The Arena

On paper, 'The Arena' looks like exploitation gold. You're got the sexy and super cool Pam Grier and Margaret Markov teamed up again after their success in Eddie Romero's 'Black Mama, White Mama'. A script by the Corringtons, fresh from the success of 'The Omega Man'. Plus two directors, prolific king of sleaze Joe D'Amato ('Antropophagus'), and Steve Carver of 'Big Bad Mama' and 'Drum' fame. Unfortunately, the movie never really kick starts into high gear, and while entertaining enough, is a bit of a let down after the classic 'Black Mama, White Mama'. Grier and Markov play slaves forced to serve the decadent Romans who make up the jaded audience of the local gladiator battles. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess that before too long the women will have to fight in the arena themselves, initially against male gladiators, but eventually their fellow female slaves. Will their individual will to survive win out over their burgeoning proto-feminist consciousness? I'll leave you to find that out... This is an above average 1970s drive in movie helped tremendously by the presence of Markov, and especially blaxploitation legend Grier, who is tough and sexy and shows quite a bit of flesh. The spirited cast also includes Jess Franco favourite Paul Muller ('Vampyros Lesbos', 'A Virgin Among The Living Dead', Caiano's underrated 'Night Of The Doomed'). A fun movie if you don't expect too much.

"The Arena" is one classic cult Blaxploitation film of the 70's that entertains as it's set in ancient Rome and featured Black screen gem Pam Grier. It involves beautiful women who after kidnapped by Roman soldiers must fight to save their lives. The scenes are entertaining and a fun feel good joy as it's jungle caged fever females against males. The eye candy and skin is present with many nude and love scenes that are sweet and nice. Overall nice cult B type flick to check out.

After being captured by Roman soldiers, a group of women are sold off as slaves. After a continuous poor showing with the men gladiators. Soon enough, these women servants become the showpieces and now they're fighting each other to the death in front of the bloodthirsty Rome crowd and its powerful oppressors. But these ladies don't plan on living like that and do their best to organise an all-out revolt.

What we get from this Corman production is a boldly, sound drive-in exploitation that follows quite a straightforward formula, which seems to work all the time. On this occasion, chuck in a bunch of female beauties in skimpy outfits in a Colosseum backdrop and watch them go toe-to-toe! It's basically a WIP story within a different era. When you got the likes of the fierily titillating Pam Grier and the ravishingly magnetic Margaret Markov sporting it out. You know you're in for a fulfilling appetizer!

This gladiatorial stout supplies plenty of fleshy impulses and gets its hands dirty to invoke the gritty thrills and slimly sleaze. The barbaric attitude within the story superbly captures the gropingly seedy underbelly of the Roman Empire and that viscous instinct for survival to get on top. Simply what you see here is what you get. The women are the main centrepieces and director Steve Carver knew that by exploiting every opportunity. It does have its moments when some ponderous stretches creep in, but when the ladies get their gear on, it finally kicks into gear. The script is extremely leaden (with some corn riddled hokum) and there's not much in the way of character progression, while the performances on the other-hand go down rather well and trump in with a crackling rapport. The very capable Rosalba Neri pops in as the tantalizing ice-queen Cordelia. Lucretia Love and Paul Muller chip in with enjoyably campy performances.

The glorious cycle of action is very well organised in some frenetic spurts and spanking scenes. The kinetically compact cinematography and a triumphantly heart-pounding music score demonstrated this energy. The atmosphere is paved on very convincingly and truly bait's the audience.

You can't take any of it very seriously, as it can get rather goofy. Although for what it is, it's a well-made and acted piece that entertains.

Steve Carver's "The Arena" aka. "Naked Warriors" of 1974 is a highly entertaining piece of 70s exploitation that should not be missed by a B-movie fan. Produced by the almighty Roger Corman, co-directed by the king of exploitation himself, Joe D'Amato, and starring the sexiest duo of 70s cult heroines, the wonderful Pam Grier and Margaret Markov, this is pure Grindhouse cinema for lovers, and should not leave anybody bored.

Abducted from their homelands and enslaved by Romans, two young women, the Nubian Mamawi (Pam Grier) and Bodicia (Margaret Markov) from the Brittany, are, along with other female slaves purchased by the Roman owner of an arena, where they are to do domestic work and serve as mistresses/sex slaves to the gladiators. After a fight at the dinner table, however, one of their unscrupulous slaveholders suggests to have the women fight for their lives in the arena, in order to offer something fresh to the blood-thirsty audiences...

Both stunningly beautiful, charismatic, sexy and cool, Pam Grier and Margaret Markov are a true dream team in exploitation cinema (something they already proved in "Black Mama, White Mama" of 1972). Apart from Grier and Markov, the cast furthermore contains Lucretia Love ("Battle Of The Amazons", "The Sexorcist") and Rosalba Neri ("Lady Frankenstein", "Johnny Yuma"). Another cool role is that of Paul Mueller, a huge, ugly and bald Tor Johnson-lookalike, who plays an invincible gladiator. I personally also found the score pretty cool, although it is certainly not too original. The sleaze and violence are not quite as extreme as in many other exploitation flicks of the kind, but there's enough of both to entertain. Being a fan of exploitation flicks (or not) is a matter of taste, of course, and "The Arena" may therefore not be everybody's type of film. I personally love this kind of films however, and I therefore recommend this to all my fellow exploitation-enthusiasts. Especially Pam-Grier fans should give it a try!

I still remember, how excited I got when I first saw this film in VCD back to the 1990s. It was just a wonderful surprise to have rented a film so entertaining and provoking.

If you try stubbornly to take this film with the 21st production for its acting, or video definition and so fort. I have to say, you are just making yourself unnecessarily unhappy. True, the actresses hadn't gone that far in some sections, for the film is neither the porno nor the violence type. So save your hard criticism.

The plot was really a good one. Pace is tight, hasn't let you have time leave to have a break. The idea is also amazing, letting the women slaves fight each other. The happy ending satisfies me, for I can't digest so many and so often tragedies.

Markov is a very beautiful and elegant actress. This blond gladiator really hold the entire movie interesting. Can't image how the film were going to look like without this gorgeous female.