The New Barbarians
by Enzo G. Castellari
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Andrea Coppola, Anna Kanakis, Mark Gregory, Timothy Brent, Zora KerovaDirector: Enzo G. Castellari
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 91 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-10-26
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Shriek Show
Movie Reviews of The New Barbarians
Movie Review: Calling all cheese lovers!
Summary: 5 Stars
God, I love these cheesy Italian post-apocalyptic actioners! I can't get enough of the lousy special effects, the ludicrous dialogue, the ham-fisted action sequences, the outrageous costumes, and the supremely bad dubbing! I owe Media Blasters a kiss on the cheek and a pat on the back for digging these clunkers up, cleaning up the picture, and transferring them to DVD with scads of extras. They haven't released very many of them, about three so far I think, but it's obvious they will likely release more in the future. The one I'm waiting for is David Worth's "Warrior of the Lost World," a movie so bad that the team from MST3K viciously harpooned it. Until that glorious day arrives, however, I content myself by watching films like "The New Barbarians." This is the latest Media Blasters contribution, a movie that contains nearly every element we've come to expect in an Italian post-apoc flick, namely all of the abovementioned traits plus Fred Williamson and George Eastman. The director is none other than old favorite Enzo G. Castellari, a man who needs little introduction to fans of this and nearly every other Italian exploitation genre of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Oh yeah!
Sometime after the world went to heck in a hand basket, humanity struggles to survive in a harsh world. Well, I think it's humanity, but it might only be a bunch of dirty Italians in ripped clothing if this movie is any indication. Anyway, a group of harmless people picks up a radio signal hinting at some semblance of civilization, but when they try to discover its source they run smack dab into a gang of murderous thugs called the Templars. Led by One (George Eastman), these goons cruise around the countryside in tricked up golf carts while wearing uniforms consisting of shiny white padding and goofy helmets. Their idea of a good time is killing off groups of survivors, like the one above, because they don't think humanity should rebuild after the nuclear conflagration. Or some such nonsense. Anyway, their golf cart cruisers have lots of neat weapons that pop out at the push of a button and can lop off heads and blow huge, gaping holes in people. It looks like the Templars are pretty much unstoppable: they are well organized in a time of confusion, have a philosophy that they stick to, and they don't tolerate weakness even within their own organization.
Into this mix drives Scorpion (Giancarlo Prete), a sour faced hero with a Chuck Barris coif who drives a fancy car and doesn't like the Templars. With the help of his bow and exploding arrow carrying friend Nadir (Fred Williamson), Scorpion plans on defeating the Templars and making the world safe for humanity. This entails a lot of overdone car chases, exploding bodies and heads, some lovin' in a tent, and occasional visits to a kid who fixes up the car (Giovanni Frezza billed as "Young Mechanic"). If you've seen any of these films before, you know there isn't more to it than that. There's a big showdown where Scorpion, Nadir, and Young Mechanic make mincemeat out of the Templar baddies that is worth a laugh or two. And there's the requisite honeys roaming around in dire need of saving--in this case Alma (Anna Kanakis). You just know Scorpion will win the day. You just know One will bite the big one (pun intended). And you know as the movie shudders to a halt that you'll sit in open mouthed awe that a film like "The New Barbarians" not only got made but probably had a theatrical run somewhere back in the early 1980s. Hey, it's not impossible; I saw Joe D'Amato's "Ator" on the big screen during roughly the same time period.
What's not to love about this tacky sleazefest? Well, Giovanni Frezza comes to mind. He's the actor who played the annoying kid in Lucio Fulci's "House by the Cemetery," and he's grown no less irritating here. His dubbed voice and dumb laughter coupled with the idea of having him proficient in the art of deadly slingshot warfare tends to grate after, oh, two or three seconds. Aside from Frezza's grating presence, "The New Barbarians" consists of one belly laugh after another. The sound effects for everything from the vehicles to the weapons sound like something whipped up on a cheap Radio Shack keyboard. And everything makes a noise in this film, EVERYTHING. It's beep, blat, whee, whiz, and a thousand other sounds from start to finish. The future is, if nothing else, a rather noisy place. It's also a rather sadistic place as evidenced by what One and his fellow Templars do to Scorpion when they capture him. Whew mamma! Never, EVER bend down to pick something up around these guys! That scene'll stay with you long after the movie ends, let me tell you! Throw in tons of over the top gore and a rather effective drum and synthesizer score from Claudio Simonetti and you've got a great way to spend an hour and change.
Media Blasters always manages to find plenty of extras for obscure films, and the disc for "The New Barbarians" is no exception. We get an Enzo G. Castellari commentary track, a trailer, and bonus trailers for "Hell High," "Duck: The Carbine High Massacre," "The Bronx Warriors," and "2019: After the Fall of New York." The Castellari commentary is definitely the high point seeing as how the man tries to tell us what he tried to accomplish with the movie. Whether he succeeded or not shouldn't matter; this is a fun film that cheese lovers the world over should rejoice in. Definitely give this one a go if you like movies with a high crud quotient.
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