TheSmutPeddler

Brad Harris repeatedly demonstrates his impossible strength throughout this peplum piece along with he-man co-star Sergio Ciani. Lots of wrasslin' and clobberin' for those who enjoy musclemen movies. There's nothing cerebral going on here, but there's fun to be had. Plus, court intrigue, a rebellion, pageantry, an evil queen, and Serge Gainsbourg as the villain. The comedy spots are sometimes awkward and puerile but not entirely unwelcome. The score from time to time gets a bit goofy but is adequately bold and triumphant when needed. There are several brief moments of focus problems, but this is otherwise richly colorful widescreen entertainment and the image quality streaming is good. Lower your expectations and disregard historical accuracy, and let the youngster in you enjoy this early 60's Hercules spinoff.

The only copy of "Arabella" available on the international market seems to be a shoddy Region 2 Pan-And-Scan version of a reportedly inferior print. Probably the print I saw on TV when I was a kid and became enchanted with the truly wacky film, gorgeous Virna Lisi, the fantastic costumes, wigs, jewelry, and the continental settings circa 1928. Above all, I loved Ennio Morricone's score for this film, from kooky to romantic and everything in-between. The melodic "flapper" theme that seems to surround Arabella and her schemes has haunted me for over 40 years, and when watching it recently (thanks to our frenemies in Russia having posted a copy of the shoddy DVD release), I found myself wanting to DEMAND this film be restored and released to blu-ray in its correct aspect ratio. So here I am putting in my two cents. Media Gods, MAKE IT HAPPEN! For Ennio's sake, if for no other reason. I should also note that while a ton of Morricone's music has been released digitally, the score for Arabella never even saw vinyl back in the day; that too must be released!

Without a doubt, this bizarre Christian fantasy (there's redundancy for you!) has one good thing going for it and, no, it isn't the lofty roster of Hollywood stars (a similar cast signed up for "Tentacles," which was just as mind-numbing a film). Nope, not even John Huston or Shelley Winters doing her Crazy Mama routine can top the one honest, undeniable strength of "The Visitor": Franco Micalizzi's "Stridulum" (Visitor) theme. It is dynamite! Fortunately, the entire "Stridulum" OST was released for listening pleasure on YouTube in 2020. The film is dull in an almost sadistic sort of way (remember "Tentacles"?).