Reviews (17)

EXCELLENT DVD - Euro Trash at it's BEST
Anchor Bay's DVD of TORSO is incredible - the image is crisp, sharp, colorful and there is no artifacting whatsoever. The print is also UNCUT! For years the film was seen in the US only in an edited version with most of the gore and sex cut out. It's great to finally see the entire uncut film with it's original opening and the extra sex and gore bits....I love the head crushing scene (albeit kind of fake) plus there's extra shots of the killer sawing up the bodies into little pieces. What more do you want? There's the cool looking hooded killer plus lots of stylistic giallo touches...this movie is better than ever especially in this impeccable presentation. It's letterboxed and includes the fun US trailer-"Tor---so!" as well as the original euro-trailer. A few shots in the film are in italian with english-subtitles because either the english track was never recorded or it had been lost...but it's not annoying at all and you just can't help loving this disc...especially if you are into euro-sleaze! One of Anchor Bay's best!

"i hack them up like dolls"
says the killer. which pretty much describes the modus operandi of TORSO, your average woman-slashing, daftly-scripted giallo. it's not a particularly good one--neither as outlandish or outstanding as some of its other '70s counterparts--but a definite must-see for the final reel, a masterpiece of staging suspense that will have Hitchcock rolling in his grave and Brian de Palma green with envy (which i'm sure he must have ripped off somewhere along the line).

the annoying thing about anchor bay's disc is the spurts of italian dialogue with english subtitles interspersed throughout the movie--it's kind of jarring. what they should have done is had english subtitles for the whole italian track (like on DEEP RED), so you get the option of watching either one. both the trailers are great though.

Stylish, gripping giallo-thriller
TORSO [I Corpi Presentano Tracce di Violenza Carnale] (Italy 1973): Following the murder of several classmates by a frenzied sex-killer, a group of female students retire to an isolated villa until police have apprehended a viable suspect. But the maniac is wise to their deception, and he/she follows them...

This stylish, gripping giallo-thriller - the equal of anything directed by Dario Argento at the time - was co-written by veteran scribe Ernesto Gastaldi and director Sergio Martino, the latter a journeyman technician whose commercial ethos catapulted him from one genre to another within the dictates of Italian popular cinema (cf. BLADE OF THE RIPPER, THE VIOLENT PROFESSIONALS, SEX WITH A SMILE, etc.). Despite bland performances from an unremarkable cast (including Euro stalwarts Suzy Kendall [THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE], John Richardson [THE MASK OF SATAN] and Luc Merenda [THEY CALLED HIM AMEN]), and some pretty obvious red herrings amongst the supporting players, TORSO is augmented by a number of beautifully crafted set-pieces (most notably the stalking of a young woman [Cristina Airoldi] through desolate marshland by the masked maniac), photographed with stunning visual flair by Martino's regular DP Giancarlo Ferrando (THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL) and edited to perfection by Eugenio Alabiso (MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD). The second half of the movie, during which Kendall becomes enmeshed in a nightmarish situation at a remote but picturesque country villa, is genuinely nerve-racking, staged with cat-and-mouse efficiency by Martino at his most inspired. Spiced with audience-pleasing elements of sex and violence which tested the limits of censorship in 1973, TORSO is a minor gem. Produced by Carlo Ponti, previously responsible for the likes of WAR AND PEACE (1956) and DOCTOR ZHIVAGO!

Sadly, despite Anchor Bay's bold attempts to compile an uncut version of the film, their print is incomplete. According to 'Video Watchdog' magazine, about a minute's worth of footage is missing from a minor scene at the beginning of the film, which is slightly re-edited from the original. All the nudity is intact, however, along with some brief glimpses of fake-looking gore. Some of the material in the English-language version - never intended for audiences outisde Italy - is presented in Italian with English subtitles, and while Anchor Bay has provided an alternate version in Italian throughout, they've rendered it completely worthless by failing to offer subtitles for the rest of the film! A couple of trailers are included.

NB. Viewers are warned that the disc contains an insert which replicates an Italian lobby card, where the killer's identity is made plainly obvious. So, try not to look at it when you first open the casing!!

91m 30s
1.85:1 / Anamorphically enhanced
Mono 2.0
Optical mono [theatrical]
Separate English (dubbed) and Italian (original) soundtracks
No captions or subtitles
All regions

Boring waste of time
I didn't like this film very much. It was boring and tedious to sit though. I used the fast-forward on parts of it, it was that bad. I love horror movies but this one was just a big dud in my books. Seems like the director wanted to concentrate more on the nudity and sex than on the actual story or murders. The effects were really bad. After watching Lucio Fulci dvds, this one was a big yawn. The only thing this movie taught me is how the people in Italy ride motorbikes with no helmets and how incredibly loose the women up there are.I felt like i was watching a 70s soft-core porno. The tag line of this movie on the trailer is: "Torso! It saturates the screen with terror!" My version would be, "Torso! It saturates the screen with boredom."

Great game of suspence
I've seen many of Martino's movies and I can say he's one of the best directors of Italian Gialli in the 60's and 70's. TORSO is an elegant Giallo with basically all of the main features of the genre: a psycopath who stabs (and not only...) young screaming, beautiful girls, black gloves, raincoats and masks, a desolated villa, suspence, blood and whatsoever...The final solution is maybe not as original as the explanation of a child thrauma which has puzzled the killer's mind forever.
ABE presents this movie totally uncut in Widescreen 1.85:1 enhanced for 16x9 TV with both Italian and English mono audio tracks (Some of the English soundtrack was either never recorded or lost and therefore some whole or parts of scenes are in Italian with English subtitles). Unfortunately, the only extra features available are two mesmerizing trailers, but the menus are a sight for sore eyes. It's worth it. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great Italian scifi
Hands of Steel is an often overlooked Italian scifi movie, from director Sergio Martino, the director of the best Italian post-apocaplyse movie, "After the Fall of New York". It stars Daniel Greene (the truck driver who died from "Falcon Crest"), as a cyborg named Paco Querack. He is ordered by his superiors to kill revolutionary environmentalist Arthur Mosely, but at the last second his conscience kicks in, and Paco lets him live. Paco is now on the run from the men who created him.

With great music from Claudio Simonetti (of Goblin) and featuring the last performance of Claudio Cassinelli (who died in a helicopter crash during the making of this movie), Hands of Steel is an excellent scifi film (although not quite post-apocalypse). ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Middling World War II Action-Adventure
By no means is "Casablanca Express" a great movie, but it is passable entertainment if you're not too discriminating and can accept some lapses in logic. Jason (son of Sean) Connery and Francesco (son of Anthony) Quinn are assigned to protect Winston Churchill who's travelling through North Africa on the Casablanca Express during World War II. The Germans are tipped off about Churchill's presence on the train and soon paratroopers capture the train and Churchill. It's up to Connery and Quinn (and the comely female agent Lorna) to rescue Mr. Churchill. Glenn Ford and Donald Pleasence have extended cameos as members of the Allied military brass in this European production. "Casablanca Express" makes a nice companion film to the superior "The Eagle Has Landed," wherein a team of German commandos attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Churchill on English soil.

The DVD, from Front Row, is another one of their budget releases, so don't expect too much. There are chapter breaks and biographies/filmographies for Connery and Pleasence, though the filmography for Pleasence, a prolific film actor, is missing many of his films. The film is presented full screen and the transfer, while not great, is acceptable for a budget release. The bottom line on "Casablanca Express" is that it's a fair time passer if you're not too demanding. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great Italian scifi
Hands of Steel is an often overlooked Italian scifi movie, from director Sergio Martino, the director of the best Italian post-apocaplyse movie, "After the Fall of New York". It stars Daniel Greene (the truck driver who died from "Falcon Crest"), as a cyborg named Paco Querack. He is ordered by his superiors to kill revolutionary environmentalist Arthur Mosely, but at the last second his conscience kicks in, and Paco lets him live. Paco is now on the run from the men who created him.

