The Bloody Pit #36 - THE NEW BARBARIANS (1983)

Pasta-pocalypse time on The Bloody Pit! I am joined once again by Troy and Jeff to talk about a piece of Italian sleaze and this time we finally delve into the world of MAD MAX/THE ROAD WARRIOR rip offs. Director Enzo Castellari was a veteran of low budget genre cinema by the early 80's and he knew how to stretch a dollar to make things work. When he made this film he was in the middle of a string of such sci-fi adventures that owed as much to the dystopian worlds of Miller's Mad Max as they did to Carpenter's dark future from ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. All these influences swirl around mixed with a standard Western plot, silly hair styles, ridiculous cars, silly weapons and dangerous stunt work to create a fun, bizarre and occasionally sadistic ride. The fact that the amazing Fred Williamson is on hand to keep the grins flowing is only part of the entertainment on view. After all - we have to find a way to survive the end of civilization and start over again, right? Or are we just looking for victory? Don't ask Nadir.

After a brief discussion of the media that we've been checking out lately, your Three Stooges dive into a detailed breakdown of THE NEW BARBARIANS. We examine the odd design and talk about how the western story template makes for a good jumping off point for an action tale. We discuss the cast, the clever ways the production dealt with budgetary issues and the nepotism that shows up in every Castellari film. We spend some time on the mighty George Eastman (a.k.a. Luigi Montefiori) and his impressive career and marvel at the talents of Williamson as he brightens the movie in ways only he can manage. We get a kick out of analyzing the strange sexual politics of the story as Troy points out a way that this film is unique among it's post-apocalyptic brethren. And of course, we smile and laugh at the insane gunfights, slow motion car crashes and exploding dummies along the way. Man - I Love exploding dummies! Truly, a good time was had by all.

We can be reached at thebloodypit#gmail.com if you have anycomments or questions. Next month Troy and I will be back on the NaschyCast feed covering some Spanish Horror again while I'll be trying to get the long delayed LOGAN'S RUN episode off the ground. Let us know what you think and if there are any movies you think we should pay attention to as we venture down the road. Thanks for downloading and listening.