Alberto De Martino Movies
- 2006
Few American film enthusiasts were even aware that anyone made westerns in Italy before Sergio Leone's breakthrough film, 1964's Per un Pugno di Dollari (aka A Fistful Of Dollars), made Clint Eastwood a worldwide star and introduced audiences to the forbidding beauty and troubling morality of Leone's unique vision of the American West. A Fistful of Dollars was an international hit, as were its follow ups Per Qualche Dollaro in Più (aka For A Few Dollars More) and Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo (aka The Good, The Bad and the Ugly), and Leone's striking visual sense and complex storytelling established him as one of the masters of genre filmmaking, though in later years his ambition would outstrip his ability to bring his projects to the screen. Sergio Leone: Il mio modo di vedere le cose (aka Sergio Leone: The Way I See Things) is a documentary which takes a loving look at the highlights of Leone's career in cinema, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how several of his best films were made through interviews with actors and technicians who collaborated with him as well as archival footage of Leone discussing his pictures. Sergio Leone: The Way I See Things received its American premiere at the 2006 Cinequest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eugenio Alabisio, Nino Baragli, (more)
- 1985
The bacteria experiments of an American scientist are stolen by criminals who are intent on exploiting the discoveries for their own good. The Italian film has been dubbed into English. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1985
This horror film takes place in Boston at the home of Joanna, a paraplegic (Christina Nagy). The wealthy Joanna lives with a companion, Ruth (Carroll Blumenberg), who helps take care of her needs. When young Craig (David Warbeck) comes in to help train Joanna to enter a special athletic competition for the wheelchair-bound, the two of them fall in love and make plans to marry. Craig knows that Joanna lost the use of her legs when she fell down the stairs, chased by a rapist who disguised himself as a priest. So when he starts dressing up as a priest and scaring her, the story takes a sinister turn for the worse. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christina Nagy, David Warbeck, (more)
- 1982
Craig has a psychic link to Keith, and travels from his home in the United States to Hamburg, Germany, after telepathically sensing details of his brother's gruesome crimes. After bludgeoning an aging boxer (Cameron Mitchell) to death, Keith -- who can also sense his brother -- traps Craig by telling the dead fighter's daughter, Christine (Sarah Langenfeld), where he is. Naturally, Craig and Christine begin an affair, only to have Keith drug Craig and murder Christine after his impotence prevents him from raping her. Craig ends up in jail for the murder and Keith continues his bloody killing spree until Craig's girlfriend (Penelope Milford) shows up from America. And that's when the film starts getting extremely nasty. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Moriarty, Penelope Milford, (more)
- 1980
In this Italian sci-fi fantasy, super hero Puma Man endeavors to stop the creepy Dr. Kobras from using his golden mask to take over the world and destroy it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- PG
Robert Caine (Kirk Douglas) is a wealthy and powerful industrialist, an engineer who develops nuclear power plants. A true believer in nuclear energy, he plans to make nuclear generation commonplace around the world. He is about to retire and turn over the running of his corporations to his son, Angel Caine (Simon Ward) when he begins having disturbing dreams. In one of these, the vision of the Apocalypse as spoken of in the Biblical book of Revelations comes to life in a horrifying way. After this, he begins to notice that his son is behaving in ways which identify him with the Antichrist. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Agostina Belli, (more)
- 1976
- R
In this violent actioner, a misanthropic Ottawa police captain searches for the person who poisoned his little sister, who was attending the university in Montreal. So desperate is he for vengeance that he casts protocol to the winds and begins using his own brutal methods to find the killer. Soon he discovers that his "innocent" kid sister was involved in the theft of a valuable string of pearls and that she had been hanging around an appalling assortment of creeps and weirdos. The story was originally titled Blazing Magnum. The new title has nothing to do with the film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stuart Whitman, Carole Laure, (more)
Alberto De Martino's imitative occult horror film, photographed by Aristide Massaccesi (aka Joe D'Amato), is probably the best of numerous Italian copies of The Exorcist which flooded theaters in the mid-1970s. Carla Gravina stars as Hipolita, a paralyzed young woman with serious mental problems stemming from the death of her mother. Her crisis of faith and the intervention of a well-meaning psychologist lead Hipolita to remember her past life as a witch during the Inquisition. Eventually, Hipolita becomes possessed and starts seducing local men, only to break their necks. Eventually, she sleeps with her brother, makes a local sorceror lick vomit from her hand, and levitates out the window. It takes an exorcism performed by an aging monk (George Coulouris) and the family housekeeper (Alida Valli) to restore order. De Martino and the talented cast manage a few chilling moments despite the predictable storyline, and Gravina is quite good in the lead. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carla Gravina, Mel Ferrer, (more)
