Roberto Camardiel Movies

Set in 1920s Barcelona, this Spanish film explores the events leading up to an assassination attempt made on the life of dictator Primo de Rivera by an upper-class transvestite homosexual with anarchist political views. Scenes from his "characteristic" lifestyle are reconstructed for the movie, as well has his crises of conscience: He has decided to kill the dictator, and at the same time has decided to tell his much-beloved mother that he is a homosexual. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Spanish horror director Amando De Ossorio (creator of the Blind Dead trilogy) helmed this derivative but fairly creepy variant on The Exorcist. The story begins with a deranged hag attempting to kidnap an infant for a Satanic sacrificial rite, then committing suicide after being captured by the police. The woman's evil spirit then takes possession of the police inspector's ten-year-old daughter, who launches into the standard collection of demon-possession symptoms (profanity, levitation, head-spinning, etc.) before physically transforming into a miniature version of the deceased witch. As people begin dying all around her in horrific ways, the demonic brat attempts to steal another child and complete the sacrificial rite -- until a priest steps in to stop her reign of terror. Atmospheric but uncomfortably grim and violent, this film has a particularly pessimistic ending which lends to the overall sense of doom. Released to video as The Possessed. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Italian action hero Bud Spencer stars in Maurizio Lucidi's comedy Western The Big and the Bad. While wandering through the West (which looks a lot like Spain), Spencer becomes intimate with the gorgeous Dany Saval -- discovering, all too late, that she is the younger sister of vengeful gunslinger Jack Palance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Jonathan Corbett (Lee Van Cleef) is one of the top lawmen in the State of Texas. He's so good at what he does, that he's been approached by Brokston (Walter Barnes), a wealthy speculator and power-broker, about running for the United States Senate. But there's one job that needs doing first which, if Corbett can finish it, will put him in an unchallengable position -- he has to hunt down and capture (dead or alive, with the emphasis on "dead") Cuchillo Sanchez (Tomas Milian), who's wanted for raping and killing a 12-year-old girl. Corbett does what he does best, pursuing Sanchez relentlessly and on his own level of intense brutality, past the border and into Mexico -- but along the way, Corbett learns what life is like for peasants like Sanchez, and what men like Brokston have to do with it. And he discovers that Sanchez may not be the murderer that Corbett thinks he is. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

This pulse-pounding follow-up to Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars brings back Clint Eastwood as the serape-clad, cigar-chewing "Man With No Name." Engaged in an ongoing battle with bounty hunter Col. Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef), the Man joins forces with his enemy to capture homicidal bandit Indio (Gian Maria Volontè). Both the Eastwood and Van Cleef characters are given understandable motivations for their bloodletting tendencies, something that was lacking in A Fistful of Dollars. In both films, however, the violence is raw and uninhibited -- and in many ways, curiously poetic. Leone's tense, tight close-ups, pregnant pauses, and significant silences have since been absorbed into the standard spaghetti Western lexicon; likewise, Ennio Morricone's haunting musical score has been endlessly imitated and parodied. For a Few Dollars More was originally titled Per Qualche Dollaro in Più; it would be followed by the last and best of the Man with No Name trilogy, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After being falsely accused of cattle rustling and murder, rancher Brent Landers (played here by Giuliano Gemma) follows the trail of the man who set him up. Landers happens upon the young Lucy (Evelyn Stewart), stripped naked, tied spread eagle to the ground, and left to bake in the hot desert sun after being sexually assaulted by three men who robbed her stagecoach. Tex Slaughter, the local sheriff, is more interested in handing Brent over for the reward on his head, so Landers has his hands full protecting the recuperating Lucy and bringing the men who raped her to justice, while also trying to stay alive long enough to clear his own name. ~ Cub Koda, Rovi

A greedy gold smuggler hires a handsome hero to transport a stolen fortune to a new hideout in this thrilling adventure. The smuggler sends his moll to accompany (and spy on) the hero. The two set out for Beirut to get instructions as to where the gold is located. They travel throughout exotic southeastern Europe and the Middle East seeking further instructions, never realizing that they have had it all along. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This sequel to the classic adventure, stars Sean Flynn, the son of the swashbuckling actor who played Captain Blood in the original. In this version, the son of the notorious pirate is raised by his mother. She wants him to be a doctor, but unfortunately, the lad has salt-water in his veins and adventure in his heart; he longs to sail the high seas of his father. Eventually the mother gives in, and young Blood joins a crew. There he finds himself falling in love with a pretty passenger. Trouble ensues when a wicked pirate attempts to forcibly board the ship. He soon discovers that the old villain was one of his father's worst enemies. Adventurous mayhem ensues. After the ocean-going outlaws are defeated, the good sailors race homeward to warn the people of an impending tidal wave. They succeed and end up hailed as heroes. The young Blood then decides that he has had enough of the sea-faring life and decides to become a humble doctor after all. The lovely female passenger remains by his side. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Sergio Leone's first solo directorial effort was this colorful sword-and-sandal epic set in ancient Greece. Rory Calhoun stars as Dario, a captain in the Greek army who must travel to the island of Rhodes to destroy the huge bronze statue of Colossus, which hurls molten lead at its attackers. Dario also battles for his life in the arena and saves victims from a torture chamber before the climactic earthquake which brings the Colossus down. Many of the supporting players in this Italian-French-Spanish co-production went on to become regulars in the exploitation films of Jesus Franco. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi