Una spada per Brando

This is a genuine – and genuinely obscure – one-of-a-kind oddity: its original Italian title, UNA SPADA PER BRANDO, translates to "A Sword For Brando" but, this being (technically) a swashbuckler, the hero is called thus for his skill at brandishing a sword and not after the legendary Method actor. I am sure that some of you are asking themselves what a peplum is doing included in a Horror movie marathon but, as the illegitimate English title implies, our dashing hero battles devil-worshipping villains who, not only dress up in a skeleton's costume, but have their headquarters located within a crypt! For the first third of the movie, there is an effective and plentiful Gothic atmosphere as Euro-Cult starlet (and future hardcore porn star) Karin Scubert and her sister are chased at night across the Italian streets by a band of aforementioned 'demons' until, of course, Brando makes his belated appearance and saves the day; however, as was typical of this particular type of film and of Italian genre cinema in general, things are not permitted to remain grim for too long and, in fact, they get bawdier and sillier by the minute. Indeed, what we do get are interminable bouts of fistfights between the inept skeletons (who get thrown around in every conceivable direction) and Brando and his trio of friar sidekicks (played by, among others, Gerard Herter and Tano Cimarosa)!! Inevitably, these scenes spark the occasional laugh from indiscriminate viewers (one 'skeleton' bursts out with a hilarious "Most Holy Beelzebub!" cry after being hammered on the head a' la Bud Spencer by the chubby, ex-mercenary friar) but, by the end of it, one does get to pine for the chills provided in those opening sequences. Curiously enough, composer Carlo Rustichelli makes use of his own brooding (and instantly recognizable) love theme from Mario Bava's WHIP AND THE BODY (1963) during several instances in this movie…albeit to an infinitely lesser effect!

This is a very uneven mixture of elements of various film genres - a bit of Adventure, a bit of Horror, a bit of Romance, and quite a bit of Comedy. The bad guys really look frightening with their death masks, alas they get beaten up in virtually any fight they enter. The fight scenes are throughout comical, choreographed quite similar to the way Bud Spencer and Terence Hill would conduct their fisticuffs in the coming decade. Some of the genre combinations just do not gel: the heroism of the male lead gets seriously undermined by the comedy which also clashes with the horror elements. For example, when the male lead is about to have one of his eyes poked out by one of the death-masked men (in a scene resembling the "Do you want me to talk?" scene from Goldfinger) he's saved by one of his sidekicks throwing a segment of a brickwall at the baddie.

In a mediaeval feudal hamlet, young girls are being abducted by a sect of devil-worshipers, all of whose faces are masked by sinister skulls. Brando, the young hero of this film, saves two damsels from the ravages of the sect, which intends to sacrifice the girls to a dark deity. After spoiling the plans of these evil foes, Brando enlists the aid of three friars, who help to crush the grip of fear that the cult has over the villagers. By repeatedly fighting off these monsters, the protagonists at last trace down the leader of the cult--who happens to be none other than the feudal baron himself. This film contains a nice combination of adventure, horror, and comedy--the resultant mixture being distasteful to some viewers. However, I believe that this only adds to the film's overall charm. The action in non-stop, the costumes are nice, and the locations well-utilized. A menacing score by Carlo Rustichelli adds the finishing touch to what I believe is a minor cinematic masterpiece. Really, what more could you ask for? The Italians simply do not make costume films of this greatness anymore.