What would you expect from a movie that's titled Caligula"? Well, if that is your cup of tea, you'd first of all think of the scandal-ridden 1979 film; you'd think of sadistic violence, mixed with plenty of nudity and the occasional inserted scene of un-simulated sex. In other words: you wouldn't think of Suetonius – you'd think 'pure exploitation'.
Need we mention that "Caligula" was a huge financial success at the box-office? It only took two years for infamous Italian schlock-maestro Joe D'Amato to try and fetch a few crumbs from this success and rip-off the formula of history, sexual depravity and cruel sadism.
"Caligula: The Untold Story" is exploitation in its purest form: yes, there is plenty of gore; there are porn segments (including bestiality and the infamous 'girl with a horse'-segment, similar to the one that D'Amato already used in "Emmanuelle in America"), and than there's more gore, more nudity and more un-simulated sex.
Now, don't expect an ancient Rome built with the budget of "Gladiator"; not even the budget of the original "Caligula". Think more along the set-design of "I, Claudius" (and, apart from playing in ancient Rome, that's all those two productions have in common), and props culled from other, possibly even cheaper Italian historic film.
David Brandon (here billed as David Cain) mimics the performance of Malcolm McDowells mad but charismatic Caligula, coming across as suitable creepy and psychotic, yet it's always clear: a real actor he is not. Laura Gemser goes to the limits of her acting abilities – namely showing off her well-proportioned bodies – and the rest of the cast are all extras from many other Joe D'Amato-films.
From this point in time, D'Amato began to drop all pretensions of producing "real films" and would sink ever deeper into the realm of porn, 15 years later "remake" his "Caligula" in pure XXX-form.
3 from 10 points should be suitably generous.
Need we mention that "Caligula" was a huge financial success at the box-office? It only took two years for infamous Italian schlock-maestro Joe D'Amato to try and fetch a few crumbs from this success and rip-off the formula of history, sexual depravity and cruel sadism.
"Caligula: The Untold Story" is exploitation in its purest form: yes, there is plenty of gore; there are porn segments (including bestiality and the infamous 'girl with a horse'-segment, similar to the one that D'Amato already used in "Emmanuelle in America"), and than there's more gore, more nudity and more un-simulated sex.
Now, don't expect an ancient Rome built with the budget of "Gladiator"; not even the budget of the original "Caligula". Think more along the set-design of "I, Claudius" (and, apart from playing in ancient Rome, that's all those two productions have in common), and props culled from other, possibly even cheaper Italian historic film.
David Brandon (here billed as David Cain) mimics the performance of Malcolm McDowells mad but charismatic Caligula, coming across as suitable creepy and psychotic, yet it's always clear: a real actor he is not. Laura Gemser goes to the limits of her acting abilities – namely showing off her well-proportioned bodies – and the rest of the cast are all extras from many other Joe D'Amato-films.
From this point in time, D'Amato began to drop all pretensions of producing "real films" and would sink ever deeper into the realm of porn, 15 years later "remake" his "Caligula" in pure XXX-form.
3 from 10 points should be suitably generous.