- 1973
When the godson of San Francisco's crime lord asks permission to leave "the business," Don Antonio (Martin Balsam) agrees, but reluctantly. Such behavior by either one is a violation of the code, and a bloody mob war breaks out. It is only through the strong support of his family connections in Sicily that Don Antonio is able to survive the melee and come out on top. Aghast at the situation he has caused, the godson (Tomas Milian) becomes his leader's "consigliere," or Counselor at Crime. This Italian movie was filmed in English in San Francisco, California and Palermo, Sicily. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
In this Italian crime drama, a new Don takes over a Mafia family and finds himself fighting for his life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Telly Savalas, Antonio Sabato, (more)
- 1972
Alberto De Martino (L'anticristo) directed this standard Italian giallo thriller, the story of an actress named Eleanor Lorraine (Anne Heywood) who has developed amnesia since the murder of her husband Peter, and faints when she spots professional hit man Ranko (Telly Savalas). When she awakens, the increasingly hysterical Eleanor cannot recognize her new husband, George (Giorgio Piazza), or remember the story of how Peter died in a car accident. Eleanor's sister, Dorothy (Willeke Von Ammiroy), replaces her in a play at the behest of Peter's sister, only to be murdered by Ranko when he mistakes her for Eleanor. Eleanor herself is nearly delirious by this point, but has visions of Ranko killing Peter, so she rushes to tell George, only to find Ranko murdering him. The ruthless assassin follows Eleanor to the theater, where some secrets are revealed in the tense climax. Rossella Falk co-stars with Antonio Guidi, Leonardo Scavino, and Ada Pometti. Cinematographer Aristide Massaccesi went on to make dozens of his own films (including some inventive gialli) under the name "Joe D'Amato." ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Set near the end of World War II in the Netherlands, Dirty Heroes concerns a group of ex-convicts recruited into the U.S. Army to recover Dutch jewels originally stolen by the Nazis as well as confiscated Allied plans. Ennio Morricone contributed the score music. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Neil Connery stars in this forgettable spy actioner about a plastic surgeon who is blackmailed by the Allies. He is pressed into service to prevent a gang of international terrorists from taking over the world. Campy, plodding, and unintentionally funny in places, the feature remains a curiosity item only because of the novelty of Sean Connery's brother being the hero. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neil Connery, Daniela Bianchi, (more)
- 1966
Cowboy Saxon vows to seek revenge, with the assistance of Sancho, on the killer, Gazzolo, who murdered his father. ~ All Movie Guide
Franco Nero is the actor most closely associated with the Django spaghetti westerns, but it's Glenn Saxon who stars in Django Shoots First. Actually, Saxon plays the son of famed gunslinger Django. Inheriting half of a dirty little frontier town, Django Jr. can't imagine that anyone would want this hellhole. But someone does: Django Sr's unsavory (and very funny) ex-partner Fernando Sancho. Played mostly for laughs, Django Shoots First is one of the more frolicsome entries in this long-running series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
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
- Starring:
- Tony Russell, Helga Liné, (more)
- 1964
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
- Starring:
- Dan Vadis, Pierre Cressoy, (more)
Four writers are to credit for this unsuccessful sword-and-sandal feature starring Richard Harrison. Set in the 1st century A.D., Sparta is under the tyranny of the Roman Empire. With the help of six other gladiators, Spartan Darius (Harrison) is determined to make a small contribution to the welfare of mankind by engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the local brutes. The dubbing is uneven in this historical actioner that follows the same pattern as many of the low-budget features of this genre. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Harrison, Loredana Nusciak, (more)
Gerard Tichy plays a somewhat round-the-bend European count. His face is horribly disfigured, which in a film like this is a reflection of his warped personality. Tichy's daughter Joan Hills fears that dad will do her harm, in order to fulfill an ancient family ritual. She's right: Hills wakes up one day to find that Tichy has buried her alive. The Spanish/Italian The Blancheville Monster is also known as Horror. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
