Samson and the Slave Queen (1963)

Sick Product of a Sick System

Overrated and overhyped

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Enjoyable crossover with adventures , emotion , intrigue and spectacular fencing . ¨Zorro versus Maciste¨ by Umberto Lenzi stars the good-looking Pierre Brice , the bouncing Alan Steel , the ruthless and selfish Moira Orfei , the blonde and virtuous Maria Grazia Spina and the nasty Massimo Serato . The King Felipe IV of Nogara (it is actually a town from province of Verona) , Spain , leaving behind a testament naming one of his two nieces , the good girl , Isabel (Maria Grazia Spina) and the bad girl , Malva (Moira Orfei) as his successor , both of them desire eagerly for the throne and there , then , takes place the subsequent dispute . Meanwhile , general Saavedra carries the document that exposes the last will , walking through the Guadarrama jungles , but soon after he is attacked and killed . To bring the valuable document is assigned by one hand , El Zorro (Brice) , and the other hand Maciste (Steel). Meanwhile , Isabella to be aware El Zorro's true identity , an identity which both surprises and pleases her . Along the way the giant starring showing some hunk skills , such as : Samson (in U.S. version) or Maciste throwing a stone over a Croc , lifting prison bars and a bridge , and , ultimately , fighting against multiple enemies . This Spaghetti Zorro/Musclemen in middle budget is filled with noisy action , thrills , spectacular fights , horse pursuits by Zorro and sword-play . This Zorro is decently starred by Pierre Brice , he took a chance and jumped from modern action and Western genre to costumed Italian adventure . That same year , 1963 , German producer Horst Wendlandt searched for an actor who should play the Native American chief Winnetou on a Western movie titled ¨Apache Fury¨ adapted from novels by Karl May and got to know Brice at the Berlin Film Festival . Pierre got the role and portrayed "Winnetou" in ten more movies with his co-star Lex Barker as "Old Shatterhand". Here Brice steals the show as a mild-mannered poet , Ramon , and as the brave Zorro . Soon after Zorro/Pierre Brice team up with Maciste to bring about a proper resolution to the crown succession , this is Alan Steel . Sergio Ciani made lots of roman-epic-Italian films also called ¨Musclemen movies¨ or ¨Sword and sandals¨ as well as costumer sword-fight and a few adventures , and Spaghetti Western . Steel's luck changed when Italian director Gianfranco Parolini persuaded him to star ¨Sansone¨ (1961) along with Brad Harris and later on , he continued to play several others . On numerous occasions Steel was asked to play the legendary Greek hero , as well as the equally well-built demigods , even though the film titles often fused (or confused) them in their titles . Steel played the mythic Maciste in great number of movies was randomly assigned the identity of Hercules , Goliath , Samson or Aron for U.S. viewing . As he played a great number of Peplums , such as : 1962 Ursus, Il Rebel Gladiatore , 1962 Rocha , son of Sanson , 1964 Sansone e Il Tesoro Degli Incas , 1964 Maciste against ghosts , 1964 Ercole Contro Roma , 1964 Sansone Contro Il Corsario , 1963 Golia e Il Cavaliere Mascherato , 1964 Ercole, Sansone, Maciste e Ursus , and 1964 Three avengers . The first Spanish/Italian Zorros were ¨Vengeance of Zorro¨ and ¨L'Ombra di Zorro¨ (1962) by Joaquin Romero Marchent with Frank Latimore , Paul Piaget and Robert Hundar . Other Zorro filmed by that time were ¨Zorro I Tres Moschietheri (1962) by Luigi Capuano with Gordon Scott ; ¨Zorro all Corte di Spaña¨ (1963) by Luigi Capuano with Giorgo Ardisson ; ¨Zorro all Corte Di Inghiterra¨ by Francisco Montemurro with Franco Ressel ; ¨Three swords of Zorro¨ by Ricardo Blasco with Guy Stockwell and Mikaela ;¨ El Jiuramento Di Zorro¨ by Blasco with Tony Russell ; ¨Zorro Il Ribelle¨ by Piero Pirotti with Howard Ross ; ¨Zorro Marquis De Navarre¨ (69) by Franco Montemurro with Moretti ; Il Figlio Di Zorro¨ (1973) by Gianfranco Baldanello , ¨Adventures of Zorro¨ with George Hilton and two directed by Jose Luis Merino with Charles Quiney and Maria Pia Conte as ¨Zorro the rider of vendetta¨ and ¨Zorro of Monterrey ¨ .The motion picture was poor but professionally directed by Umberto Lenzi who made his directorial debut with an adventure movie : ¨Queen of the Seas¨ (1961) . Other pirate/sword flicks followed, starting with ¨Pirates of Malaysia¨ (1964) starred by Steeve Reeves, which was part of the height of the career of fictitious tales of historic or legendary characters including Robin Hood , Catherine the Great , Zorro , Sandokan and Maciste . He subsequently directed a ¨Fumetti¨ titled The mask of Kriminal (1966) . After directing a war film and two "spaghetti westerns" , Lenzi turned to the Giallo genre with ¨Orgasmo¨ (1969). During the 1970s, Lenz filmed a number of Giallo and thrillers , among them : ¨So Sweet, So Perverse¨, ¨Seven Blood-Stained Orchids¨ and ¨Eyeball¨ . Lenzi turned to the police thrillers called ¨Polizieschi¨, which rejuvenated his confidence and his popularity . Titles like ¨Almost Human¨ , ¨Free Hand For a Tough Cop¨ and ¨Brothers Till We Die¨ were the most popular and brutal of the thrillers . Lenzi is an expert on wartime genre as he proved in ¨Desert commandos¨ , ¨Battle of commandos¨ , ¨From hell to victory¨ , ¨Young Lions¨ and ¨Bridge to hell¨. Prior to the Polizieschi , Lenzi directed ¨Man from Deep River¨ , which was the start of the Italian cannibal sub-genre . Later on , he directed two very gory jungle cannibal features , ¨Eaten Alive¨ and ¨Make Them Die Slowly ¨which was banned in 31 countries , made Lenzi distance himself from the cannibal genre . This attractive adventure ¨Zorro versus Maciste¨ is rated 5.5/10

This rare costume adventure differs from other Italian films made in the same era, for it actually takes place in a setting highly reminiscent of 16th century Spain. When the king of Nogara dies of the plague, his two nieces, Malva and Isabella, find themselves in a bitter deadlock for the throne. Malva, the evil one, gets Garcia, the captain of the guard, to intercept the king's troops and confiscate the scroll-case containing the king's will. To this end, Garcia employs Samson (Alan Steel) to steal the scroll-case and deliver it to Malva. Of course, Samson does not know what she has in mind. Meanwhile, Isabella enlists the aid of Zorro (Pierre Brice) to get the scroll-case himself, and thus thwart Malva's evil plans. I really enjoyed this film because it contains lots of action and vibrant colors, as well as a nicely done soundtrack. Alan Steel is at his best, and Pierre Brice is perfect in his role as Zorro. Lenzi has created a worthy film, and it will survive many viewings. It is a shame that this is unavailable on VHS or DVD. Well, maybe soon!