With great music from Claudio Simonetti (of Goblin) and featuring the last performance of Claudio Cassinelli (who died in a helicopter crash during the making of this movie), Hands of Steel is an excellent scifi film (although not quite post-apocalypse). ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Cheesy On A Level Rarely Imagined! But Fun!
After the emergence of John Carpenter's 1981 "Escape From New York," numerous cheap imitations appeared as if by magic. Made mostly by Italian filmmakers like Sergio Martino and Enzo G. Castellari, the Italian science fiction genre never got off the ground because it suffered from numerous fundamental failures. One deficit these directors encountered was meager budgets. Granted, "Escape From New York" did have a lower budget, but John Carpenter overcame this deficit quite nicely because even with less money (by American standards) his funds still towered over anything the Italians could ever hope to raise. Moreover, Carpenter's cast list for his science fiction epic boasted such notable talents as Kurt Russell, Harry Dean Stanton, Ernest Borgnine, Adrienne Barbeau, Isaac Hayes, and Donald Pleasance. With such a stellar ensemble as this one, Carpenter could hardly have failed to produce something worth watching. Sergio Martino's "2019: After The Fall of New York" cast is, with notable exceptions, largely forgettable, and the movie really suffers from a host of cheesy special effects because of budgetary restraints. Having said that, there is enough all around silliness in this film to keep a B movie fan hooting from beginning to end.

"2019: After the Fall of New York" begins with a voice over. According to this monologue, New York along with the rest of the country fell into nuclear chaos some twenty years before 2019. As the camera pans over a ravaged New York, we discover that the Euracs now occupy New York City and other regions of the former United States. These Euracs (an abbreviation referring to a confederation between Europe, Africa, and Asia) now roam through the blasted streets of New York City in search of the only fertile woman left on the planet. The Euracs need this woman in order to perpetuate their iron rule over this conquered territory. Moreover, the power to have children will also allow the Eurac confederation to finally vanquish any smoldering remnants of the PAN, the good guys of a Pacific-American orientation. The Euracs aren't completely sure PAN survives, but that's because they cannot see into the frigid realms of Alaska where PAN has its secret base. In the meantime, the Euracs spend their time riding around the ruins of New York on horses and attacking the local population with flamethrowers (always a good sign for this viewer) and weird laser guns shaped like cheesy crossbows. These thugs even dress in black capes complete with helmets that look a lot like catcher's masks. Those Euracs are nasty people!

Fortunately, the future of humanity has a hero in the form of Parsifal, played with iron-faced solidity by Michael Sopkiw. An American male model who only made four low budget films in his career, Sopkiw is sort of a hero to certain segments of the B movie fan base. Notice I say CERTAIN elements of the fan base because most people watching this film will roar with laughter over Sopkiw's acting skills. I know I did. This guy makes Joe Dallesandro look like Robin Williams. The good thing about saving the future, however, is that you do not need to be a good actor. When we first meet up with Parsifal, he's earning bucks and babes by taking part in a smash 'em up car derby somewhere out in Nevada. After winning this race by killing several opponents, Parsifal soon finds himself transported to PAN headquarters in Alaska, where the president of PAN (played by Edmund Purdom! What the heck is he doing in THIS?!?) informs our hero about a mission to rescue the last fertile woman. If Parsifal accomplishes this mission, he gets to take the girl and blast off the ruined earth in a hidden rocket ship. To help him on his assignment, the president sends a whopping back up force of two men along with Parsifal.

At this point, the movie really begins to pick up. Martino treats us to endless battle scenes as Parsifal and gang move through the streets of New York in search of the woman with the golden womb. The three heroes encounter street gangs, Eurac soldiers, a group of midgets, and a band of half man/half ape creatures during their quest. The whole thing is completely ridiculous, of course, and only gets more so as the picture progresses. In fact, you will be amazed at the imaginative leaps you will make just to keep up with the unfolding plot. The final segments of the film where Parsifal and the gang ride through a tunnel on the way out of the city should win an award for the hokiest action sequence ever filmed in motion picture history. There is some underlying message about hope for humanity throughout the film, but it is buried under layers of bad acting, metacheesy special effects, bad editing, and a lame script. The only thing that really appeals is the gore, with exploding heads and gunshot wounds aplenty in nearly every scene.

I find it difficult to condemn this movie, though, because it's too much fun to watch it. Especially amusing is George Eastman, an actor better known from such films as "Anthropophagus," in the role of Big Ape, the leader of the carnival gang. At one point in the film, you will hear the following line, "I'm from the stick people. You're Big Ape, right?" Need I say more? With lines like that, who needs big budget Hollywood productions? Amazingly, when you get done with the movie, you can look through the extras on this Media Blasters DVD. Extras? For a film of this caliber? You bet! Interviews with Sergio Martino, George Eastman, and Al Yamanouchi all appear on the disc, along with a short introduction to the film by an aging Michael Sopkiw. You simply cannot believe how cheesy this movie is, so only diehard B movie fans should spend time with this one.

