Mario Bava
Mario Bava Operazione Paura", hosted by Joe Dante, is an hommage of the Master of the Terror, the italian director Mario Bava
Set in the 1800s, LA VENERE D'ILLE opens with the discovery of a large bronze statue of Venus on the estate of wealthy landowner Mr. De Perolade. Taking its discovery as a sign of good fortune for the impending marriage of his son Alfonzo, De Perolade orders it to be uncovered and displayed in the garden for all to see. In the process of doing this, one of the workers is badly injured when the statue falls over and crushes his leg. From the start, many of the townspeople believe the statue to be cursed, but De Perolade is proud of his discovery and sends for Matthew, an authority on antiques. Matthew is also impressed with the statue, which seems to exert a strange fascination over him, but before he can search the area for other artifacts, De Perolade implores him to stay at the house as his guest until the wedding is out of the way. He agrees to this and spends much of his time in the garden trying to capture the statue's eerie beauty in a series of drawings.
A total re-edit of Mario Bava's gothic classic Lisa and the Devil (1973) for US release in 1975. Cheesy exorcism scenes were shot to try to capitalize on the success of The Exorcist (1973).
Following a bungled robbery, three violent criminals take a young woman, a middle-aged man, and a child hostage and force them to drive them outside Rome to help them make a clean getaway.
Lisa is a tourist in an ancient city. When she gets lost, she finds an old mansion in which to shelter. Soon she is sucked into a vortex of deception, debauchery and evil presided over by housekeeper Leandre.
A young man, Peter, returns to Austria in search of his heritage. There he visits the castle of an ancestor, a sadistic Baron who was cursed to a violent death by a witch whom the Baron had burned at the stake. Peter reads aloud the incantation that causes Baron Blood to return and continue his murderous tortures.
An elderly heiress is killed by her husband who wants control of her fortunes. What ensues is an all-out murder spree as relatives and friends attempt to reduce the inheritance playing field, complicated by some teenagers who decide to camp out in a dilapidated building on the estate.
A night of attempted seduction is recalled from the perspectives of the woman, the man, a lecherous doorman and a psychoanalyst.
Two outlaws compete with each other over a treasure map that will lead them to buried gold while one of them is in league with a sadistic priest-turned-crime lord, while a young Native American girl helps both outlaws and plays both sides against each other.
A group of friends get together in a remote Mediterranean island for a weekend of relaxation. Soon they start turning up dead one by one. The group gets together to determine the identity of the killer amongst them.
A madman haunted by the ghost of his ex-wife carves a corpse-laden trail.
International man of mystery Diabolik and his sensuous lover Eva Kant pull off heist after heist, all while European cops led by Inspector Ginko and envious mobsters led by Ralph Valmont are closing in on them.
Anthony Steffen, as a young gunman who works as a circus performer, witnesses the killing of some outlaws, carried out by their leader and is credited with the deed. Steffen suffers from a complex which blocks him in front of any violence and makes him appear cowardly, so when a young boy is kidnapped he must find a way to regain his composure.
A woman is strangled in the bath by a black-gloved killer who disposes of her body in a large trunk. The trunk is delivered to St. Hilda College, an exclusive finishing school. Betty-Anne, one of the female students, is strangled in the school cellar. The police, led by Inspector Durand, are called in to investigate. Suspects include La Floret, the voyeuristic gardener; Di Brazzi, the new swimming instructor; Mrs. Clay, the summer school French mistress; an old professor who collects birds; and a philandering young teacher called Richard. The murders continue but Jill, a keen amateur detective, helps the police identify the unlikely killer...
A mysterious knife-throwing viking warrior protects a young peasant woman and her young son from the clutches of a evil regent bent on claiming the title of king and the woman for himself.
The scheming mad scientist Dr. Goldfoot (Vincent Price) plots another mad scheme to take over the world by killing off the major military leaders of every country; to that end, he creates in his secret lab a bevy of bodacious girl bombs; full-length, life-size robots that explode when embraced.
A drifter helps a ranch couple fend off the approaches of a ruthless landowner.
An 18th century European village is haunted by the ghost of a murderous little girl.
In the near future the two spaceships Argos and Galliot are sent to investigate the mysterious planet Aura. As the Galliot lands on the planet her crew suddenly go berserk and attack each other. The strange event passes, but the crew soon discovers the crashed Argos - and learns that her crew died fighting each other! Investigating further, the explorers come to realize the existence of a race of bodiless aliens that seek to escape from their dying world.
