Staring: 'Ringo', Antonio Casas, Fernando Sancho, Giuliano Gemma, Lorella De Luca
Director: Duccio Tessari

Germany released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), German ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Italian ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), German ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Featurette, Interactive Menu, Photo Gallery, Remastered, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: Giuliano Gemma plays a civil war soldier who returns home to find his family decimated. As if this wasn't enough, his property has been taken over by a family of Mexican bandits and his fiancee about to marry the Mexican gangster behind all this. He decides to go undercover disguised as a Mexican, and discovers he has a daughter.

Staring: Antonio Casas, Fernando Sancho, Francisco Sanz, Giuliano Gemma, José Manuel Martín
Director: Duccio Tessari

Germany released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: German ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Italian ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), German ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Featurette, Interactive Menu, Photo Gallery, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: In this routine Spaghetti western, Ringo (Montgomery Wood) helps a wealthy Texas family fend off a group of Mexican bandits led by the portly villain Fernando (Fernando Sancho). He protects the wealthy aristocrat (Antonio Casas) and his two pretty daughters Ruby (Lorelia De Luca) and Delores (Nieves Navarro) from the evil desires of the bad men. George Martin plays the local sheriff. Film score is provided by the celebrated composer Ennio Morricone.

Staring: Eleonora Rossi Drago, Pier Angeli, Fernando Sancho, Alfredo Mayo, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba
Director: Sergio Bergonzelli

Must have giallo, 2009-12-07
Weird giallo with added glimpses of flair. As a big giallo fan I must admit this strange film is very endearing. Not the best, but far, far from the worst. Severin have once again pulled it out of the hat with this relatively obscure gem. Previously only released uncut in English by Redemption in the UK on VHS, its great to see this uncut on DVD. Recommended.

Rated: Suitable for 18 years and over
Staring: Howard Vernon, Brigitte Carva, Fernando Sancho, Paco Valladares, Isabel del Río
Director: Pierre Chevalier

Great '70s sexploitation, 2004-02-09
Castles, ye olde Europeane costumes, weird camera angles, women who disrobe at the mere appearance of a baddie, dodgy plots.....everything which the hardened fan of 1970s sexploitation could wish for. Yes I KNOW it's pap- but it's better than the sanitised rubbish we usually have to put up with these days. And its harmless good fun.......

Rated: Suitable for 18 years and over
Staring: Thomas Hunter, Esperanza Roy, Gila Van Weitershausen, Fernando Sancho, Ewa Stroemburg
Director: Jess Franco

Quite sober by Franco standards, 2007-08-17
The cinematography is quite good, only occasionally reminding the viewer he's wondered onto the Jess Franco territory via some blurry shots and slightly jerky pans. There's also a number of well-executed tracking shots - a rare treat from Tio Jess! The acting is suprisingly on a very decent level, too.
The stubbly Thomas Hunter sort of looks like a cross between James Franciscus and George Hilton and does a good job with his bland do-right protagonist.
So, the cast is quite good, technical credits are competent - why is this film so obscure then?
The script is really slow and full of jungle cliches: you get snakes, hostile natives, someone cutting through the bushes with an obligatory machete...
The film does drags on in a couple of places but pics up nicely towards the end with some semi-lively action.
Oh yeah...
Howard Vernon's moustache! It's as bad as the one Antonio Mayans was forced to wear in Sadomania.
The Oracle DVD has a pretty funny animated menu screen which fetures a more spectacular plane crash then the main feature!

Staring: Lucia Bosé, Alberto Closas, Bruna Corrà, Carlos Casaravilla, Otello Toso
Director: Juan Antonio Bardem

