I coltelli del vendicatore (1966)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Mario Bava

Writers:

Mario Bava (writer)
Alberto Liberati (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

January 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Plot:

A mysterious knife-throwing viking warrior protects a young peasant woman and her young son from the clutches of a evil regent bent on claiming the title of king and the woman for himself.

Plot Keywords:

Viking | Knife Throwing | Mother Son Relationship | Queen | Violence

Cast

Cameron Mitchell	...	Rurik / Helmut
Fausto Tozzi	...	Hagen (as Frank Ross)
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart	...	King Arald (as Jack Stuart)
Luciano Pollentin	...	Moki (as Louis Polletin)
Amedeo Trilli	...	Viking King (as Michael Moore)
Renato Terra	...	Hagen's henchman
Sergio Cortona	...	Hagen's henchman
Elissa Pichelli	...	Karin (as Lisa Wagner)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bruno Arié	...	Hut Intruder (uncredited)
Osiride Pevarello	...	Hagen Henchman (uncredited)
Goffredo Unger	...	Hagen's henchman (uncredited)

Directed by
Mario Bava

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Mario Bava		writer (as John Hold)
Alberto Liberati		writer
Giorgio Simonelli		writer

Original Music by
Marcello Giombini

Cinematography by
Antonio Rinaldi
Mario Bava		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Otello Colangeli		(as Othello)

Production Design by
Alberto Tavazzi

Art Direction by
Piero Filippone		(as Peter Felt)

Set Decoration by
Alberto Tavazzi

Costume Design by
Giorgio Desideri

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Roberto Giandalia	....	assistant director

Camera and Electrical Department
Giorgio Aureli	....	assistant camera
Saverio Diamante	....	camera operator

Production Companies

• Sider Film

Distributors

• World Entertainment Corp. (1968) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Image Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Mega Video (????) (USA) (VHS) (as "Viking Massacre") (dubbed)
• Pan-Canadian Video Presentations (????) (Canada) (VHS) (as "Viking Massacre") (dubbed)
• Raro Video/Nocturno (2006) (Italy) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Bladestorm
Knives of the Avenger
Raffica di coltelli
Viking Massacre

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | USA:Not Rated | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Titanus Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Sider Film

Trivia:

Director Mario Bava was brought in to salvage the troubled production after the original director was fired. Bava wound up scrapping most of the footage that had already been shot, threw out the old script, and rewrote and reshot virtually the entire film in six days.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Keoma (1976)

Underrated Tale of Revenge and Redemption

In the ancient times, the savage and cruel warrior Hagen (Frank Ross) is chasing Queen Karin (Lisa Wagner) and her son Moki (Louis Polletin) to marry her and usurp the kingdom of her husband, King Arald (Jack Stuart). Karin and Moki are hid in a cottage in the woods living like peasants and they are protected by a stranger, the warrior Helmut (Cameron Mitchell), who is an expert in knives. Moki gets close to Helmut that teaches him how to hunt and fight and later Karin discloses to him that three years ago, her husband traveled in a ship to overseas to seek grains to his starving people. The vessel wrecked in the coast of Britain and since then they have had no news about Arald. Further she tells that Hagen was the responsible for the starvation since he had broken the truce between the kingdoms of Arald and King Rurik and killed his wife and son. Thirsty for revenge, King Rurik had invaded her kingdom with his warriors and killed the people and raped the women including her in her honeymoon, but spared the life of Arald. Helmut, who is actually King Rurik, falls in love for Karin and questions whether Moki is his son.

This is the first action movie of Mario Bava that I have seen and I found it an underrated tale of revenge and redemption. The screenplay is very well written, disclosing a dramatic story, and supported by great direction and acting and magnificent cinematography. In the end, the viewer is never sure whether Moki is the son of Rurik or Arald but the tears of Karin might indicate that she knows the truth about the fatherhood of Moki. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): Not Available