) and stamped coins (“gold coins that looked ancient, their surfaces carved with the head of a Roman god”). Mythologically, however, Chopping Spree is brilliant by making the cultists revere Plutus. Firstly, the cultists thirst for money and power don’t make them ordinary run-of-the-mill capitalists, but full on plutocrats. Secondly, by having them in a secret cult, echoes Plutus’ own mother (Demeter or Persephone) who also have a secret cult as referenced in the Eleusinian Mysteries. 

There is some subtle trickery here by having the cultists worship Plutus: at no point in Chopping Spree does anything magical happen. While films such as Rosemary’s Baby and The Omen depict supernatural and occult ongoings, Chopping Spree stays firmly in Wicker Man territory in that no overt divine intervention or miracles overtly occur. This begs the question: is Plutus actually granting favour? Depending on the answer radically changes the subtext of Chopping Spree.

Overtly, Chopping Spree shows the ends of the process: it is a contemporary setting book, with a hugely successful mall, which in reality, is hard to fathom as the mall has been a dying concept. Yet, here it is, alive, well, and extremely successful in Chopping Spree. For this end to happen, only one of two scenarios can be true:

A: The mall is successful because capitalism and the invisible hand of the market has actually granted it success. Despite all odds, this mall in Eden Prairie flourishes because of consumer want. If this is the case, that means (much like in TheWicker Man, where the destitute crop harvest is attributed to poor volcanic soil), that Plutus does not exist and therefore is not granting favours, and the cultists are simply murderers. 

B: The mall is successful because of the (unseen) intervention of Plutus. This means that the cultists spewing of capitalist slogans and Locke quotes is hypocritical. The laws of capitalism have spoken and have determined that the cultists/their mall should fail, so the cultists must turn to corrupt/criminal/occult activities in order to survive. They are capitalists only when it benefits them. As soon as it does not, capitalism is just veneer they overtly tell the world while inside they are hypocrites and murderers. Which, perhaps on the path of creating a plutocracy, is expected. 

Finally, Chopping Spree engages with the synthwave genre, albeit in a slightly different manner than genre expectations. Post Stranger Things, Drive, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, 80s retroism is big. Today, there are many stories that are set in the 80s and embrace the visual hallmarks of the genre: VHS tracking artifacts, VHS rental box recreations, neon pink and purple vector gridlines, the broken sun, palm trees, and so on. Chopping Spree eschews these genre tropes: it is retroism without being retro. The story is contemporary and not a period piece, yet it has 80s call backs that readers enjoy seeing in their retro texts, specifically the slasher and mall aspects coupled with the novella’s various name droppings of various 80s synthpop and new wave hits (such as Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf” and Echo and the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon”). The 80s mall initially feels out of place in the story: why have an 80s throwback mall in the present day? Firstly, it is the 80s mall that helps ground the story in retroism, but secondly, and surprisingly, the 80s mall couples extremely well with the neo-peplum genre. If one is going to venerate Plutus, what better way to do so than with a mall, which of course, is a modern interpretation of the Agora. As to why specifically an 80s mall? The 80s (and early pre-internet 90s) was when the mall was at the zenith of its cultural dominance, and as the people of antiquity erected statues and created art to celebrate their deities and empires at their height, so too do the Plutus cultists seek to celebrate the mall at its peak.

Chopping Spree does not just feature a mall, it also acts as a literary mall of genres. Just as one can enter a mall and walk by different offerings: the sports store, the clothing store, the pretzel restaurant, and the bookstore, one reads through the pages of Chopping Spree and are treated to various horror subgenres, and differing genres in the form of pepla and retroism. The novella is successful in this regard, successfully blending genres while at the same time both embracing and subverting genre expectations to create a fun and frightening experience. 

2024-04-21 – Addendum

The Unnerving Press edition of Chopping Spree is out of print. However, a new, updated editing with a brand new cover is being published by Dark Matter Ink on September 24th. The new cover art, by Dan Fris, looks like this:

The updated version of Chopping Spree can be pre-ordered at the Dark Matter Ink website.

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Interview Peplum

Carmina et Circenses: Sidereal Fortress’ Circus Maximus

In early May 2021, Italian dungeon synth project Sidereal Fortress dug into their archives of unreleased material and published Circus Maximus, the first entry in their Official Bootlegs series. In contrast to typical subject matter found in the dungeon synth scene, Circus Maximus, as the name implies, was rife with sword and sandal elements: a fantastic cover depicting chariot racing, and alluring peplum, gladiatorial song titles such as “Into the Arena” and “We Live Well, We Die Well.” 