a death awakens a society, 2009-03-10
J. A. Bardem, uncle of today more famous actor Javier Bardem was an excellent director at times of Spanish postwar: he was a communist and in spite of censorship, made at less two masterpieces of cinema. One is "Death of a cyclist".
Bardem deals here with the vices of the accommodate society which won the Spanish Civil War. Juan, a mathematics professor from the University of Madrid isn't absolutely motivated by his work. He has got his post because he's an ex- combatant of Franco's army and member of a distinguished family but he perceives vaguely how empty and closed is that society. So, mostly bored and thinking himself is a worthless man, he becomes lover of Maria, an old bride from the pre - war and now, the wife of a rich businessman from that high society. A society that passes his time in false charity parties and so on.
But one day at dawn, after these lovers have spend the night together, they drive his car by the slums of Madrid and in the twilight they trample to a cyclist, a poor man who goes to his work. They doesn't know if the cyclist is wounded or dead, but at these moment, nobody sees the accident as the streets are absolutely alone and the city still asleep. Under other circumstances they should have helped the cyclist, but the fear to scandal in such a close society for adultery imposes to them and they run away while the cyclist dies.
But soon, remorse made his prey in the soul of Juan, while Maria is only worried about his social position.
But there's also Rafael, a cynical critic of art. Rafael isn't rich. He's a resented man who lives as a parasite of the social circle of these lovers. He knows Juan and Maria are committing adultery, but he doesn't know nothing about the crime. However, his acid observations induce Juan and Maria to think he knows all and wants to do a blackmail.
One day during an important examination at the university, Juan, absorbed in the reading of the newspapers with the notice of the death of the cyclist, orders crudely to retire in the middle of her explanation to a student, a young girl. This injustice provokes a student revolt. Police intervenes, but that's at end only a slight scandal. But the revolt awakens fully the conscience of Juan. He says to the girl he was effectively unjust and says to Maria he has decided to confess his crime to the police.
But Maria doesn't agree with that. The end is bitter. Bardem profits with ability to report the political situation of these times in Spain. Actors are excellent here, and somber, sometimes diffuse and another, crude photography in black & white are excellent and this film won several international prizes at these difficult times for Spain.

Staring: Tony Kendall, Lone Fleming, César Burner, Fernando Sancho, Esperanza Roy
Director: Amando de Ossorio

an essential purchase for euro-horror fans., 2008-01-12
Probalbly the most (in)famous series of films to emerge from post-franco era spain, these films presnt spanish horrors own franchise monsters the Templars. The film takes many historical liberties with the history of the knights templar, in these films they were satan worshippers (except in night of the seagulls where they worship some kind of lovecraftian sea god) who now rise from there tombs to drink the blood of the living. Director Amando de ossorio incorporates a lot of gore and nudity into these films (as well as some unpleasant rape scenes) but for me the strength of these films is the excellent use of locations and sets and the way the templars are shot, galloping through mist in slow motion, giving them a genuinly haunting quality.
Unlike the British release all the films in this box from blue underground are uncut, and in a very spiffing box. This is definately the best release of these movies so-far.

Staring: Charlton Heston, Eric Porter, Fernando Rey, Freddie Jones, José Manuel Martín
Director: Charlton Heston

Spain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Mono ), Spanish ( Mono ), Spanish ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Filmographies, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Charlton Heston worked very hard in "Anthony and Cleopatra" an adaptation of Shakespeare scripted by himself. Heston is the director too, and the movie is a wonderful experience of filmmaking, a true labour of love, with some fault, perhaps, but full of energetic sequences. a story of love, passion and death. Heston knows very well the Shakespeare original, and he express in the screen all the strenght , all the fascination of the shakesperian text. "Anthony and Cleopatra" was filmed in Spain , with a marvellous soundtrack and a great camera work. Heston is superb in the title role.

Rated: Parental Guidance
Staring: Glenn Saxson, Fernando Sancho, Ida Galli, Nando Gazzolo, Erika Blanc
Director: Alberto De Martino

BRAVO! DORADO FILMS!, 2009-12-16
Great thanks to Dorado Films in the US for releasing this rare Italy-western from 1966.
This is the first time we can enjoy this movie on DVD ENGLISH-SPOKEN.
The version already on the market is Italian-spoken and with frozen English subtitles.
An interesting and also funny western from the early period of Spaghetti-westerns including a very good soundtrack from Il Maestro Bruno Nicolai.

Rated: Parental Guidance
Staring: Aldo Sambrell, Tanyeka Stadler, Alexander Abrahan, Fernando Sancho, Alfredo Mayo
Director: Jesus Franco, Manuel Caño