Rome Against Rome (1964)

Beautiful, moving film.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

An atmospheric Italian movie which lacks full-scale action (apart from one key scene) but makes up for this with oodles of spooky atmosphere. The court intrigue aspect of the film has been seen and done many times before (you know, loyal servants, corrupt rulers, traitors, etc.) yet good acting keeps it interesting; but where this film impresses us most is in the dry-ice bound set where Barrymore practices his black magic (like using voodoo dolls and making people walk on burning coals). This brilliant set is encircled by a large rock wall, chained to which are the bodies of desiccated men. The scene is topped off by a huge, impressive statue of Barrymore's evil goddess, a cyclopian head which emits a beam of light from the single, purple eye.The sorcerous shenanigans begin when macho Centurion Gaius gets himself captured by Aderbad, Barrymore's evil magician. Gaius finds himself falling in love with a palace slave girl who herself becomes hypnotised by Barrymore. From then on, Gaius must not only fight Aderbad but also the extremely hateable wife of Lutetius, the corrupt ruler of the local palace. Ettore Manni's acting in the lead role is pretty good; while he may not be the most physical of peplum leads he makes up for this with some forceful, believable acting (even though he's dubbed!). His character, Gaius, benefits from being a very "human" character rather than the indestructible musclemen usually battling in this genre, and his weaknesses make him more endearing and a character to root for.In comparison, Barrymore's dodgy-eyed villain is totally over the top. The imported American guest star is called upon to do all manner of wicked things, all the time explaining his actions to Gaius (and the audience). In an attempt to make him look scary, close-ups of his eyes are inserted like they did with Bela Lugosi in WHITE ZOMBIE, but the attempt is a failure as Barrymore just comes off as a cloak-wearing, raving idiot.Upon joining Barrymore's band of villains, soldiers are called upon to perform a 'blood pact', wherein they slash their wrists and let their blood drain into a cup which is then given to the goddess as "payment". In return for this worship, the goddess is able to transfix people with a blinding light (actually a flashlight) and destroy them just as easily. Barrymore siphons her power to bring the dead back to life, and scenes of the dead soldiers rising from their tombs to go into battle more than make up for any faults the movie may have; one shot alone shows a soldier rising straight-up out of his coffin as in the original Nosferatu, and is worth the admission price alone.However, the film's most impressive scene is a brilliantly-portrayed battle between the human and the dead warriors. The dead are hidden under a black cloud, and simple but effective shots show their translucent bodies riding across the land and into battle. The effects work is crude but it works, and the sight of these ghostly warriors going into battle was enough to give even me a shiver down my spine! A very well-realised portrayal, imaginative and impressive with it. The finale shows Gaius blinding the statue of the goddess, thus destroying Barrymore's source of power; it remains predictable, but entertaining. Although not the most well-made (a number of scenes are too dark) or enduring of the horror/peplum hybrids, ROME AGAINST ROME is a valiant attempt and recommended to all those interested in the genre.

Why lie to us gullible, impressionable zombie fans? The user comment synopsis for Rome Against Rome contained the word zombie not once, but twice. I'll save you the time I wasted watching it... Rome Against Rome has GHOSTS, not ZOMBIES. The undead Roman soldiers weren't even corpeal. Once the magic influence of the cyclopic god of gold was broken, they vanished into thin air. No earthly remains. I think the confusion originates from one of the alternate USA release titles: War of the Zombies. What kind of zombie doesn't leave a corpse? That said, Rome Against Rome wasn't completely terrible. It's essentially Italy's answer to the Hollywood epics that were getting pumped out and shipped overseas at the time. (It's name is suspiciously close to USA poster title for Spartacus - Spartacus: Rebel Against Rome). There were generally some impressive sets and costumes throughout, a couple memorable optical effects, and a few entertaining battle sequences sprinkled in for good measure. Still, it's one of those oldschool flicks that suffers from a severe lack of engaging rhythm. Stare at the screen long enough and you will be hypnotized by its sleepy, crawling pace. Maybe a good substitute for Ambien, but ultimately not worth the watch. Go rent Spartacus instead.