A lone rider comes across a dying soldier, the victim of an Indian attack, who gives him a paper authorizing the payment of $150,000 to the U.S. Army. The rider gathers some colleagues who disguise themselves as soldiers and who take the paper to a bank. They get the money but a shoot-out occurs, an old woman is killed, and the gang acrimoniously splits up. Later some members of the gang meet up with some real U.S. Cavalry soldiers and together they must fight off new Indian attacks.
Wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, Minnesota Clay seeks revenge on the man who withheld evidence at his trial. There is a problem however, he is going blind.
Inspector Sylvester is assigned to investigate the violent murder of a fashion house model Isabella, by a masked assailant. As the investigation proceeds all of the house’s various sins, including corruption, abortions, blackmail and drug addiction, begin to come to light. It turns out that Isabella had kept a diary detailing these vices, and now almost every employee becomes nervous.
Three short tales of supernatural horror. In “The Telephone,” a woman is plagued by threatening phone calls. In "The Wurdalak,” a family is preyed upon by vampiric monsters. In “The Drop of Water,” a deceased medium wreaks havoc on the living.
A tourist witnesses a murder and finds herself caught up in a series of bloody killings.
In the 19th century, a sadistic nobleman terrorizes the members of his family. He is found dead, but his ghost soon returns to haunt the residents of his castle.
Upon his return from battle in the previous film, the great warrior Hercules learns that his lover, Daianara, has lost her senses. Acording of the oracle Medea, Dianara's only hope is the Stone of Forgetfulness which lies deep in the realm of Hades. Hercules, with two companions, Theseus and Telemachus, embarks on a dangerous quest for the stone, while he is unaware that Dianara's guardian, King Lico, is the one responsible for her condition and plots to have the girl for himself as his bride upon her revival.
Young Aladdin (Donald O'Connor) has a series of wild adventures after he discovers a magic lamp containing a genie (Vittorio De Sica).
In this historical drama, a Viking prince returns to his homeland only to learn that his father has been murdered by King Sven of Norway. Sven is forcing his sister to marry in order to create an alliance with the Danes. The prince must defeat Sven and save his sister.
In the 9th Century, two Viking children, separated since their early childhood with one raised by the British and the other by Vikings, meet after nearly 20 years as rivals as war breaks out between Britian and the Vikings for control of England.
A vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of the witch's beautiful look-alike descendant. Only the girl's brother and a handsome doctor stand in her way.
A Welsh pirate raids up and down the Caribbean, battling the Spanish, the English and other pirates.
Recently widowed Persian King Ahasuerus wants to marry the beautiful Esther. But Esther is a Jewess, and Haman, the king's evil minister, is spreading hatred against the Jews. Set in the 4th century B.C., this Biblical epic stars Richard Egan (Demetrius And The Gladiators, A Summer Place) as Ahasuerus and Italian leading man Sergio Fantoni as Haman. Esther is portrayed by none other than Joan Collins, who would later gain fame as the scheming Alexis Carrington, in the hit TV series Dynasty. Directed by Raoul Walsh (The Thief of Bagdad, High Sierra, White Heat). 1960 / Running Time: 109 min. / Color
En route to Thebes for an important diplomatic mission, Hercules drinks from a magic spring and loses his memory. He spends most of the movie in the pleasure gardens of Queen Omphale of Lydia. While young Ulysses tries to help him regain his memory, political tensions escalate in Thebes, and Hercules' new wife Iole finds herself in mortal danger.
The story of Hadji Murad, a 19th-century Chechen chieftain who led his warriors in a fight against the invading forces of the Russian Czar.
Academic researchers are chased by a nuclear-hot specimen of ancient Mayan blob.
A young girl falls in love with an actor. She persuades her father to support his acting company, but when she discovers him with another girl she runs away. Then everybody try to find her.
Scientists discover that a group of meteors are hurtling on a collison course with Earth, and if they hit, the planet will be destroyed.
