made with
sorry for the mistakes!
The Arena
A bizarre story as much as the persons who made it, this 1974 film,
look like a sort of Peplum absolutely out of time with a final like
"Women in prison" which it relies on the presence of attractive
actresses and above all on their features. Margaret Markov (who finds
the love of life during production) the blond statuary, protagonist of
some excellent exploitation films, meets again the great Pam Grier,
with whom she plays in the "Women in prison" "Black Mama, White Mama".
With them Lucretia Love and Marie Louise Sinclair complete a pretty
sexy female quartet that occasionally shows herself without clothes. On
the side we find a very bad Rosalba Neri and a noble Daniele Vargas,
without forgetting Paul Muller and a cameo of the good Salvatore
Baccaro.
A cast that indicates a production more than international, with Roger
Corman as producer and director of Joe D’Amato (uncredited but
who signs the Italian version as Michael Wotruba) and the first
direction of Steve Carver. According to various sources, our Aristide
was hired because the Italian part of the production did not trust
Carver and, as he said in an interview, he shot all the action scenes,
leaving the dialogues to the other.
So a film with a curious production, as much as the plot, as I said at
the beginning. Unfortunately, however, the brilliant idea of leaving
women the arena generating tantalizing fantasies in the male audience
remains a bit too chained. A few tit, as mentioned, there is also a
pair of totally naked bodies, but no struggle with torn clothes or
particularly bright bloodshed. Which, considering that there is Joe
D’Amato, is a bit disappointing.
The fight scenes are not so good, while must be recognized a certain commitment in recreating the Roman setting.
We are who knows why, in Brindisi, at the slave market, where some
female prisoners captured during the many Roman campaigns are selling.
They are bought in bulk for the homosexual noble Timarchus as servant.
The protagonists soon find themselves in the centre of the arena as a
new and original attraction, but the show does not satisfy the public
and therefore Timarchus obliges them to fight to the death.
Thus, led by Bodicia (Margaret Markov) and Mamawi (Pam Grier) they set up an escape which, as always, has alternate results.
Shot in Italy (Imdb also reports that Fellini would have visited the
set) it is a film, not memorable, but that for its various events
represents a very original work to be seen.
