Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution support
provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has added a new Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack 2K
restoration (from the original camera negative) of director Mario Bava’s 1961
adventure saga, Erik the Conqueror (1963 for the domestic English-language
theatrical release), to its Aug. 29 release calendar.
OK, the history might be a little muddled, but the Vikings
are raiding England (prior to 1066) and one of the princes is captured and
raised by an English queen during a raid in 786. We flash-forward 20 years and the kid, Erik
(George Ardisson — Juliet of the Spirits, Django Defies Sartana, etc.) is now an
English duke and his brother, Eron (Cameron Mitchell) is, by virtue of a fight
to the death, the head of the Viking invaders.
Through some clever double-dealings, Sir Rutford (Andrea
Checchi), an English nobleman, betrays Erik, who ends up as a Viking prisoner —
he nevertheless has time to fall in love with a Viking woman named Rama (Alice
Kessler), who just happens to be the twin sister of Daya (Ellen Kessler,
Alice’s twin sister in real life) … she, in turn, is in love with Eron.
So we have brother against brother, but they don’t know that
they are brothers. And we have twin
sisters in love with the brothers. Bring it on!
Bonus features include viewing options for both the original
Italian-language audio track or the English-dubbed domestic theatrical version
(which, as mentioned, arrived on these shores two years after being released in
Europe), commentary by author Tim Lucas (“Mario Bava – All the Colors of the
Dark”) and the featurette titled “Gli Imitatori” (a comparison of Erik
the Conqueror with director Richard Fleischer’s 1958 box office smash, The
Vikings, starring Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh).
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