Samson vs. the Vampires (1961)

Goliath must save the kidnapped women of his village from an evil zombie leader who needs their blood to feed his soldiers.

Directors:

Sergio Corbucci, Giacomo Gentilomo

Writers:

Sergio Corbucci, Duccio Tessari

Stars:

Gordon Scott, Leonora Ruffo, Jacques Sernas

Cast

Cast overview:
Gordon Scott	...	Maciste (Goliath)
Leonora Ruffo	...	Guja
Jacques Sernas	...	Kurtik
Gianna Maria Canale	...	Astra
Rocco Vidolazzi	...	Ciro (as Rocco Vitolazzi)
Mario Feliciani	...	Sultan Abdul / Omar
Vanoye Aikens	...	Amahil (as Van Aikens)
Annabella Incontrera	...	Magda
Guido Celano	...	Kobrak, the Vampire
Emma Baron	...	Maciste's mother
Renato Terra	...	(as Renato Terra Caizzi)

Storyline

(Contains spoilers) Raiders, attacking the village of Goliath and young Ciro, transport Goliath's girlfriend, Guja, to the island of Salmanak. Goliath and Ciro follow. Salmanak, nominally ruled by a Sultan, is actually controlled by the vampire, Kobrak. Kobrak has an ally in the villainous Astra, a beautiful woman who exerts influence on the weak-willed Sultan. Meanwhile Goliath allies with Kurtik, leader of the Blue Men. The Sultan's soldiers soon capture Goliath but he escapes, after rescuing Guja, and together the two flee to a cave in the desert. There they discover the waxed bodies of Kobrak's victims and reunite with Kurtik. Kobrak arrives, puts Goliath in a pit, encloses him in a bell, and tortures him with sound waves. Goliath survives, thanks to balls of wax in his ears provided by the repentant Astra, but Kobrak succeeds in turning himself into a replica of Goliath. The "bad" Goliath and the "good" Goliath battle. Virtue triumphs, Kobrak's victims are revived, Kurtik is ...

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Plot Keywords:

pit | cave | bell | vampire | wax figure | 

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Taglines:

SEE The Torture Chamber of the Blue Men!

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy | Horror

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Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

April 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Samson vs. the Vampires

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ambrosiana Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although this is now regarded as one of the better sword and sandal/mythological muscleman movies, and has a name star (Gordon Scott) in the lead, American International did not release this film in the United States until almost three years after it was produced. By this time, the genre was in decline due to rising production costs resulting in lower production values.

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Goofs

In the end, when the statue of Maciste (Goliath) is being lowered into place, the two men turning the winch are turning in a direction that would raise the statue instead of lowering it.

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Quotes

Kobrak, the Vampire: [speaking of Goliath/Maciste] I want him alive. His magnificent body can serve as a model for the army of slaves with which I shall conquer the world.

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Connections

Referenced in The Oral Generation (1970)

User Reviews

Very entertaining Peplum-horror "hybrid"

This is probably the first "Peplum" movie I ever saw, so I'm pretty biased about it, but even considering that, it's very entertaining. As one reviewer on another site points out, it's a revenge story (an unusual thing for this category of film), and one that's surprisingly violent at the beginning. And also that the requisite little kid sidekick isn't squeezed edgewise into scenes, but used in a pretty clever way. Along with that, it has plenty of good "formula" things - the harem girls, a pretty good supernatural monster, a "villainess" (albeit the kind who changes sides - I prefer the "unrepentant" kind), and (as many posters have pointed out) the "Blue Man Group." Gordon Scott always fit so easily into these movies (I might be the only one on earth who thinks that "Danger : Deathray" is okay, thanks largely to him), as did the Italian actors in this one.