The fusion of Gothic horror and peplum had already been attempted as early as 1961 in Mario Bava's lush 'Ercole al centro della terra' and Sergio Corbucci's 'Maciste contro il vampiro', 1962 had seen 'Maciste all'inferno', dwelling on an idea already used in a homonymous silent (1925). In 1964, there came 'Roma contro Roma'. Director Giuseppe Vari is one of the more talented sort in Cinecitta, and he delivers the goods, even builds in some moments of exploitative and sleazy fun. The story (English dub) goes thus: In a deliberately non-defined pseudo-historical setting in the Roman Empire, the Sarmatians attack and defeat a Roman legion, stealing the gold they had with them. Since Rome doesn't hear of the legate in the region, it sends a consul (Ettore Manni, the hero) to inquire. He soon finds out that the Sarmatians are manipulated by an evil magician (his name Adherbad is similar to a North-African one, Adherbal...) and priest of the 'daughter of Osiris', a three-eyed goddess which seems to demand human sacrifice. The Roman legate happens to be a traitor, and so is his wife Tullia (Susy Anderson). The consul catches her interest, but he falls in love with her slave (Ida Galli), who happens to be a priestess of the goddess... Apart from some competent and well-paced story-telling which involves some handsome spooky stuff such as a deadly (voodoo) doll, walking virgins on charcoals and a group of disgusting leprous henchmen at the bad guy's disposal (including an old hag) - they nearly rape Galli's character at one point -, we also get a dark and energetic score by Roberto Nicolosi and some fine make-up and lighting. There are only a handful of sets at the director's disposal, and only a couple of outside shots (much of the movie plays in a cave, and there is no Russian or Ukrainian scenery, to be sure), but Vari and his cinematographers use them with a great sense for variety. Night scenes are a bit on the dark side, though. The film is memorable for its zombie army, a myriad of dead Roman soldiers resurrected by Adherbad (they rise from the tomb) and marching against the capital. Effects are rather on the cheap side, though. The spookiness of the army as it approaches in a 'black cloud' is suggested by psychedelic (i.e. violet and pink) smears superimposed over the stock footage of combating Roman armies. The soundtrack's spooky mode is cool, though, sporting some weird and eerie chorus vocals. That's what the movie is maybe best at, creating atmosphere. There's plenty of it. On the down side, the stock footage battle scenes do get tiring, since they have been put together in an uninspired and seemingly haphazard way - and they take far too long. The finale, however, delivers again, as the hero stands up against Adherbad, Tullia and the goddess to save his beloved slave and priestess. Blonde Susy Anderson is a great femme fatale here - as opposed to the good queen she played in 'Le Gladiatrici'; her wardrobe accents her buxom shapeliness. Ida Galli's appearance is aptly virginal. John Drew Barrymore's Adherbad is very fine; passing right through his excessive makeup, he delivers a credible and enjoyable sorcerer whose demise is deliciously humiliating. Ettore Manni plays the hero with stern rigidity, which is fine, given he's playing a Roman consul. In addition, the film doesn't have any humorous or light-hearted note, the consul's servant Satyrus being the only exception; his character, which was, as the name indicates, designed for comic relief, luckily is given (negligible) room only in the movie's final shot. All in all, an enjoyable Italian peplum ride, known mostly for the concept of the army of zombie Romans marching against their own capital, but turning out to be a fine and creative sword & sandal adventure in its own right.

Even though the "zombies" don't appear until well after an hour into the film, this movie still is able to hold its own as a b-grade "sword and sandal" flick. The high priest of a "goddess of gold" is amassing an army of slain Roman soldiers that he brings back to "life" to fight against their former comrades (hence the title). Subplots include romance for a noble centurion and a virtuous maidservant under the control of the goddess, treachery amongst the Roman nobility, lots of swordplay, and the "zombies" are more like ghosts--the Roman army cannot hurt them, but they lay some serious casualties on them. Only one who is brave enough to face the goddess can break her curse and defeat both the evil high priest and the army of the undead and free the lovely maidservant from the spell. It's no "Ben Hur" or "Spartacus", but I wouldn't shun it if it came packaged with similar flicks. A fun watch.