THOR AND THE AMAZON WOMEN (1963)

  This has nothing to do with the Norse god/Marvel superhero, they just named our very Hercules-like hero Thor this time out. He's also not really the star of the film. Most of it deals with his friends( a chick and a little boy)who are kidnapped by a tribe of women gladiators who like to battle each other to the death for kicks. Not the most exciting example of the peplum genre but the ladies are nice to gawk at I guess. Thor does have a black servant which I'm sure will have any pc-jackoffs vehemently clutching at their pearls. AKA WOMEN GLADIATORS and THE AMAZON WOMEN

PRIVATE VICES, PUBLIC VIRTUES (1976)

 Based on the true story of Prince Rudolph of Austria back in 1889. Not being a historical scholar I have no idea how much of this is actually based on any facts but in this film they sure make the prince(Lajos Balazsovits) out to be a real jerk. Obviously his obsession with a hedonistic lifestyle and snubbing the state is designed to convey some political message. It also works as a meditation on the hippie free love vs. a staunchly repressive government which might have been more relevant if this was made back in the 60s. It's artsy softcore porn aesthetic, with never-ending dancing, singing and laughing doesn't seem to help me relate to anyone in this and really begin to grate on your nerves after a while. As I've seen one reviewer state, orgies are usually way more fun to partake in then just watch. There's lots of nakedness, floppy dicks abound, a hermaphrodite shows up and butt-rapes a military general and we get an expected 70s downer ending. I can see fans of Walerian Borowczyk really digging this. 

BEYOND THE DOOR III (1989)

  None of the BEYOND THE DOOR films have anything to do with each other except that this one was produced by Ovidio Assonitis who was the director and producer of the first film. The alternative titles of DEATH TRAIN and AMOK TRAIN are way more descriptive since most of the movie takes place on a Yugoslavian train. The plot is a pretty big mess concerning a group of students who go on a field trip to what seems to be a medieval Eastern European village run by a bunch of elderly Satanists and Bo Svenson in a goatee that makes him look like magician Penn Jillette. This might be Bo's greatest acting job ever as he has the accent down pat and is nothing like you've seen him before. There are some super gory( and also nonsensical) spectacles including the showstopper one where a guy gets ripped in half and then decapitated by the train. Not exactly essential viewing but good for some amusing splatter. 

 Allegedly Assonitis is working on a 4th movie in this pseudo-series titled EMBRYO: BEYOND THE DOOR as I type this.

                                                    Known in France as EVIL TRAIN!: