Fatihin Fedaisi Kara Murat (1972)

Adventure. Turkey. Starring Cüneyt Arkin, Hale Soygazi, Turgut Özatay, Erol Tas & Bora Ayanoglu. Directed by Natuk Baytan.

Yeni Minareci Video Casetleri (Germany). Letterboxed. Turkish language.

Another awesome Cüneyt Arkin flick. A gory and energetic adventure in which the hero Kara Murat is teamed up against the notorious tyrant, and original Dracula, Vlad "the impaler" Tepes - a folk hero for the romanians, obviously not so much for the turks... (the guy who plays Vlad is as good a villian as Cünyt is a hero!) In one unbelievable scene the young Kara Murat is forced to shop off the arms and legs of his father (Cüneyt in another Nietzsche-sized fake moustasche) who is so strong and manly he hardly moves an eyebrow! The young Kara Murat of course swors vengeance and returns to Vlad's castle some 15 years later, disguised as a christian monk... 4/5

Kara Murat Ölüm Emri (1974)

Adventure. Turkey. Starring Cüneyt Arkin, Yildirim Gencer, Atilla Ergün, Hüsein Zan & Melek Ayberk. Directed by Natuk Baytan.

Katibim (Germany). Fullscreen. Turkish language.

Korkusuz Cengaver (1976)

Adventure. Turkey. Starring Cüneyt Arkin, Tarık Şimşe & Salih Kırmızı. Directed by Duygu Sağıroğlu.

Tele Star (Germany). Fullscreen. Turkish language.

Iki Esir (1971)

Adventure. Turkey. Starring Cüneyt Arkin, Filiz Akin, Kuzey Vargin, Hülya Babus & Atilla Ergün. Directed by Natuk Baytan.

Nart Video (Germany). Fullscreen. Turkish language.

Atlihan (1973)

Adventure. Turkey. Starring Aytekin Akkaya, Piraye Uzun, Abidin Görsev & Sema Yaprak. Directed by Naki Yurter.

Kalavan Video (Germany). Fullscreen. Turkish language.

Malkoçoglu - Cem Sultan (1969)

Adventure. Turkey. Starring Cüneyt Arkin, Gülnaz Huri, Cihangir Gaffari & Behçet Nacar. Directed by Remzi Jöntürk.

Arsel-Istanbul-Film (Germany). Fullscreen. Turkish language.

This one is less peplum-y in tone than the other Malkoçoglu film, but still great fun all the way. Cüneyt plays dual roles, as both the boyish adventurer and the fatherly turkish hero (with a GIANT fake moustasche). Cüneyt x 2 team up against a gang of ruthless bandits who are in league with the evil christian crusaders. 4/5

Haci Murat (1967)

Adventure. Turkey. Starring Cüneyt Arkin, Sevda Ferdag & Muzaffer Tema. Directed by Natuk Baytan.

Kalkavan Video (Germany). Fullscreen. Turkish language.

Black and white historical adventure with a fresh-faced Cüneyt Arkin. Not the best of its kind but the energic fight scenes makes it pretty fun viewing. 3/5

Här Kommer Bärsärkarna (1966)

Adventure/Comedy. Sweden/Denmark/Yugoslavia. Starring Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt, Dirch Passer, Åke Söderblom & Loredana Nusciak. Directed by Arne Mattsson.

Arena (Sweden). Swedish language. Widescreen.

Beyond awful slapstick viking "comedy". Mattson at his worst. 1/5

Get Mean (1976)

Western /Adventure/Peplum (!!). Italy. Starring Tony Anthony, Raf Baldassarre, Diana Lorys & Lloyd Battista. Directed by Ferdinando Baldi.

VCL (Sweden). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Mindboggling "western". You could write an essay about how dumb this film is but let me just conclude that the gunman Tony Anthony is hired to protect the princess of Spain (!) from vikings (!!) and a moorish warlord (!!!) with a Caligula complex and his hunchbacked sidekick! I wonder what they were smoking when they wrote this (admittedly fun) film? 3/5

The Island of the Fishmen (1979)

Original title: L'isola Degli Uomini Pesce

Adventure/Sci-Fi/Horror. Italy. Starring Richard Johnson, Barbara Bach, Claudio Cassinelli, Joseph Cotten & Beryl Cunningham. Directed by Sergio Martino.

DVD: NoShame (Italy). English/italian language options. Widescreen. Nice quality.