The GREATEST film Micheal Sopkiw ever made!
From the mind of director Sergio Martino, this post nuke classic exemplifies the genre. Classic action, classic effects, and classic score by Oliver Onions!!
Includes a Bonus Commentary!

excellent post-apocalyptic fun
"After the Fall of New York" was one of the post-apocalyptic films that came out en masse in 1983 from italy. It's real title should be "After the Success of Escape from New York", as its location borrows rather heavily from that film. However, the plot is strikingly original, concerning the evil Euracs and the last fertile woman on earth (all the others were rendered sterile by the radioactivity). It has a very dark atmosphere, yet it is also very flamboyant and imaginative. However, if you don't like gore, you shouldn't see this movie (there are scenes with people getting their faces blown off, eyes gouged out, etc). Overall, it is an excellent movie, especially for fans of action, scifi, gore, post apocalyptic movies or "Escape from New York" (like myself). I garuntee you will have a fun time watching it!

Surprisingly good Italian post-apocalypse
After the success of such movies as "The Road Warrior" and "Escape From New York," The Italian low-budget movie industry started creating bunches of post-apocalypse movies, much like their famous "spaghetti westerns" and "sword-and-sandal" epics. Sometimes, they came up with a good one, surprisingly well thought out and offering genuine thrills and occasionally even a deeper meaning. This is one of those.

The story is set in the early 21st centry, some time after a nuclear war, when the Eurax (Europe-Asia-Africa union) has taken over much of the world, and people have become sterile. A gladiatorial warrior is recruited by the Pan-American Alliance to find and bring back the last fertile female, who happens to be somewhere in the ruins of New York, which is held by Eurax. In the couse of his adventure, we find various subterranean tribes of survivors and mutants, as well as the evil technocratic empire. There are messages about the potential dangers of technology and the power of love. Low-budget action legends George Eastman and Al Yamaguchi show up as leaders of survivor tribes. Eastman especially gets a surprisingly sensitive and important role as "Big Ape," the leader of a mutant carnival.

The production doesn't skimp on the gore or the grit. This isn't a "splatter" film in the traditional sense, but almost every bloody wound is shown in gory detail The setting in the post-apocalyptic world are suitably ugly for a collapsed society that is scavenging what it can and making do with what's falling apart. This is brought in to contrast by the clean, sterile, geometric designs in the Eurax fortress.

There is some cheapness to the special effects and of course it's all dubbed, but that goes with the territory in low-budget italian movies.

There is a haunting sense of loss throughout the movie, as if the filmakers actually believed that a nuclear war and the end of humanity was a terrible thing, not just a great setting for an action movie. ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Cannibal feast
Ok, I get started.

I saw the last 10 minutes of this flick on my local Tv and when I saw the lead girl I thought wow she's a beauty.

She was getting stripped and painted with blood to prepare her to be the cannibals godness and to sent her to her dead husband who she was looking.

When I saw that the flick was avaliable on Dvd I immediatly ordered.It has a good and reasonable prize and was full of extras and contains the restored version of the film uncut and uncensored.

Susan Stevenson(Andress) fly to New Guinea to find her missing husband who were on a expedition to find a sacred mountain full of cannibals and uranium.

The British consulate refuses helping her because of political issues,they led to a mysterious man Dr Edward Foster(a young Stacy Keach) a colleague of her husband and former expiditioner.

She convinces him to help her and organizes a expedition to find her husband.

When there they are attacked by animals,traps and loose all their men until they met Manolo and saves Susan from a cannibal.

In a helpful village they rested until another cannibal and former expeditioner kills a native girl and hurts Edward on his knee.

Instead of this flaw he decides to go further after the villagers expulse them from the village.

In the climb in the waterfalls Arthur doesn't help Edward and he feels down and dies.

When Manolo knows the true intentions of the mission they are captured by the cannibals.

The cannibals kills Arthur and eat all his flesh and keep Manolo tied up.

Finally they escaped via the river.

The flick contains graphic violence and sex equally given.

OK Italian Cannibal feast
Sergio Martino always delivers with his films. From the fast-paced action in After the Fall of New York to the mystery and shocking horror in Screamers. This film is no exception. It blends right in with Trap Them and Kill Them and Cannibal Ferox, yet another cheap but watchable Italian cannibal film. Lots of cheap gore, animal cruelty, and native exploitation, the usual fare. Aside from the awesome cast (Claudio Cassinelli, Ursula Andress, Antonio Marsina, and even STACEY KEACH!) this film has little to distinguish itself from the crop. I'd see Cannibal Holocaust instead. Keach's final scene is kinda funny in a way though, as is the ending which was completely ripped off by John Boorman's The Emerald Forest. If you've seen the cannibal "classics" such as Holocaust and Ferox, go ahead and give this one a whirl. It wont disappoint you, but wont really excite you either.

Complete version of a B-movie classic..
Let me start off by saying that I first saw this film many, many years ago. As a kid, I was blessed to have access to a tv station that held weekly horror and b-movie marathons, presenting many controversial films such as this one uncut and uncensored. So it was with fond memories that I sat down to watch this DVD that once again Anchor Bay has done a fine job with.
This film has been circulating with many different titles containing many different edits for several years known alternatively as Prisoner of the Cannibal God, Slave of the Cannibal God and Mountain of the Cannibal God. For hardcore cinephiles be advised that this is the most complete print containing many shocking scenes that were previously excised. This print is a full four minutes longer than the Slave of the Cannibal God print.
Now onto the film itself, I must agree with the majority of viewers in that I find the animal cruelty despicable and reprehensible, however even the most casual viewer of italian cannibal films knows that this is an unfortunate staple of these films starting with Umberto Lenzi's and Ruggero Deodato's epic cannibal films. Once you get past the horrible animal scenes in this film, you are left with a nicely crafted and reasonably well acted film that benefits greatly from the wonderful cinematography and exotic locales of Sri Lanka.
Though slow at times, the characters are interesting especially Andress and Keach, there is a good deal of action and intrigue and the gore and nudity is plentiful, though not as graphic as the softcore cannibal film Emmanuelle and the Last Cannibals. This film is certainly more enjoyable and watchable than bottom of the barrel trash like Cannibal Ferox and Eaten Alive.
The plot is simple enough: A beautiful young woman is escorted through the jungles to search for her missing and presumed dead husband, instead the search party encounters a vicious cannibal clan long thought to be extinct.
Again, I must reiterate that these films are an acquired taste but for someone looking for a good, gory and somewhat sleazy b-movie this just might fit the bill.
Anchor Bay presents this film letterboxed with theatrical trailer, photo gallery and a documentary with the director reminiscing about his film and its stars.

Worst Movie Ever?
What can I say about this movie?!? A rescue team sets out to find a woman's (Ursula Andress) husband. They spend most of the movie getting to a mountain top where her husband disappeared. Most of the rescue team is killed before they arrive (even Stacy Keach). Ursula Andress is stripped and covered with some red stuff (dye, blood, dead husband's goo??...who knows). Ursula escapes with the sole surviving man and they float down the river.

No gruesome deaths (except perhaps a snake's). No real story line. And definately, no acting ability used in this film. It had NO redeeming qualities what-so-ever (unless you really want to see Ursula naked). Wish I could have given it no stars!

Well-made and enjoyable cannibal hokum.
All you animal-loving losers ought to get some real worries to concern yourselves with. If you knew anything about the cannibal sub-genre of horror films, you'd recognize Mountain of the Cannibal God as a much more palatable and enjoyable example of this kind of fare when compared to the entries by such directors as Deodato and Lenzi. (Of course, you probably don't even know who they are.) And by the way, labelling it a "boring and stupid movie for boring and stupid individuals" is hardly a critical assessment. Reiterating it twice is simply pathetic. So go donate some money to crackpot organizations like PETA, chow down on a vegan burger or a big, heaping plate of soybean bacon, and leave the negative reviews to informed viewers who know what the hell they're talking about.

What's the big deal about filming the animals fighting to the death? One can see that kind of thing on the science and nature channels any given day of the week. And as for the iguana--well, it's not like it has a soul or anything, right? Or are you all a bunch of tree-huggers as well?

In fact, you've just prompted me to place an order for this DVD. Thanks for the inspiration! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Middling World War II Action-Adventure
By no means is "Casablanca Express" a great movie, but it is passable entertainment if you're not too discriminating and can accept some lapses in logic. Jason (son of Sean) Connery and Francesco (son of Anthony) Quinn are assigned to protect Winston Churchill who's travelling through North Africa on the Casablanca Express during World War II. The Germans are tipped off about Churchill's presence on the train and soon paratroopers capture the train and Churchill. It's up to Connery and Quinn (and the comely female agent Lorna) to rescue Mr. Churchill. Glenn Ford and Donald Pleasence have extended cameos as members of the Allied military brass in this European production. "Casablanca Express" makes a nice companion film to the superior "The Eagle Has Landed," wherein a team of German commandos attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Churchill on English soil.

The DVD, from Front Row, is another one of their budget releases, so don't expect too much. There are chapter breaks and biographies/filmographies for Connery and Pleasence, though the filmography for Pleasence, a prolific film actor, is missing many of his films. The film is presented full screen and the transfer, while not great, is acceptable for a budget release. The bottom line on "Casablanca Express" is that it's a fair time passer if you're not too demanding. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Cheesy On A Level Rarely Imagined! But Fun!
After the emergence of John Carpenter's 1981 "Escape From New York," numerous cheap imitations appeared as if by magic. Made mostly by Italian filmmakers like Sergio Martino and Enzo G. Castellari, the Italian science fiction genre never got off the ground because it suffered from numerous fundamental failures. One deficit these directors encountered was meager budgets. Granted, "Escape From New York" did have a lower budget, but John Carpenter overcame this deficit quite nicely because even with less money (by American standards) his funds still towered over anything the Italians could ever hope to raise. Moreover, Carpenter's cast list for his science fiction epic boasted such notable talents as Kurt Russell, Harry Dean Stanton, Ernest Borgnine, Adrienne Barbeau, Isaac Hayes, and Donald Pleasance. With such a stellar ensemble as this one, Carpenter could hardly have failed to produce something worth watching. Sergio Martino's "2019: After The Fall of New York" cast is, with notable exceptions, largely forgettable, and the movie really suffers from a host of cheesy special effects because of budgetary restraints. Having said that, there is enough all around silliness in this film to keep a B movie fan hooting from beginning to end.

"2019: After the Fall of New York" begins with a voice over. According to this monologue, New York along with the rest of the country fell into nuclear chaos some twenty years before 2019. As the camera pans over a ravaged New York, we discover that the Euracs now occupy New York City and other regions of the former United States. These Euracs (an abbreviation referring to a confederation between Europe, Africa, and Asia) now roam through the blasted streets of New York City in search of the only fertile woman left on the planet. The Euracs need this woman in order to perpetuate their iron rule over this conquered territory. Moreover, the power to have children will also allow the Eurac confederation to finally vanquish any smoldering remnants of the PAN, the good guys of a Pacific-American orientation. The Euracs aren't completely sure PAN survives, but that's because they cannot see into the frigid realms of Alaska where PAN has its secret base. In the meantime, the Euracs spend their time riding around the ruins of New York on horses and attacking the local population with flamethrowers (always a good sign for this viewer) and weird laser guns shaped like cheesy crossbows. These thugs even dress in black capes complete with helmets that look a lot like catcher's masks. Those Euracs are nasty people!

Fortunately, the future of humanity has a hero in the form of Parsifal, played with iron-faced solidity by Michael Sopkiw. An American male model who only made four low budget films in his career, Sopkiw is sort of a hero to certain segments of the B movie fan base. Notice I say CERTAIN elements of the fan base because most people watching this film will roar with laughter over Sopkiw's acting skills. I know I did. This guy makes Joe Dallesandro look like Robin Williams. The good thing about saving the future, however, is that you do not need to be a good actor. When we first meet up with Parsifal, he's earning bucks and babes by taking part in a smash 'em up car derby somewhere out in Nevada. After winning this race by killing several opponents, Parsifal soon finds himself transported to PAN headquarters in Alaska, where the president of PAN (played by Edmund Purdom! What the heck is he doing in THIS?!?) informs our hero about a mission to rescue the last fertile woman. If Parsifal accomplishes this mission, he gets to take the girl and blast off the ruined earth in a hidden rocket ship. To help him on his assignment, the president sends a whopping back up force of two men along with Parsifal.

