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Goliath and the Vampires (Maciste contro il vampiro)

Goliath and the Vampires (Maciste contro il vampiro)

Movie · 1961 · 11 people

Goliath and the Vampires (Italian: Maciste contro il vampiro) is a 1961 Italian peplum, a sword-and-sandal adventure. Sergio Corbucci and Giacomo Gentilomo share the directing credit, and Duccio Tessari and Corbucci wrote the script.

Its hero is the famed strongman Maciste. The story is set in an ancient world where a vampire and his henchmen roam from village to village, enslaving people and abducting young women, and Maciste stands against them. Gordon Scott plays the lead, with Gianna Maria Canale, Jacques Sernas, Leonora Ruffo, Annabella Incontrera, Mario Feliciani, Emma Baron, Jean Martinelli and Guido Celano also in the cast.

The film opened in Italy on August 21, 1961. Its American distributor, American International Pictures, felt the name Maciste meant little to American audiences and renamed him "Goliath" in the American release. The film stands out for its mix of genres and its extreme violence, at times bordering on gore, and is regarded as one of the best examples of the fantastic peplum subgenre.

DirectorSergio Corbucci, Giacomo Gentilomo

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Guido Celano Guido Celano Actor · died at 83 Kobrak, the Vampire Gordon Scott Gianna Maria Canale Jacques Sernas Leonora Ruffo Annabella Incontrera Mario Feliciani Emma Baron Renato Terra Vanoye William Aikens Jean Martinelli

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Through different eyes

AI-assisted editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives. They are not reader reviews; those are below.

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

Adding a vampire to a sword-and-sandal adventure is a fun idea in itself. A villain who roams from village to village enslaving people, and against him the legendary strongman Maciste: the stakes are clear and the enemy is menacing. The genre mash-up and a harshness that at times turns bloody set it apart from run-of-the-mill peplums. The effects are dated and the acting stiff, but the result is high-energy genre fun.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humor and heart.

Don't assume it suits children just because of its swords-and-heroes look. The film is known for extreme violence and at times borders on gore. The abduction of young women is also part of the story. It is not suitable for young children. Teenagers used to horror and adults can watch it, but for a family evening it is wiser to choose another film.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Goliath and the Vampires is regarded as one of the best examples of the fantastic peplum, and the reason is how boldly it mixes genres, adding the imagery of horror cinema to the molds of the heroic epic. It is a good example of the speed and flexibility of Italian genre production in those years. On the other hand, the familiar weaknesses of the peplum are here too: one-dimensional characters, expository dialogue and a narrative that rests on the hero's physique. The distributor turning Maciste into Goliath for America is also a telling detail about how easily these films were repackaged for different markets. Valuable for those curious about genre history, but for a wide audience it has been worn down by time.

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