The Vampire's Night Orgy (1974)

With an upbeat jazz / funk soundtrack, a Shakespeare loving Countess who orders the inhabitants of the village to sacrifice their appendages to feed the unsuspecting visitors, and a ghost child who kills his only friend in a vain attempt to save her, there's never a dull moment. 

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Goliath at the Conquest of Damascus (1965)

When it comes to B-movies money is the number one key.  It's all based on the turn around, how much bang can you get for your buck and how fast can you churn out a film and re-coop that money, hoping for a slight profit.  Actually that probably sums up the movie industry as a whole, but it's still a little more noticeable when it comes to B-movies, especially with a film like Goliath at the Conquest of Damascus where the entire cast of Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon were simply re-used to film another film as entirely different characters.

Rock Stevens is back this time as strong man Goliath.  He's been called by King Selim to help him reconquer Damascus.  On the way to see the King, Goliath comes upon the aftermath of an attack with the only survivor being Selim's Officer.  They were escorting the King's daughter, Myriam, to be married to the son of a neighboring King, it was to be the bond of a powerful alliance between their two people.  She was kidnapped by a notorious group of blood thirsty nomads in an attempt to start a war between the two tribes and hinder Selim's reconquering of Damascus.  Goliath is sent in to infiltrate this group, become one of the members and provide Selim with inside information to expose them and rescue his daughter.

In terms of overall quality there is absolutely no difference between Goliath at the Conquest of Damascus and the film that came before it with the same cast, Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon.  Goliath at the Conquest of Damascus has quite a few more action sequences, and has quite a few overly corny comedic moments to it but still I found myself quickly becoming bored and uninterested.  Blame it on the mediocre story, or simply the fact that this film is the same as the one I watched a few weeks ago, only wrapped in a different wrapper.  Helga Line's performance is minimal compared to her role in the previous film she's not playing as dynamic or as interesting a character, probably another reason why I found this slow and plodding.  Overall, Goliath at the Conquest of Damascus is a pass unless your a fanatic for Sword and Sandal films.

4/10

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Avenger X (1967)

The great aspect about Helga Line films is they span every cult genre imaginable.  The not so great aspect is most of them are nearly impossible to find, and usually don't end up being worth the trouble hunting down when you finally sit down and watch them.  Avenger X or Mister X as it's also known, is an interesting addition to the Euro-spy genre mixing together the styles of The Saint, The Phantom and James Bond into an interesting conglomeration with some mixed results.

A big time drug dealer gets a little over his head after his girlfriend discovers his operation and he has her eliminated.  To cover it up he makes the murder appear to be at the hand of the vigilante Mister X, whom the police are looking for and who he believes to be dead.  Unfortunately for him Mister X is quite alive, and sees fit to take it upon himself to find out whose set him up and why.  Helga Line plays the main villain's wife, beautiful as always but doesn't see much screen time.

I wanted to really liked Avenger X as it had sort of a Kriminal vibe to it, but the film makes a couple fatal mistakes that would cause many people to give up before the good stuff.  First off Avenger X acts like a sequel.  To my knowledge this is the only Mister X film, but the writers seem to expect the viewers to know the back history between the  villains and Mister X and that supposedly everyone thinks he's dead.  Second, the first half of the film is incredibly slow, lots of talking for a film with a relatively simple plot.  But if you're willing to set through about an hour of mediocrity Avenger X gets quite entertaining in the final 30 minutes with a lot of action and a couple twists.

5/10 

Bonus pics:

 

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The Dracula Saga (1972)

While I have formed somewhat of an affinity for films that most people don't usually consider watching (Hammer and B-movies in general) I still find it extremely difficult to attain much enjoyment from one particular cult genre, Spanish Horror, specifically those put out in the 1970's.

The Dracula Saga is one of the few remaining, widely available, Spanish Horrors or Euro-Horrors that I have yet to view which include the lovely Helga Line.  The story centers around Berta, the granddaughter of Count Dracula who has returned home to Transylvania with her husband to give birth to their son.  As soon as they arrive into town they are thrust into a varying array of strange occurrences, the first being the discovery of a girl in the forest with bite marks on her neck who is thoroughly drained of blood.  This is only the first of many sudden random attacks that begin to occur throughout the outskirts of the town. 

But it's not only the town that has changed, Berta's home, Castle Dracula, seems quite dead and empty.  The discovery of her grandfather and cousin's tombs only adds to the fear and confusion that already plagues her.  Thoroughly frightened by the events in town and the state of the castle causes Berta to want to leave, but by now they find themselves locked in the castle, no way of escape.  When night falls her family appears to great her, but they've all changed and look like walking death.  Her grandfather discounts their condition as a genetic illness, but it's clear to any laymen that they are all vampires, and they await the birth of Berta's son who will become the new powerful heir in the Dracula line.

