La ruée des Vikings

Virtuoso filmmaker Mario Bava turns his attention to the Viking adventure genre with generally engaging results. It's set in the 9th century when Viking aggressors are bloodily invading Britain. Two Viking brothers are separated during a battle, and are raised by opposing forces. Eron (American star Cameron Mitchell) grows up to be a fierce Viking warrior, while Erik (George Ardisson) is adopted by a young British queen (Francoise Christophe). Eron loves a vestal virgin named Daya (Ellen Kessler), while Erik takes a shine to her twin sister Rama (Alice Kessler).

All in all, this is good fun, and worthy viewing for folks who enjoy a good period adventure. It's bloody, it's colourful (it ought to be - Bava photographed it himself), it benefits from obviously impressive production values, and it works as a combination of intense action, melodrama, sexiness (there are plenty of lovely ladies on hand), and even a little dose of humour. The action sequences are definitely well executed, and look especially good given that Bava actually shot this in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, which he usually didn't do. One highlight is a wall scaling sequence that would make Spider-Man proud. The music helps immensely in making this a rousing bit of business.

The performances are solid right down the line. Mitchell does fine, even if he is dubbed, and embraces the physicality of his role. Hunky Ardisson is his match as his long-lost brother. The real-life Kessler twins are positively ravishing, and Andrea Checchi is an enjoyably odious villain as the devious Sir Rutford.

Fun to watch for Bava admirers, and the first of his three pictures with Mitchell - the others being "Blood and Black Lace" and "Knives of the Avenger".

Eight out of 10.

ERIK THE CONQUEROR (aka THE INVADERS) was Mario Bava's second directorial assignment after his meteoric success with BLACK SUNDAY (aka MASK OF THE DEMON/LA MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO (1960). ERIK THE CONQUEROR is a tale of intrigue and treachery between Viking forces and the Anglo-Saxon defenders of the British Isles in the year 786 A.D. The story begins as two children are separated from each other during a fierce battle. One of the two is taken and raised by Queen Alice (the stately & beautiful Francoise Christophe) and the other child remains with his Viking people. Both bear tatoos which identify them as brothers. They grow up to face each other in battle but have been tricked by Rutford (a deliciously evil portrayal by Andrea Checchi), a scheming English noble who intends to take the throne he covets for himself. Art direction alone is dazzling with phospherescent hues of crimson, gold, emerald & cobalt blue. There are many macabre touches courtesy of Bava, and in an interview with noted film historian David Del Valle, Cameron Mitchell marvelled at Bava's mastery of trick photography and flawless cinematographic style. Mitchell gives one of his finest performances here as Aaron, the Viking and Giorgio Ardisson is splendid as Erik, his brother and King/defender of Britain. The golden, flaxen beauty of Alice & Ellen Kessler is used o good effect here as the eventual lovers of Erik and Aaron. A must-see for Bava worshippers and required viewing for epic aficionados!

Mario Bava really outdoes himself with this story of two brothers separated in infancy, who grow to be rival leaders in a battle between Scandanavia and Britian.

This yarn, replete with monumental battle sequences on both land and sea, magnificent coastal and interior castle settings, and bravura use of color simply amazes in its ambitious achievements.

The film opens with a battle sequence on the seashore, by turns both thrilling and horrifying as the soldiers meet with death by spear while the nearby coastal village is burned, with women and children scattering to their doom.

With this breathless sequence, Mr. Bava introduces the audience to a breakneck pace that never lets up.

The story such as it is, is played engagingly on the level of an Errol Flynn film, intelligent enough for adults, but close enough to a comic book for whatever youngsters may be in the audience.

It is, however, the visuals that linger in the mind: a grotto with an enormous twisted tree upon which are bound two captured adulterers, bathed in that phosphorescent green light that Mr. Bava was so adept at casting; a stunning vista of the seashore at twilight with two women in billowing robes silhouetted against a sky banked with tempestuous cloud formations, Georges Ardisson and his mother flanked by flaming braziers, amidst tall stalagmites, in a setting that might be from Dante's Inferno, (and recalls a similar setting in Orson Welle's "Macbeth" and countless others.

