Oh Babylon

Costas Ferris was aiming pretty high after the success of Rembetiko. He came up with this blend of Ancient Greek drama and sleazy giallo in the style of Jesus Franco, as the best way to conquer the international markets. Unfortunately, Oh Babylon showed in Greek cinemas only for a week in an awful English dubbed version despite being shot in Greek. For about twenty years, with the exception of a Japanese video release, this film was impossible to find until its recent resurfacing on Youtube. Low on coherence and high on atmosphere, with a wonderful main actress, Sotiria Leonardou from Rembetiko, its not without its merits as long as you don't try to figure out what's it all about. With ample nudity and some not so successfully staged gore scenes, this film is recommended for fans of trashy European films in the vein of Vampyros Lesbos and Sadisterotica.

This Greek film takes the ancient drama The Bacchae by Euripides (480-406 B.C.), and retells it in a more modern guise. It is the story of a ruling family which is deeply divided over an issue with religious implications. The worship of Dionysus, the god of wine and mad revels, requires its devotees to loosen up considerably from time to time. Pentheus (Alkis Panayiotidis), the young King of Thebes, thinks this is both a distraction and a waste of time. It will not help him get the book he is working on written. He has already received his advance payment for the book, and the deadline for delivery of the manuscript is due. His Dionysus-worshipping parents and grandparents mock him for this, and for his valiantly maintained virginity. One highlight of the movie is that the role of the traditional Greek chorus, which comments on the action in the play, is here enacted by reggae performer Maxi Priest and his band. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi