Romano Puppo Movies

In this epic Italian fantasy a muscle-bound Sinbad and his sailors cross the seas to help a young prince regain his throne by battling it out with a powerful, wicked wizard. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This pedantic sequel to Empire Pictures' less-than-original Ghoulies was released directly to video and summarily slipped into oblivion. At the outset of this one, the title creatures -- rubbery puppets originally conceived as cut-rate Gremlins lookalikes -- are shanghaied by a priest who intends to exterminate them, but they manage to escape to a low-rent carnival. There they take up residence in "Satan's Den," a foundering, old-fashioned haunted house attraction run by Royal Dano, who fears he may lose ownership of the show due to sagging attendance. The presence of the ghoulies at first gives business a much-needed boost ... until the slimy little buggers start dining on the patrons. Despite some enhancements in the lackluster monster effects (by John Buechler, who's done better work elsewhere) and clever stop-motion animation by David Allen, this film is just as pointless as its predecessor. There is, however, one memorable scene, which makes good on the promise of the first film's ad campaign -- which featured one of the reptilian critters leaping from a toilet bowl, accompanied by the tagline "They'll get you in the end!" ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Meant to be farcical but with comedy that somehow falls between the cracks, this horror spoof starts off with inept real estate agent Fracchia (Paolo Villaggio) trying to redeem his job. Fracchia has to save his hide by selling something within three days, and his only client is a hard-nosed cuss named Filini (Gigi Reder) whose limit is $3,000, tops. Unable to buy a Port-a-Potty on those terms, Fracchia gets a deal on a castle in Transylvania and off the duo go to inspect the premises. Inhabiting the castle are the usual monsters and zombies and a ghost-buster, Dracula, Frankenstein, and Dracula's libidinous sister Countess Oniria (Ania Pieroni). ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this well-paced crime thriller, Larry Stanciani (Franco Nero) is a hard-boiled private investigator in San Francisco, an ex-cop kicked off the police force and thrown in prison for a time because of a frame-up by a Mafioso named Kandinsky. One day, he is called to the office of Goldsmith (William Berger), a narcotics agent out to nail Kandinsky on drug charges. Goldsmith asks Stanciani to go to Genoa, Stanciani's home town, track down Kandinsky, and haul him back to the U.S. for due process. Stanciani's motivation is multiple: Goldsmith offers him his old job back if he succeeds. Soon the private eye is on his way and encountering obstacles that include Brenda (Sybil Danning) a gorgeous disc jockey, and a motley group of underworld denizens. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Before it became possible (in the late 19th and early 20th centuries) to imprison young heirs and heiresses in mental institutions in order to gain control of their inheritances, greedy families had for centuries "given" their daughters to convents without the girls' consent. Usually, such nunneries were only nominally religious, and their involuntary inhabitants lived a life of relative ease and luxury compared to their genuinely religious (or poorer) sisters. In the film Interno di un Convento, a zealous, handsome priest, who is the confessor for a convent full of such women, encourages the equally zealous abbess of one such institution to enforce the same strict rules on these unfortunate women that are applied to others. In doing so, they uncover a snake pit of sexual couplings, both lesbian and heterosexual, as well as many tools for masturbation. At the same time, a particularly disturbed inmate manages to poison herself and many of the other novitiates in yet another scandal which is covered up by church authorities. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

An undercover cop deeply entrenched in a lucrative international drug syndicate (Fabio Testi) and a trigger-happy Interpol agent (David Hemmings) attempt to survive on the streets long enough to bring the criminal element to their knees in director Enzo Castellari's explosive poliziotteschi. The city of Rome is about to erupt into violence, and as Inspector Fabio and agent Mike Hamilton become tied up in the twisted world of hard drugs and sexual depravity, the only thing standing between order and complete chaos are two tough law enforcers who may already be too far gone to get the job done. Now, with little time to spare and the specter of death looming on every city block, it's time to pick sides for the final battle and take on a hail of gunfire to take back the streets once and for all. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Two mobsters are given a dangerous assignment in this crime drama. The two must learn which new gang smuggled a large stash of pure heroin into San Francisco and hid it in the cross the Don had imported from Italy and gave to his church. One of the gangsters is the Don's nephew. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this African adventure, a greedy fortune hunter endeavors to get his hands on the untold riches lying buried in Central Africa. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A tough adventurer and his sidekick find outlaws and rowdy women in this action-filled spaghetti western. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Bill (John Phillip Law) grows up to seek revenge on the gang that killed his parents. He meets up with Ryan (Lee Van Cleef), a veteran gunslinger seeking his own revenge for the ones who put him in prison. The two proceed to shoot everything that moves in this violent spaghetti western. Bill eventually discovers Ryan was there when his parents were killed and is torn between killing Ryan and letting him ride off into the sunset. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

A Civil War vet returns home to his home in the South and witnesses the outdated attitudes of his family--particularly those of his domineering father. This western drama was filmed on location in Argentina. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi