1974's The Arena is a rare collaboration between U.S. and Italian exploitation exponents
and the result is not all that bad either: director Carver, executive
producer Roger Corman, producer Mark Damon, editor Joe Dante and co-star Pam Grier on one
side, and cinematographer Joe D'Amato, composer Francesco De Masi and
supporting actors Paul Muller and Rosalba Neri on the other. The film
supplies a novelty to the Roman gladiator subgenre – which had seen
service in many an Italian and Hollywood spectacular during the Golden
Age of such fare, and would of course be revived with the Malta-shot
GLADIATOR (2000) – by presenting us female combatants: in this respect,
it recalls the contemporaneous "Amazon Women" flicks (and the girls
here are even addressed as such at one point!) also emanating from
Italy.
Legendary Pam Grier, & her legendary boobs.
the Ying Yang of sexyness.
Don't ya die on me honey, I need your cum to feed off of.
The plot starts off with a number of them (including statuesque blonde
Margaret Markov and buxomy black Grier – the two had actually already
appeared together in BLACK MAMA, WHITE MAMA and, for the record, the former would marry Damon
and retire from acting not long afterwards!) from different tribes
being separately captured and sold as slaves to work for the Romans at
the arena, under the supervision of Neri. Muller, then, is a politician
who, as if taking a leaf from any of the Jess Franco movies he had
appeared in, rapes Markov in front of his peers as a demonstration of
his power! As befits its pedigree, the film is filled with wall-to-wall
violence and nudity (much of it gratuitous) but also other potentially
tasteless ingredients – but who can carp when everything is clearly
done in fun? – such as the presence of a sissy overseer.
Clean that filthy pussy you slut!
Blaxploitation Bush meets Whitexploitation Bushes.
Not with my clothes on!
At first, the girls are made to offer comfort to the male combatants
the night before the latter are "about to die" – but, when they break
into a veritable catfight in the kitchen, the flustered organizer of
the bouts suddenly sees a ray of light in order to inject new blood (no
pun intended) into the worn-out formula! Soon, the women (one of whom,
annoyingly, is shown to be perennially drunk) begin to realize that
someday they may have to kill each other: Grier is the first to have to
make this difficult choice but only after her hesitation causes an
archer to shoot an arrow and wound her (the result of her not complying
with the arena-goers' thumbs down)!; the victim happens to be the love
interest of their trainer, a Tor Johnson look-alike(!) who then changes
loyalties and determines to help the girls escape. Eventually, the
latter take control of the arena and exact a terrible revenge upon
their captors (but also one of their number who had ingratiated herself
with the 'enemy'); when the Roman militia sets out in pursuit, they
(or, rather, the two protagonists since they predictably emerge as the
sole survivors) escape through the caves to the safety of the sea. The
film, essentially a variation on the Women-In-Prison flicks that were
very popular around this permissive time, was actually remade by
Russian director Timur (NIGHT/DAY WATCH) Bekmambetov in 2001!
Oh my fucking god not in the ass please!
Shit, this oldman had a fit after I swallowed his cum.
You better get wet for your next battle sis.
Overall, The Arena, AKA, La rivolta delle gladiatrici is an interesting mixture of two very different kinds of exploitation
film. On one hand, it's basically a Roger Corman women-in-prison film
(complete with lots of showers, catfights, and a big bust-out at the
end)featuring WIP regulars Pam Greir and Margaret Markhof. On the other
hand, it is an Italian "peplum" that was reputedly largely directed by
its Italian cinematographer Joe D'Amato and which also stars the
luscious Italian actress Rosalba Neri (aka Sarah Bay) as the villianess
making her return to the peplum dramas that had made her (semi)famous
in the 1960's.
As a Corman film it's not too bad. It has his usual trademark of faux
feminism and gratuitous female nudity (by Grier, Markhof, and some of
the other slave/prisoners)and it's very formulaic right down to the
death of likable innocent(s) and the revenge plot at the end.
Unfortunately, it's also a little too tame--it's certainly nowhere near
as sleazy as what we've come to expect from the notorious Joe D. I was
also personally disappointed at how much they wasted Neri. Not only
does she not get naked (a lesbian scene with her and Grier or Markhof
would certainly have been memorable), but as a villain she comes off
kind of bland--not nearly what she showed she's capable of in films
like "Amuck", "Top Sensation", and "Lady Frankenstein".
I love seethrough dresses, don't we all love'em?
The roman fap dance.
I guess whether you like this or not will depend on whether you're more
of a Corman and Grier fan (in which case it's pretty OK) or whether
you're a D'Amato and Neri fan (in which case you'll probably be a
little disappointed)
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