As a fan of Helga Line I enjoyed her earlier entries into Euro-horror with Nightmare Castle and The Blancheville Monster, but all the 1970's horror films, with the exception of Horror Express, I've found to be completely bizarre and often slow moving.  To true fans of the genre those two descriptions probably ring as true aspects of the genre but with them garner an obvious opposite reaction.  But The Dracula Saga has another glaring issue that I didn't find as prevalent in some of other films; the story made almost no sense.  While I ultimately understood that Berta's son was to become the next Dracula, nothing that lead up to it is ever explained very well.  Berta wasn't a vampire, and she was unaware of her grandfather and cousins "conditions" before her return, so reason dictates they weren't originally vampires and that it was probably the Count's new wife, Munia (Helga Line), that was responsible for turning them.  But the real question is how does the child inside Berta then become a vampire and essentially drive her mad later on in the film?

Essentially what I was able to grasp from the film is that it's the chronicle of the birth of the original vampire version of Count Dracula.  It's the only conclusion I can arrive at that ultimately makes any sense, even though story itself is really pretty sketchy in it's explanations.  As the staple of Euro-horror in the 1970's is blood, guts and eroticism, The Dracula Saga manages to have a number of scenes with women disrobing and feasting on their prey, but the amount of blood and guts really pales in comparison to the two Naschy films which also co-stared Helga Line.  It seemed like every time there was going to be a gruesome scene the camera would pan away only to then return and reveal the aftermath. 

Overall, I'd stick The Dracula Saga somewhere in between Nashy's Horror Rises From The Tomb and The Mummy's Revenge, the two other 1970's Euro-horror I didn't find particularly enjoyable.  The only real highlights of the film are of course Helga Line, as usual, and the film manages to portray and sustain a relatively convincing creepy vibe throughout via the music, locations, sets, costumes.  Even the strange style of filming, which on occasions looked like someone threw a handkerchief over the lens, gave somewhat of a unique effect.  If this is your type of genre then you'll probably get a slight amount of enjoyment out of it, but it's still probably low on the list of quality Euro-horror.  For me I'll stick with the more conservative black and white Euro-horror of the 1960's those seem to be more my taste.

4/10

Bonus Pics:

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Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon (1964)

As I've stated in the past the B-movie industry in the 50's and 60's carved out for itself a niche in the film world with many sub-genres that all grew their own cult following.  One of those said genres is swords and sandals, a series that was especially popular in Spain, which release many of the Hercules titles.  Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon is simply one of the many examples, while it's one of the lesser loved films in the sub genre it's an excellent example of Helga Line's magnificent presence that makes even a mediocre B-movie worth watching.

Hercules has returned from a three year journey to discover his people and his queen have been taken as slaves for the rulers of Babylon.  Babylon is currently being jointly ruled by three siblings, two brothers and their lovely younger sister Taneal (Helga Line).  The joint ruler-ship is an unsteady one as each sibling has plans to overthrow the others to become sole ruler.  Taneal even has a plans to use an ancient device beneath Babylon's castle to destroy the city and take control as Queen of Nineveh.

The rulers of Babylon are unaware that within their prisoners is Hercules queen, the Queen of Helene. It's not until Phaleg, King of Asiria, comes to them with piles of gold offering for a trade all of their slaves that they sense something is a rye.  They later learn King Phaleg's plan is to marry Asparia (the queen) that he may extend his ruler-ship to Helene, but now the two brothers of Babylon wish to do the same.  Meanwhile Hercules will side with whoever he can to gain closer access to Asparia, agreeing to assist both King Phaleg and Taneal in their ordeals, and making sure they pay when they decide to turn against him.

This being my first swords and sandals film I was fairly impressed by how much I enjoyed it, sure it's extremely campy both in terms of the acting and the action, but the sets, location, and costumes were very impressive.  According to most fans of this sub genre, Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon is one of the more mediocre attempts and I will admit I probably wouldn't have enjoyed this film as much if it wasn't for my interest in Miss Line.  Helga Line definitely brings a presence to this film that none of the other actors can accomplish.  She has the ability to express her character without saying anything solely through her facial expressions.  She would have been an outstanding actress in the silent era.  Overall, this film is another example of Helga's range as a low budget actress, and another title that's a must see for any fan of hers.  Aside from that there really isn't anything extraordinary about this one.

6/10

Bonus pics:

Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon Full Movie

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The Archer of Fire: Robin Hood (1970)

Following the release of Ridley Scott's Robin Hood and the return of theme week here at Common Sense Movie Reviews, I thought it would be fitting to explore some of legend's past revivals.  Coincidentally three of the six themed days happened to have Robin Hood connections, and I'll be bringing you two of those this week, so Robin Hood enthusiasts rejoice!  You might be introduced to a few Robin Hood films you never knew existed.

As you'll quickly come to learn with most of the films I'll be reviewing on Helga Line Monday's, these have a basketful "aka's".  I'll not sure if this is simply an international method or solely limited to films produced and filmed in Spain but this particular occasion is no different.  The title screen refers to this film as The Archer of Fire (Robin Hood), it's known on IMDb.com under many titles, the most familiar being, L'arciere di Sherwood, Long Live Robin Hood, and the USA title (which is awful) The Scalawag Bunch.  The particular copy I managed to acquire was the Swedish release with English dubbing simply referred to as Robin Hood on IMDb.com, so for the purposes of this review that's the name I'll be using to refer to the film.  Now you might be asking yourself why does it matter what the film is called in different countries?  Now a days it's not a huge deal but back in the 80's and earlier, foreign produced and internationally distributed films became butchered once distributed to other countries.  It's something you'll see a lot of with the Hammer Films and most of the Helga Line spanish projects I'll be reviewing which usually became highly edited when they reached the states.

In this version of Robin Hood we witness the return of the young Sir Henry of Nottingham from the wars in Germany.  Henry comes bearing news of King Richard's imprisonment by the Emperor of Germany, only to discover his home of Nottingham in shambles, all at the hand of a Norman named Sir Robert.  Robert is in league with the King's brother, Prince John, to take over the ruler-ship of England, and Robert has named himself the new Sheriff of Nottingham.  Supposing his brother to be dead, John is rather disturbed to learn he still lives and that the Emperor of Germany requests one million gold coins for his release.  Keeping a straight face John agrees to the terms, but once Henry makes his leave a group of knights are sent out to slaughter him.  As far as the people of England know King Richard is dead, and John wants to keep it that way, so that he will inherit the throne.

Henry makes a quick escape and retreats into the forest where he joins forces with a group of fellows bent on causing trouble for Robert and his men.  Henry convinces them to let him join up and ordains himself with the identity of Robin Hood,  with a mission to bring back order to England.  Robin Hood convinces his men to help inform the people that King Richard still lives, and to help him obtain the money needed for his release so that he may return to England and stop his brother from destroying the rights of the people.  Maid Marion is used as a pawn in Robert's plot to take leadership over Nottingham, and she's unaware that Robin Hood is Henry of Nottingham (the boy she hadn't seen since she was nine, and whom she was promised to by King Richard, to marry).

In my experience of watching "rare" low budget, unheard of foreign made films I've learned the best approach is to expect the worse.  When you go in with that mindset you can't come out disappointed, and I can happily say I was quite pleased with Robin Hood.  This film offers exactly what you would expect from a Robin Hood storyline, silly antics, lots of swordplay and archery, and in this case the added bonus of the lady these reviews are dedicated to, Helga Line.  I was actually surprised to see that Helga Line had a substantial role in the film as the jealous ex-lover of Sir Robert, Matilde.  Matilde is jealous over Robert's infatuation with Maid Marion, whom he plans to marry, not solely for her beauty but also because a marriage between a Norman and Saxon would open many doors for Robert to begin taking over England.  Personally I'd take Matilde over Maid Marion, but then again I'm partially biased towards one party in that matter.

Aside from a few wonderful onscreen moments with Helga, Robin Hood is a solid film on it's own accord.  The fight scenes are a plenty, very well choreographed (with some acrobatics thrown in for a little flare), and the archery scenes are equally impressive.  The film has a pretty decent flow to it and the story isn't too shabby either.  Not having seen many Robin Hood films in the past I don't have much to compare it to, but from general knowledge this film seems to be on par with the average productions.  The characters are definitely a little corny, but as I understand that's always been the usual angle in the Robin Hood films.  Prince John himself is a real cornball with his Jim Carrey Dumb & Dumber haircut and his ramblings about his mother teaching him to be good at sewing!  Still while most of the characters, and him especially, are a little corny it all never manages to venture beyond entertaining to awful.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with Robin Hood.  It was a fun ride that offered lot of action, a fair amount of comedy and nice dose of Helga Line.  Fortunately for you all this is one of the few Helga Line films I'll be reviewing that any of you interested in purchasing might actually have a chance of finding.  While never released on DVD you can find a couple copies at around a $20 price tag on VHS under the title of The Scalawag Bunch (again a horrible title), it appears to have the same run-time as the version I watched and is available used at Amazon, Half.com and eBay.  So in the end, if your a hardcore Robin Hood fan and have never heard of this one I would say it's worth looking into, and would definitely make a nice addition to anyone's collection of rare titles.

7/10

Bonus pics:

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Special Mission Lady Chaplin (1966)

The final entry in the Agent 077 series is Special Mission Lady Chaplin, also regarded by many Euro Spy fans as the best in the series.  In certain aspects I would agree that this entry into the series has a little more to offer than the others, but I still find myself turning to Mission Bloody Mary as the best film in the trilogy.

Like all the Agent 077 films story is the last thing the writers worried about while writing this film, so once again you'll probably find yourself scratching your head at times simply because the script and flow of the story is so awful.  The basic premise of the film is that the CIA is under the impression that the wreckage of a submarine named the USS Thresher might be the source of some interest to a rather shady group of individuals.  While the Thresher lay at the bottom of the sea it is home to 16 atomic missiles which could produce quite a bit of damage if they landed in the wrong hands.  Agent Dick Malloy is sent to investigate, and finds the submarine still laying peacefully at the bottom of the sea, unfortunately the missiles are missing! It's all the work of a spy and master of disguise named Lady Chaplin and an expert in shipwreck salvaging a rich American named Zoltan.  Together they plan to sell the missiles to the highest bidder.

If you're looking for over the top action, Special Mission Lady Chaplin is the film for you.  This final entry of the series has probably more action than the first two films combined from exploding dresses to gun fights in a room filled with atomic bombs, this film has it all.  Special Mission Lady Chaplin also has a brief appearance by the lovely Helga Line, which was one of the reasons I was looking forward to watching this.  Helga Line played a rather important character in the first film, but her appearance here is not only brief but also quite useless.  My other complaint is the dubbing for Ken Clark.  In the first two films Clark's voice was a mixture of campy and suave, this time around they replaced it with a very deep and emotionless voice which didn't suit the character or the film, I found it rather distracting at times and actually enjoyed the rather campy dubbing on the prior films.  Overall, Special Mission Lady Chaplin probably has everything you could ask for in a Euro Spy indeavor, but for me I enjoyed the first outing the most, it might have had less action, but it had the best story, the better dubbing and a lot more Helga Line.

6/10

Special Mission Lady Chaplin Full Movie

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The Mummy's Revenge (1973)

In Spanish horror, Paul Naschy is the equivalent of Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing, maybe even more popular. Not only does Naschy usually play one or two of the title characters in his films, including the monster, he also writes and sometimes even directs. Personally I've never found such an overabundance of duties on the shoulders of one person to equate to a very good film, which was an issue I thought also hindered Naschy's Horror Rises From The Tomb.

The Mummy's Revenge is a very similar duplication of The Mummy story having been remade throughout the years, so the plot of the film should not be new. Naschy first plays the role of Amenhotep who along with his lover Amarna are killed and sentenced to an eternity of torment, due to their blood thirsty nature, never be allowed to enter the afterlife. A curse is placed upon Amenhotep's body, and whoever awakes him will therefore release an evil greater than any other. Centuries later when his remains are discovered by a group of archeologists Amenhotep is awakened by an ancestor named Assad Bey (also Naschy) who begins the process of returning him to life. A process which requires the blood of ten sacrificed women and a new body for Amarna.

Not having watched a lot of The Mummy remakes I'm really only familiar with the more recent adaptation of The Mummy starring Brendan Fraser. Compared to even the mediocre sequel, The Mummy Returns, this Spanish version of The Mummy's Revenge has no legs to stand on. My main issue with the film frankly is its boring. Aside from a very few limited and sometimes gory scenes the film spends a lot of time talking and long transitions to the next scene, almost as if the film is played out in slow motion to stretch a 30 minute plot into a 90 minute film. Granted it seems the version I was able to obtain is actually a watered down edited version of the original film with multiple scenes of gore and probably nudity cut out, I don't think I would have given this film much of a higher score than I did Horror Rises From The Tomb, which was an uncut version. Even in it's watered down state the only positive aspects of the film was it's visual creation of the Mummy, the short gory scenes (like the head smashing) and the few scenes with Helga Line.

Helga Line has a little larger role in this Naschy film than she did in Horror Rises From The Tomb, she plays the assistant of Assad Bey, but unfortunately the film itself is no comparison, while I had issues with Horror Rises From The Tomb it excels this version of the film in every way. Overall, I think it's clear I'm just not a fan of Paul Naschy's style, I think if he stayed in front of the camera instead of trying to do everything else we might have some horror films that appeal to a greater audience, instead we have a bunch of very similar films based on different creatures with varying degrees of quality. Therefore it goes without saying this is probably my last Naschy horror, seeing I only watched two of his films for the presence of Helga Line I doubt I'll be missing much in regards to his other endeavors.

3/10

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