In this melange of characters and events from separate mythological stories, Hercules, demigod and superman, arrives in the ancient Greek kingdom of Iolcus to tutor Iphitus, son of king Pelias; immediately on arrival, he falls in love with the king's delectable, briefly clad daughter Iole. Before he can win her, he must succeed in a series of quests, in the course of which he teams up with Jason, true heir of Iolcus, whom he accompanies on the famous voyage of the Argonauts.
A mad scientist captures young women and drains their blood, in order to keep alive an ancient, evil duchess.
Nero is on holiday at the seaside. Poppea, Seneca and many other guests are with him. Nero is preparing a great show where he will be the star. When Agrippina, his mother, arrives with her German praetorians and decides Nero has to conquer Britain, she is asking for trouble. Many attempts of murder and poisoning will happen on the eve of his great show.
Charlemagne and saracen Agramante are at war. Although the Franks are outnumbered by their enemies they succeed in containing them in the Pyrenean foothills. A truce is signed between the two sides, during which Agramante treacherously sends Angélique, a beautiful seductress of his retinue,to the paladin camp. Meanwhile the emperor has decided to give his daughter Aude to his brave nephew Roland but chance has it that she meets Renaud,Roland's lieutenant, first. The two young people fall in love. Later on, the truce is broken and fight resumes. Betrayed by Ganelon, Roland is momentarily disowned by his uncle.
1760 Spain provides the setting for Giacomo Casanova's romantic escapades, every woman he encounters unable to resist his disarming charm, be they single, engaged, or even married.
The fictitious story of a real person called Lina Cavalieri who was known at the time as "the most beautiful woman in the world".
Joys and disappointments of three young girls who dreaming of making a career in film: Luisa has talent and triumphs; Franca tries to seduce a producer, however no artistic skills, Giuditta, the most inexperienced and naive, will have to choose between the dream of cinema and the reality of a marriage.
Gino Bardi is a centre-forward in a football team which is about to be relegated to the second division. Just before a very important match a girl he has a relationship with proposes him to rig it. He refuses the offer but he actually begins playing like an amateur and the crowd begin to smell something fishy going on.
Gina tries to commit suicide by jumping into the river but is saved by Teodoro, an innocent young man. Antonio, Teodoro's brother, tries in every way to seduce her.
Esposito is a thief who cons tourists in Rome. A lengthy persecution by police Bottoni, who manages to catch it starts. In an oversight Esposito manages to flee again. Bottoni superiors inform him that if no catches him will lose his job.
When Passaguai family patriarch Giuseppe (Fabrizi) decides to take advantage of a corporate discount to bring his wife (Ninchi) and children to spend a Sunday at the beach of Fiumicino, a series of troubles begins for everyone, in the form of a comic nightmare.
While casing a bank he intends to rob, gangster Leo discovers one of the clerks, Antonio, is his exact double. He kidnaps Antonio and robs the bank, posing as Antonio. But Leo hadn't accounted for the involvement of Antonio's wife, Dorothy.
Pagliacci, is a 1948 Italian film based on Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci, directed by Mario Costa. The film stars Tito Gobbi and Gina Lollobrigida. It recounts the tragedy of Canio, the lead clown (or pagliaccio in Italian) in a commedia dell'arte troupe, his wife Nedda, and her lover, Silvio. When Nedda spurns the advances of Tonio, another player in the troupe, he tells Canio about Nedda's betrayal. In a jealous rage Canio murders both Nedda and Silvio. The only actor in the cast who also sang his role was the celebrated Italian baritone, Tito Gobbi, but the film is largely very faithful to its source material, presenting the opera nearly complete.
Four war pilots that have been fighting together go seperate ways and meet up again years later. Shot in 1943, but only released in 1947.
Nemorino is hopelessly in love with Adina but she is attracted to a dashing captain.
Second World War . Field 119 in California (USA ) . War is long over , but the Italian Prisoners Still waiting to return home , preparing to celebrate , away from families , another sad Christmas. To dare a little rein to Their longing , they tell Episodes of Their Life . A Roman tells the USA difficult married life . A Neapolitan soldier tells of His lieutenant, a Neapolitan duke penniless . Meanwhile , the camp commander gave : Prisoners and a gramophone , So , Ai stories intertwine songs . Another soldier recalls the parties and the songs of the Sicilian spring , WHILE a Venetian gondolier evokes A HIS love affair . Sometimes , From Radio shabby listening news from abroad and Italy . Finally , one day , comes the ' pending release and All They return home .
