Roma contra Roma

This is no "Hercules in the Haunted World," and it has no actual zombies (there's a sort of ghost army, plus some people who are hypnotized)--nor, perhaps more surprisingly, any musclemen--but it is definitely above the peplum average for incorporating some fantasy elements in a colorful way. The bad guys worship their bad god on a set that looks like it's left over from "Cobra Woman," and there are some simple, tacky but fun superimposition effects towards the end.

It's not a truly memorable film or even a particularly coherent (let alone original) fantasy, but if you've sat through enough Italian sword-n-sandal epics, you know how cheap and boring many of them can be. So this one definitely gets points for trying harder, and providing some sort of cheesily psychedelic effects along with the usual battle scenes and palace intrigue.

1963's "War of the Zombies" had a rather generic Italian title, "Rome Against Rome" (Roma Contra Roma), earning a third for its television airings, "Night Star, Goddess of Electra," a later example of the dying genre of peplum, soon replaced by the Spaghetti Westerns. We do have a heroic figure in Ettore Manni as Gaius, stalwart Roman centurion sent to recover a treasure confiscated by sorcerer Aderbad (John Drew Barrymore), deriving his powers from the one eyed moon goddess which gives him hypnotic abilities over all humans, his intention to raise all the warriors slain in battle to prove invulnerable in combat with the living. Gaius falls for beautiful servant girl Rhama (Ida Galli), much to the displeasure of Tullia (Susy Anderson), wife of the duplicitous governor, using an effigy to attack Gaius while accusing him of murdering her husband. The film comes alive whenever Barrymore is the focus, on a cavernous set with huge glaring idol at its center, papering over the listless backstabbing subplots left over from previous muscleman epics. Ida Galli, better known as Evelyn Stewart in later vehicles like "The Murder Mansion," had previously graced Mario Bava's exemplary "Hercules in the Haunted World," boasting none other than Christopher Lee as its blood drinking villain, while Susy Anderson recently essayed a more bland part in Bava's "Black Sabbath." The climax must be ranked as a disappointment, using stock footage from Edgar G. Ulmer's 1959 "Hannibal," the undead army appearing as transparent phantoms rather than a corporeal menace. Manni is no bare chested warrior, easily overshadowed by the flamboyant Barrymore and both female leads, the strong horror angle helping it stand out from a mostly routine pack, surpassed by Gordon Scott in "Goliath and the Vampires."

When Dalmatia's tribute to Rome is hijacked and the legion guarding it massacred, the Senate sends a centurion (Ettore Manni) to find out what happened. Upon arriving in the distant province, he's immediately thrust into a hotbed of political intrigue involving the corrupt praetor, his evil wife (who, of course, has sexual designs on the centurion), and the wicked wizard Aderbal (played by a wild-eyed John Drew Barrymore) who worships a one-eyed goddess and raises the slaughtered Roman legion from the dead (by drinking their blood) to march on his enemies (hence "Rome against Rome")...

Despite its low budget, this peplum fantastique actually rises to "tackily atmospheric" thanks to Mario Bava's obvious influence on the director and it's helped along by John Barrymore Jr. as a whirling dervish who speaks in soliloquies as he shamelessly exploits his illustrious family's acting legacy. He does sport an impressive profile, however. Ida Galli (Evelyn Stewart to giallo fans) plays the obligatory love interest.

In Roma contro Roma (AKA War of the Zombies), an army of undead Roman soldiers engage in a battle with the living, who are shocked to find that their supernatural enemy is invulnerable. Sounds great, but this is a cheapo peplum from 1964, so the aforementioned scenes are less than impressive, director Giuseppe Vari employing a multi-coloured smoke optical effect in an attempt to add an eerie atmosphere, but largely obscuring the action in the process. The rest of the film isn't up to much either, the plot a rambling, incoherent mess of treachery, evil and deceit, as brave centurion Gaius (Ettore Manni) embarks on a mission to find some stolen Roman treasure, crossing paths with traitor Lutetius (Mino Doro) and his wicked wife Tullia (Susy Andersen), and malevolent magician Aderbad (John Drew Barrymore).

Quite how Vari makes matters so dull is beyond me, but boring is what this is, the film plodding from one unexciting scene to another, culminating in the battle with the undead that, somehow, is just as tedious as everything before it. Vari had obviously been taking notes while watching Bava's Hercules in the Haunted World and attempts to emulate that film's colourful aesthetic; instead, he should have been focussing his efforts on telling a decent story. Manni is forgettable as the hero (Reg Park and Steve Reeves might not be great thespians, but at least they have screen presence) and Barrymore looks ridiculous in his wig, fake beard, orange face make-up and eye-liner. Ida Galli as Gaius's love interest Rhama is pretty but surprisingly bland; Andersen is much better as the sexy villainess.

2.5/10, generously rounded up to 3 for IMDb.