Piero Lulli Movies

Director Mario Caiano, best known for the gorgeous horror film Amanti d'Oltretomba, made eleven Westerns in his career, but none as strange as this one. Perhaps it might help some to recall that the TV-series Kung Fu was enjoying great popularity at around the same time employing a similar East-meets-West theme. This film is much more grim and bloody, however, as it tells the tale of a Chinese man (Chen Lee) who travels to San Francisco in 1882. Looking for a better life, all he finds is scum -- racists, perverts, slavers, greedy conmen and mercenaries. Naturally, the gentle mystic must fight to find inner peace. Lee's major weapon -- aside from knives and lethal yo-yos -- is a devastating punch that rams all the way through his opponents' bodies. But that isn't the half of it. A cardshark gets his eyes gouged out in revolting detail, people are beaten to bloody pulp, and the villain of the piece (Klaus Kinski in a fascinating performance) is Scalper Jack, a mincing, sadistic bounty-hunter who tortures and skins his victims alive. A depressing and violent film, this exercise in bloodletting is powerful stuff and well-acted by a veteran cast including Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Claudio Undari and Gordon Mitchell, who also appeared in Caiano's Erik IL Vichingo. Adalberto Albertini made an unfortunate comic sequel the following year with Kinski (in a different role) and Lee. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

In this spaghetti western, set during the last days of the Civil War, an outlaw finds a dying Confederate officer. As the officer expires, he tells the outlaw about a cache of gold hidden in his blind father's home. The enterprising thief takes the dead man's clothes and tricks the father and his housekeeper into believing that he is the son. He is just about ready to begin looking for the gold when an outlaw gang comes to town and forces him to help them rob an army payroll wagon. He then tries to abscond with the loot. The bandits torture him, shoot him, and leave him for dead. Then they shoot the blind father. The hero gets better and gets grisly revenge upon the outlaws. He saves a special treat for the gang leader. First he uses mud to blind him. Then he puts a gun in his hand and kills him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When a bounty hunter watches an Old-West gold heist he sets out after the bandits in hopes of making their loot his. ~ All Movie Guide

Agent OSS 117 (John Gavin) is the American secret agent who battles an evil organization that carries out assassinations. He poses as a killer to infiltrate the organization led by the macabre Major (Curt Jurgens). He draws an assignment that sends him to the Middle East where his target is a United Nations envoy negotiating for peace. He must rescue the envoy and shatter the spy ring before the assassination takes place. With the help of the lovely Aicha (Margaret Lee), the duo battles against the diabolical plot that could plunge the region into further chaos. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Set in fourth century Italy, this sword and sandal adventure retells the story of Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai as it follows the exploits of two brothers who gather a gallant group of ex-galley slaves and sail off to the Middle East to enact the downfall of a tyrant. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Dan Vadis plays a very husky, somewhat headstrong Hercules (closer to some aspects of the legend than many other portrayals) in this sword-and-sandal adventure tale, which combines elements from several legends and two interesting twists involving magic. The king of Mycene is murdered by his army commander, Milo (Pierre Cressoy), who seizes power and vows to marry the king's daughter, thus solidifying his rule. The king's dying words send his loyal subjects in search of Hercules, who helps lead an uprising, but Milo has a weapon of his own, given to him by his sorceress mother, a magic dagger that conjures up seven metal warriors who can slay anything in their path. When Hercules bests them in battle, Milo goads him into killing an innocent man, which causes his father, Jove, the king of the gods, to strip him of his god-like strength. It is a mortal but still very powerful Hercules who is captured and must defend the life of the princess (Marilu Tolo) from a horrible death planned by Milo. The denouement is surprisingly similar to that of Terminator 2, with Hercules having to figure out which woman is the princess and which is her enchanted imposter. The script also works in some unusual comic relief as Hercules goes hand-to-hand with the metal-skinned guards, pounding away with weapons that would be unthinkable to use on men, all to a certain humorous effect. Also, part of the plot involves a pair of appealing thieves and pickpockets who are not beneath helping the rebels, thus adding an odd wrinkle or two to the plot where the magic dagger is concerned. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this sword-and-sandal fantasy, Goliath must rescue twenty-four virgins who are being sent as a tribute to an evil conqueror. First the hero liberates one of the women. He then teams up with two other titans to save the rest. Action, adventure, and romance ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this sword and sandal epic, a slave saves an enslaved princess from Roman invaders. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This unexceptional Duel of the Titans takes place on two different levels at once. The legendary brothers Romulus and Remus go at it to see who will ultimately survive and found the city of Caesars. And the slightly less legendary but still impressive Steve Reeves (Romulus) and Gordon Scott (Remus) are brought into a kind of body-building competition. Romulus and Remus are shown from their earliest beginnings as abandoned babes on the Tiber River, destined to face all sorts of challenges. First come their adventures after they are adopted by a female wolf as her own offspring. Then they later handle catastrophes like an erupting volcano or hand-to-paw combat with an irate bear. Once the two brothers have reached adulthood, they become enemies, as Remus seeks to aggrandize his power and Romulus seeks to cut him down to size. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Vittorio De Sica plays the bumbling captain of a fruit and vegetable boat, operating in World War II Italy. The manpower shortage has depleted De Sica's crew, obliging him to hire several highly unqualified shipmates. While the captain attempts to keep his head above water (so to speak), second-in-command Folco Lulli does his best to whip his greenhorn crew into able-bodied sailors. Along the way, the plotline is complicated by a few stray Nazis and lady friends. It is to Vittorio De Sica's credit that he brought the same craftsmanship and credibility to Always Victorious that he did to his more worthwhile filmic efforts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide