BRENNUS, ENEMY OF ROME

a.k.a Brennio il Nemico di Roma (original title); Battle of the Valiant; Battle of the Spartans (UK)

Italy, 1963

Starring Gordon Mitchell, Ursula Davis, Tony Kendall, Massimo Serato & Andrea Aureli

Directed by Giacomo Gentilomo

Venus Video (Greece); Widescreen; English with greek subtitles

This peplum is just awesome! Worth tracking down only for Gordon Mitchell's electryfying portrayal of the ruthless gallic warlord of the title, but the rest is great too. More violent and darker in tone than any other pepla I can think of, even the kid hero dies. One of the best of its genre.

THEY WERE CALLED THE THREE MUSKETEERS BUT THEY WERE FOUR

a.k.a Lo Chiamavano i tre Moscheretti... Invece Erano Quattro (original title); They Were Called the Three Musketeers ut They Were Four; Musketerernes Muntre Bedrifter (Denmark video title); Musketörernas Muntra Bedrifter (Sweden video title)

Italy, 1973

Starring Tony Kendall, Stan Cooper, Ettore Manni & Seyna Seytn

Directed by Silvio Amadio

Videoklubben (Denmark); Letterboxed; English with danish subtitles

From the director of Amuck and Smile Befor Death comes this bizzarre costume slapstick with nudity, toilet humor, swashbuckling and even some (bad) kung fu! I'm almost ashamed to admit I sort of like it.

MASKED MAN AGAINST THE PIRATES

a.k.a L' Uomo Mascherato Contra i Pirati (original title); Piraterna och Svarta Masken (Sweden video title)

Italy, 1964

Starring George Hilton, Tony Kendall, Claude Dantes, José Torres & Giovanni Vari

Directed by Ventunnio De Angelis

Cartoon Video (Sweden); Letterboxed; English language with swedish subtitles

A cheap and somewhat slapdash pirate-swashbuckler with some discreet trashy charm. Giallo-fave George Hilton's breakthrough movie.