The anonymous mastermind behind Sidereal Fortress had generously allowed me to interview them about their sword and sandal opus. 

You’ve recently released the EP Circus Maximus, which was originally recorded in 2019. What has been the reception of the EP so far and what was the primary goal you wanted to accomplish with it?

So, Circus Maximus is an EP that came [about] after watching a beautiful documentary on the national television. That movie was about the life of Flavius Scorpus, the greatest charioteer that ever lived in Ancient Rome. Do you know about him?

I do not!

He was a true living legend back then! As long as I remember, I wrote and recorded the title track for the Circus MaximusEP immediately after seeing that documentary. About the EP’s reception by the audience; the fact that YOU are here basing your interview on the Circus Maximus album says everything. The new one has definitely reached its goal, like all the other Sidereal Fortress albums, and that’s the best prize an artist could ever win, believe me.

The Bandcamp description of Circus Maximus equates it to historic epics such as Ben-Hur and Demetrius and the Gladiators. Do you have a greater interested in the sword and sandal genre, and if so, what is your relationship with the genre?

Just to connect to the previous question, the main influence for Circus Maximus was the documentary about Flavius Scorpus, at least concerning the title track. When I had to compose the other songs with the same Roman concept, I went back to reviewing those incredible movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood. That’s how it works best for me, I find inspiration in retrospective: reviewing things I did, watched, or just enjoyed when I was younger. I’m absolutely sure that it is the best way to portray nostalgia in music. But, apart from this, I don’t want the EP to be labeled as “Hollywood-dungeon-synth.” Circus Maximus is somehow darker, rawer, more minimalistic and threatening than my other albums!

Do you have any favourite sword and sandal movies?

Oh, yes I do! I really loved Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, even if it’s not exactly a “historical” pic, you know. It’s just a novel of fiction with all its chronological mistakes and other funny things. I watched Demetrius and the Gladiators and Ben-Hur for the first time when I was almost a child and both really impressed me; it must have been the 80s or so. Also, Hercules by Luigi Cozzi is a B-movie that I’m really bound to. Of course it’s not a masterpiece at all, but I think it’s a rare example of [the] fanta-peplum paradox. With that movie, Cozzi makes the sword & sandal clichè coexist with weird, DIY, steampunk robots and laser beams…well…that’s absolutely great, don’t you think?

You’ll laugh at this: while I do like Cozzi’s Hercules, I have a guilty pleasure for his film Contamination. Other people deride the film, but I think it’s brilliant, campy, and gory.

Cozzi’s movies are as low-budget as most of the Italian movies from the 70s and 80s. His strength was being able to make them weird enough, using just what he had on disposal.

When it comes to fanta-peplum, I think of Antonio Margheriti’s film Yor: The Hunter from the Future. I adore that film, but I am also a big fan of Margheriti.

[As with Cozzi] we could say the same about Margheriti, Fulci, Aldo Lado and other Italian directors from the good old days. They were like craftsmen, that’s all. Yor is a total cult!

The second track of Circus Maximus, “Into the Arena,” has an epic, militaristic sound to it; it successfully creates the fanfare of, as the title states, “entering the arena.” There seems to be a peppering of the martial-industrial genre in this track. Is this a genre you indulge in or find inspiration from?

Definitely not. “Into the Arena” is maybe the track off the Circus Maximus EP where I wanted it to be the most EPIC. The inspiration for that song is more obvious than you may wonder, I mean…I was just referring to old movie soundtracks, but with a personal approach. If you noticed, there’s a weird time-signature in some sections of that track. I like to use them sometimes.

Your album, Odissea, also has shades of the peplum genre, with a focus on Greek mythology. What was the genesis of this album and what did you want to accomplish with it?

Odissea was a real smash hit: it was the first dungeon synth album to be reviewed on Bandcamp Daily and one of the best sellers of the HDK (Heimat Der Katastrophe) catalogue. Well, I’m not sure it’s also one of my best album as well. I’m curious to know your thoughts about it.

Odissea was actually my first foray into Sidereal Fortress when I was out questing for peplum-centric dungeon synth albums. I loved it! 

