Enzo Tarascio Movies
- 1972
- R
A joint venture between Italian and German production companies, this meandering horror mess stars Alex Cord and Samantha Eggar as a pair of archeologists delving into a series of ancient Etruscan tombs who eventually discover a supernatural connection between a series of grisly murders and the wrath of the vengeful god "Tuchulka." Their ruminations are eventually interrupted by Tuchulka's hordes of the walking dead -- or a handful of them, anyway -- who hunger for the flesh of the living. Cord and Eggar turn in workmanlike performances en route to their paychecks, but the rest of the proceedings are woefully amateurish; some scenes seem like trial runs for Amando de Ossorio's Blind Dead series. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
In this comic Italian Western, the third of the "Trinity" series, Trinity (Terence Hill) and his brother Bambino (Bud Spencer) abandon their law-enforcement duties and try to join the world of horse thieves and criminals. Despite their bad intentions, and their own unbelievable klutziness, they end up helping everyone they meet. Their deadpan earnestness in improbable situations helps make this broad comedy work. What happens when they visit a snooty French restaurant is one of the highlights of the film. The two men speak so little that language is no barrier to enjoying this production, even in its original Italian-language release. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
The conformist is 1930s Italian Marcello Clerici (Jean-Louis Trintignant), a coward who has spent his life accommodating others so that he can "belong." Marcello agrees to kill a political refugee, on orders from the Fascist government, even though the victim-to-be is his college mentor. The film is a character study of the kind of person who willingly "conforms" to the ideological fashions of his day. In this case, director Bernardo Bertolucci suggests that Marcello's desire to conform is rooted in his latent homosexuality. In addition to its strong storyline, the film is critically revered for the astonishing production design by Nedo Azzini, which, together with Vittorio Storaro's camerawork, recreates the atmosphere of Fascist Italy with some of the most complex visual compositions ever seen on film, filled with highly stylized uses of angles, shapes, and shadows. The Conformist was cut by five crucial minutes when first released in the US; those missing moments were restored in the 1994 reissue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean-Louis Trintignant, Dominique Sanda, (more)
- 1963
Sword of the Empire is set in 190 AD. Lang Jeffries stars as a Roman consul who hopes to stave off a Barbarian invasion. Disguising himself, Jeffries infiltrates the enemy camp. First he must prove his worthiness to the barbarians, then he must figure out a way to escape when he's found out. Jose Greci costars in this outsized Italian sword-and-sandal adventure. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
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