Shipwrecked criminals, fishmen, mad scientist, sunken city with gold treasure, greedy sociopathic aristocrat, voodoo natives, jungle traps, volcanic eruption, Barbara Bach... what more could you possibly want? A wonderful adventure film! 4/5

Jane and the Lost City (1987)

Adventure. UK/USA. Starring Kirsten Hughes, Sam J. Jones, Maud Adams & Jasper Carrott. Directed by Terry Marcel.

DVD: Anchor Bay (USA). English language. Widescreen. Nice quality.

King Solomon's Treasure (1977)

Adventure. UK/Canada. Starring David McCallum, Patrick Macnee, Britt Ekland, Véronique Béliveau & John Colicos. Directed by Alvin Rakoff.

Master Video (Sweden). English language. Fullscreen.

The Mystery of Monster Island (1981)

Original title: Misterio en la Isla de los Monstruos

Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Adventure. Spain/USA. Starring Terence Stamp, Peter Cushing, David Hatton, Ian Sera, Blanca Estrada, Frank Braña, Paul Naschy, Gérard Tichy, Daniel Martín & Luis Barboo. Directed by Juan Piquer Simón.

CBS Fox Video (UK). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

I usually like J. P Simón's Jules Verne-films, but this is the exception: an abysmal film that doesn't work on any level. It will leave you irritated and annoyed at the poor level of filmmaking on display here. And Naschy fans needn't bother either: the lovable spanish bear is hardly in the film for a minute... 1/5

Hrafninn Flýgur (1984)

a.k.a Revenge of the Barbarians

Vikings/Adventure. Iceland. Starring Egill Ólafsson, Edda Björgvinsdóttir, Flosi Ólafsson, Gotti Sigurdarson & Helgi Skúlason. Directed by Hrafn Gunnlaugsson.

Thorn-Emi (Sweden). Icelandic language with swedish subtitles. Fullscreen.

It must be 15 years since I saw this one... I remember it as quite good but really need to revisit it.

The People That Time Forgot (1977)

Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Adventure. UK. Starring Doug McClure, Patrick Wayne, Sarah Douglas, Dana Gillespie & Thorley Walters. Directed by Kevin Connor.

DVD: MGM Midnite Movies (USA). English language. Widescreen. Very good quality.

In my opinion the weakest of all of Connor's victorian fantasy films. 2/5

At the Earth's Core (1976)

Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Adventure. UK. Starring Doug McClure, Peter Cushing, Caroline Munro & Sean Lynch. Directed by Kevin Connor.

MGM Midnite Movies (USA). Widescreen. English language. Very good quality.

What this movie lacks in big budget monsters and FX it more than makes up in charm. Another entertaining Kevin Connor flick that won't dissapoint fans of victorian fantasy adventures that ends with volcanic eruptions. 3/5

War Gods of the Deep (1965)

a.k.a The City Under the Sea

Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Adventure. UK. Starring Vincent Price, Tab Hunter, David Tomlinson & Susan Hart. Directed by Jacques Tourneur.

DVD: MGM Midnite Movies (USA). English language. Widescreen. Very good quality.

After an interesting first half this movie turns into another lame big studio moneyburner with too many boring underwater scenes. Tourneur's director skills was better suited for thrillers. 2/5

Fantastic Balloon Voyage (1975)

Original title: Viaje Fantástico en Globo

Adventure. Mexico. Starring Hugo Stiglitz, Jeff Cooper, Carlos East, Carmen Vicarte & René Cardona. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

DVD: DistriMax Inc. (USA). Spanish language with english subtitles. Fullscreen. Watchable quality.

Wonderful Jules Verne adaption by the Cardona's - dry as dust, just the way you like 'em! 4/5

Gwendoline (1984)

Erotic Indiana Jones-ripp off. France. Starring Tawny Kitaen, Brent Huff, Zabou Breitman, Bernadette Lafont & Jean Rougerie. Directed by Just Jaeckin.

DVD: Severin (USA). Widescreen. English/french language options. Very good quality.

Emmanuelle-director Jacking clearly has no feel for the adventure genre. But at least he has the sense to throw in some S/M Amazons just when you're about to give up from boredom... 2/5

The Viking Queen (1967)

Adventure. UK. Starring Carita, Don Murray, Donald Houston & Andrew Keir. Directed by Don Chaffey.

DVD: Anchor Bay (USA). English language. Widescreen. Good quality.

I wonder if this flick can live up to its tagline: "SEE! Bladed chariots of death! Occult terrors of the druids! Men roasted alive in the cage of hell! Mighty legions of Rome! Barbarism of the mad emperor! Savage rites of the Icena!"?