What I honestly think, at the risk of glorifying myself beyond reason, is that Odissea is one of those very few albums that draws in something new in the dungeon synth genre. Odissea is the album that, much more than [the] others, broke the barriers and let new elements in. There was a huge risk for [its] mixture of new-age, bombastic and comfy elements (musically and aesthetically) to not be accepted by the community. When I recorded The Forgotten Tomb of Yshnakalbum, there had been the same “issue” with [its] 70s synth influences and fusion-sounding guitar solos. Maybe the average DS-fan does not accept when artists dare to go out-of-the-box, but I can tell you that Sidereal Fortress fans are NOT AVERAGE at all! [Laughs]

About the genesis of Odissea: if you have the HDK tape, all you need to know is written in its J-card. I was reading an in-prose version of the Odyssey written by Valerio Massimo Manfredi, and the reaction was the most obvious you can imagine: writing a soundtrack for Ulysses’ adventures

There’s a small handful of neo-peplum albums released by dungeon synth artists: Båvingr’s Bycirce, Marsyas Zskin’s The Flight of Icarus and Echo and Narcissus, Golden Fleece’s The Journey to Colchis, possibly Basilica Rift’s Through the Unknown Rift, and of course, your own Odissea and Circus Maximus. It’s an extremely niche subject matter within the greater dungeon synth scene, but perhaps it bears more exploration and interpretation? What aspects of sword and sandal genre do you think are the most compatible with dungeon synth, or conversely, what do you think dungeon synth can uniquely contribute to the world of pepla?

Well, well, let’s see… I remember Båvingr popping up in the early days of the “revival,” just a couple of months after Sidereal Fortress’ Ruins. Both him [Båvingr] and Marsyas Zskin have recorded very good stuff, they clearly take care of what they’re doing and that’s a correct approach to music in general. As to the aspects of S&S into dungeon synth…maybe I’m disappointing you, but, apart from the epic side of peplum, with swords, battles etc. that obviously fit the DS imagery, what I really think is that DS definitely needs to go out-of-the-box if we want it to survive. Releasing another Tolkien-inspired dungeon synth project is completely useless, unless you’re releasing a true masterpiece. Thangorodrim hit the spot in 2016 just because Taur nu fuin is an album of the highest level, but we already had plenty of Lord of the Rings dungeon synth. So, the concept on which I built Odissea brings in some freshness even in that sense.

You say Sidereal Fortress fans are not average dungeon synth fans, which of course means that Sidereal Fortress is not an average dungeon synth project. What would you say is your most unique attribute that distinguishes Sidereal Fortress from other outfits in the genre?

This reminds me of those tricky questions at job interviews! [Laughs] As I was telling about Båvingr, Marsyas Zskin and other artists, I have a basic discipline that allows me to never release actual garbage. You may not like my music and there’s nothing wrong in that, but be sure I’ll never release sketchy or low-quality stuff. I’m not here to make fun of listeners, riding the crest of the dungeon synth wave or stuff like that. I just want to record music the best I can, being sketchy just when the album/track NEEDS that shape or mood. With my “kosmische” project, Il Generale Inverno, I play only free-form and improvised tracks, but I did the same a couple of times even with Sidereal Fortress. If you listen to my full length album The Hermit’s Hole you will understand what I’m saying. Sidereal Fortress fans are not people who just look at the “cool” tape, artwork, mood or theme, they want to listen to an artist who takes care of his music. They have to finally state if I hit the spot or not.

Any plans to revisit the sword and sandal in future Sidereal Fortress compositions?

Sidereal Fortress is actually a project in a sleepy status of stand-by. I have lots of archived stuff written and recorded between 2017 and 2020, so I’m going to publish those unreleased things eventually. If you want to hear more epic & heroic stuff from Sidereal Fortress, I highly recommend the Bogatyr EP, a short album about the knights of venture in Medieval Russia. I spent a lot of money, time and attention in that mini-album, but I can tell you the result it’s a true speaker-blower! Yes, that EP could definitely be my ticket to Hollywood! [Laughs]

And finally, any final words you’d like to impart, or news you’d like to share?

No news at all right now [because] my projects are in actual standby. Maybe I will return to my most new age project called Nuovaera, where I explore the fantasy sound with even more freedom, [which includes] brighter moods and some guitar tracks. But, man, I’m not sure it’s the right time. The scene has moved forward (or backwards, depending on your thoughts about) and the needs of dungeon-synth listeners have radically changed in the last two years…so, what I honestly think is that it’s not the right time for Sidereal Fortress…

I’m sincerely grateful for this opportunity to interview Sidereal Fortress. Despite their reservations, I sincerely hope the project keeps flourishing, and hopefully, even returns to explore the toga and sandal genre further. Wishing the vanguard dungeon synth project continued success! 

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