In Roma contro Roma (AKA War of the Zombies), an army of undead Roman soldiers engage in a battle with the living, who are shocked to find that their supernatural enemy is invulnerable. Sounds great, but this is a cheapo peplum from 1964, so the aforementioned scenes are less than impressive, director Giuseppe Vari employing a multi-coloured smoke optical effect in an attempt to add an eerie atmosphere, but largely obscuring the action in the process. The rest of the film isn't up to much either, the plot a rambling, incoherent mess of treachery, evil and deceit, as brave centurion Gaius (Ettore Manni) embarks on a mission to find some stolen Roman treasure, crossing paths with traitor Lutetius (Mino Doro) and his wicked wife Tullia (Susy Andersen), and malevolent magician Aderbad (John Drew Barrymore).
Quite how Vari makes matters so dull is beyond me, but boring is what this is, the film plodding from one unexciting scene to another, culminating in the battle with the undead that, somehow, is just as tedious as everything before it. Vari had obviously been taking notes while watching Bava's Hercules in the Haunted World and attempts to emulate that film's colourful aesthetic; instead, he should have been focussing his efforts on telling a decent story. Manni is forgettable as the hero (Reg Park and Steve Reeves might not be great thespians, but at least they have screen presence) and Barrymore looks ridiculous in his wig, fake beard, orange face make-up and eye-liner. Ida Galli as Gaius's love interest Rhama is pretty but surprisingly bland; Andersen is much better as the sexy villainess.
2.5/10, generously rounded up to 3 for IMDb.
