Decadencia

A fact I would never admit to people I want to like me, I am a fan of Joe D'amato flicks. Here he is up to his old tricks; offering over the top blood shed, pointless plotting and (depending on which version you have) some X-rated sex scenes.

If you know anything about history, then there is no point in going through the plot. For those unaware, Caligula was a Ceaser and emperor of Rome. He was also generally regarded as the most brutal, demented ruler the empire ever had.

Joe D'amato strings together a lose revenge tale around his favorite leading lady, 'Black Emmanuel' Laura Gamser (funny, she's Asian). Her friend is killed by the diabolical Emperor in a botched rape attempt and she goes undercover into the place to get vengeance. Along the way we see three-ways, four-ways, prostitute training, a man impaled on a spike, the list just goes on. The coup de grace is a party scene in which we are treated to gladiators killing each other, a horse (yes, I said horse) hand job, and a long (if you have the real unedited version, which to my knowledge is out of print) orgy with all the X-rated trimmings.

D'amato flicks are most certainly an acquired taste. Most will find this to be filth, but if you have the mind for it, then this is one of the sleaze master's best.

6/10

If someone asked me if I was a fan of Aristide Massacessi, I'd probably laugh mockingly into their hurt faces. Yet when I look at the comments I've written for the IMDB, I've reviewed FAR more of his films than anyone else's! Say what you like about the man, but he really knows how to deliver utterly unpredictable and hilarious sleaze when you least expect it- which is probably why I keep finding myself attracted to his films!

CALIGULA: THE UNTOLD STORY is a superb example of this. What possible commercial motivation (other than ripping off the original CALIGULA, obviously) could there be for a movie like this? Within the first few scenes, Michele Soavi has had his tongue graphically cut off, and the fun pops up at regular intervals from there. Unexpected hardcore sequences and yet MORE scenes of equine masturbation (what WAS Massacessi thinking when he thought such scenes could add something to his movies?), plus sleazy violence, come thick and fast. However, unlike Massacessi's other weird attempts at fusing genres (see EMANUELLE IN AMERICA, PORNO HOLOCAUST etc for examples), CALIGULA: THE UNTOLD STORY is actually quite watchable. This is probably because he chose to throw the sleaze into a reasonably interesting (if hideously inaccurate!) historical story, rather than just into a flaccid soft sex film like he normally would.

I can't help but love this. Sure, it's not actually GOOD, but just when you think the film might be going downhill, you get a screen-full of a man being speared to death through his rectum. I have no idea what audience demographic Massacessi was thinking of when he made this, but I can assure you that it comes highly recommended.

Caligula 2: The Untold Story (1982)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Another notorious film from director Joe D'Amato, this one a cheap rip off of Caligula, although this one is actually a lot better. I watched the uncut, hardcore 125-minute version and this here featured over thirty minutes worth of additional scenes that aren't in the R-rated American cut. All of these scenes are dialogue driven stuff but this here actually slows the film down a lot. There's also a 20+ minute Roman orgy, which is where this film gets its notorious label. Everything from midgets to horses is on display here but this too slows down the action. The cast, including D'Amato regular Laura Gemser, is pretty good as are the sets and costume design. I doubt I'll bother tracking down any of the alternate versions but my guess is that they'd be a bit more entertaining than this longer cut.

My review was written in October 1986 after watching the movie on Trans World Entertainment video cassette.

This exploitation film, made in 1981 in Rome for Helen Sarlui by the director of the "Ator" epics, delivers the same basic goods as the Giovanni Tinto Brass hit, but without the hardcore porn inserts Bob Cuccione added to "Caligula". Surprisingly serious in tone, pic is an adequate home video entry for strong stomachs.

David Cain Haughton has a tour de force in the title role, resembling French star Pierre Clementi, as he revels in power, decadence and general craziness until coming to his senses in an ironic finale. Much of the incidental material here is reminiscent of the Tinto Brass version, but without the lavish sets.

Main storyline has Miriam (sex superstar Laura Gemser) on a mission to kill Caligula after he rapes her girlriend, who kills herself. In dreamily romantic footage (at odds with the yucky violence of the rest of the film), Miriam gradually falls in love with the evil emperor and even gets him t o change his ways, just before he is assassinated in the final reel.

Sex is strong stuff here, but just inexplicit enough to escape the hardcore porn tag that was "Caligula"'s selling point Violence is extremely rough, especially in an impaling scene in which senator Marcellus at odds with Caligula (and played by Gemser's real-life husband as inevitable co-starf Gabriele TInti) gets caught from behind.

Haughton's acting carries the show.

The director of this film is a favorite of eurotrash and an advance in the fact of presenting perfect films for the most universal male palate. In this sense, we have a work about one of the most popular Roman emperors with the support of a production superior to the rest of the work of Aristide Massaccesi and a cast that with great care makes us immerse ourselves in the thickest exploitation based on extreme trends. Of Caligula. The film is not suitable for all audiences but it is shorter than that of Tinto Brass and has less pretense, which makes it in a certain sense a little more tolerable. It is not a great film but for every fan of the director it is a must.