Mr. Bava painted his masterpieces not on canvas but on celluloid.

The cast is both attractive and serviceable, with Mr. Ardisson and the luscious Kessler Twins deserving of special commendation. Indeed the Misses Kessler, (as Vestal Virgins) perform a sword dance with such delicacy and intricate footwork that it is easy to see why their cabaret act was once the toast of Europe.

Highly enjoyable for fans of the genre.

Erik the Conqueror (1961)

*** (out of 4)

Eron (Cameron Mitchell) and Erik (George Ardisson), as children, witness their father brutally murdered during a Viking massacre. After the massacre Erik is taken in by the Queen while Eron grows up as a viking. Twenty-years later the two are on a collision course.

ERIK THE CONQUEROR is quite the action picture as director Mario Bava certainly made the film look like a much bigger budget than I'm sure it had. There's no question that this film was riding on the success of THE VIKINGS but obviously the Italian production didn't have the big stars, the big budget or an unlimited amount of resources. That's what made Bava so special. He could take a small budget and make the picture look like something from a major studio.

I think the weakest thing here is the actual story since it's really nothing original and there's really nothing here that we haven't seen countless times before. Where the film succeeds is on every other level and we can start with the wonderful cinematography. This is certainly a beautiful picture to look at with the camera-work really bringing the settings to life. You've got the wonderful use of color that adds to the picture and just take a look at the camera work during the opening battle. This battle sequence was perfectly shot and it manages to grab you and throw you right into the action.

The action scenes are all handled with extreme craft and perfection. The movie certainly contains some rather violent moments to add to the fun and I'm sure the kiddies watching this during a matinée were quite shocked. The film also benefits from some nice performances with Mitchell leading the way. He was very strong in the lead role and managed to really sell the character. Ardisson isn't quite as good but he's at least fun as is Alice Kessler and Ellen Kessler as the love interest.

ERIK THE CONQUEROR isn't a masterpiece but it's certainly a highly entertaining action film.

Mario Bava's first credited viking movie (after he worked as an uncredited director on LAST OF THE VIKINGS, made in the same year and also starring Mitchell and Ardisson), is an above average entry for the genre enlivened by stylish direction from Bava which makes it a cut above the rest. The plot is different and involving and the characters fleshed out enough to make you interested in their actions. Primarily noted as a horror director, Bava can't resist inserting a scene involving a girl chained in a dank dungeon being terrorised by a tarantula held over her face in a glass tank towards the end of the movie, a macabre treat for his loyal horror fans. Elsewhere, he shoots imaginative scenes involving men climbing up ladders made out of freshly-shot arrows and the like which make for entertaining and surprising viewing.

Cameron Mitchell stars as Aaron, a just and noble viking warrior. George Ardisson is his younger brother Erik (after having also played Mitchell's brother in LAST OF THE VIKINGS), the film's real hero character, and is surprisingly good in the role. Meanwhile Andrea Checchi makes for a convincing but underused villain and the addition of real-life twins Alice and Ellen Kessler to the cast makes for novelty value. Bits parts come from the muscular Joe Robinson (TAUR THE MIGHTY) as a viking rival of Aaron's, and Tony Kendall - later a Euro action man appearing in all kinds of genres - amusingly showing up before he was famous, acting and looking very odd.

The photography is as good as ever, the movie is ambitiously made on a low budget and often cuts back and forth between England and Norway, and the music effective. What makes this film work, though, is the inventive plot - as involved as you're going to get with this viking sub-genre - and the characterisation, which combined with the strong cast helps to make an intelligent, straightforward, and largely entertaining action-adventure yarn, offering up just about everything you could want from the genre without ever resorting to silliness. Bava's final viking movie was 1965's KNIVES OF THE AVENGER, which throws a unique spaghetti western slant on the genre.