At this point, the movie really begins to pick up. Martino treats us to endless battle scenes as Parsifal and gang move through the streets of New York in search of the woman with the golden womb. The three heroes encounter street gangs, Eurac soldiers, a group of midgets, and a band of half man/half ape creatures during their quest. The whole thing is completely ridiculous, of course, and only gets more so as the picture progresses. In fact, you will be amazed at the imaginative leaps you will make just to keep up with the unfolding plot. The final segments of the film where Parsifal and the gang ride through a tunnel on the way out of the city should win an award for the hokiest action sequence ever filmed in motion picture history. There is some underlying message about hope for humanity throughout the film, but it is buried under layers of bad acting, metacheesy special effects, bad editing, and a lame script. The only thing that really appeals is the gore, with exploding heads and gunshot wounds aplenty in nearly every scene.

I find it difficult to condemn this movie, though, because it's too much fun to watch it. Especially amusing is George Eastman, an actor better known from such films as "Anthropophagus," in the role of Big Ape, the leader of the carnival gang. At one point in the film, you will hear the following line, "I'm from the stick people. You're Big Ape, right?" Need I say more? With lines like that, who needs big budget Hollywood productions? Amazingly, when you get done with the movie, you can look through the extras on this Media Blasters DVD. Extras? For a film of this caliber? You bet! Interviews with Sergio Martino, George Eastman, and Al Yamanouchi all appear on the disc, along with a short introduction to the film by an aging Michael Sopkiw. You simply cannot believe how cheesy this movie is, so only diehard B movie fans should spend time with this one.

The GREATEST film Micheal Sopkiw ever made!
From the mind of director Sergio Martino, this post nuke classic exemplifies the genre. Classic action, classic effects, and classic score by Oliver Onions!!
Includes a Bonus Commentary!

excellent post-apocalyptic fun
"After the Fall of New York" was one of the post-apocalyptic films that came out en masse in 1983 from italy. It's real title should be "After the Success of Escape from New York", as its location borrows rather heavily from that film. However, the plot is strikingly original, concerning the evil Euracs and the last fertile woman on earth (all the others were rendered sterile by the radioactivity). It has a very dark atmosphere, yet it is also very flamboyant and imaginative. However, if you don't like gore, you shouldn't see this movie (there are scenes with people getting their faces blown off, eyes gouged out, etc). Overall, it is an excellent movie, especially for fans of action, scifi, gore, post apocalyptic movies or "Escape from New York" (like myself). I garuntee you will have a fun time watching it!

Surprisingly good Italian post-apocalypse
After the success of such movies as "The Road Warrior" and "Escape From New York," The Italian low-budget movie industry started creating bunches of post-apocalypse movies, much like their famous "spaghetti westerns" and "sword-and-sandal" epics. Sometimes, they came up with a good one, surprisingly well thought out and offering genuine thrills and occasionally even a deeper meaning. This is one of those.

The story is set in the early 21st centry, some time after a nuclear war, when the Eurax (Europe-Asia-Africa union) has taken over much of the world, and people have become sterile. A gladiatorial warrior is recruited by the Pan-American Alliance to find and bring back the last fertile female, who happens to be somewhere in the ruins of New York, which is held by Eurax. In the couse of his adventure, we find various subterranean tribes of survivors and mutants, as well as the evil technocratic empire. There are messages about the potential dangers of technology and the power of love. Low-budget action legends George Eastman and Al Yamaguchi show up as leaders of survivor tribes. Eastman especially gets a surprisingly sensitive and important role as "Big Ape," the leader of a mutant carnival.

The production doesn't skimp on the gore or the grit. This isn't a "splatter" film in the traditional sense, but almost every bloody wound is shown in gory detail The setting in the post-apocalyptic world are suitably ugly for a collapsed society that is scavenging what it can and making do with what's falling apart. This is brought in to contrast by the clean, sterile, geometric designs in the Eurax fortress.

There is some cheapness to the special effects and of course it's all dubbed, but that goes with the territory in low-budget italian movies.

There is a haunting sense of loss throughout the movie, as if the filmakers actually believed that a nuclear war and the end of humanity was a terrible thing, not just a great setting for an action movie. ... Read more