Erik the Conqueror [dir. Mario Bava]

I haven't seen The Vikings (Richard Fleischer) which is supposed to have been a HUGE inspiration for Mario Bava's Viking movie Erik the Conqueror aka Gli Invasori (The Invaders). I don't think Bava was too interested in an authentic representation of Viking culture, substituting fjords and rivers with some clearly studio-made exotic subterranean cave with a huge fake tree in it. There are also dances from slinky women clad in diaphanous outfits that would see them shivering in actual Viking climes. The scenes of people sailing in longboats are clearly done on a studio set without any water (I think they just move the camera on a dolly to give the illusion of motion).

The plot is about two brothers, sons of a Viking king killed in battle with the English by betrayal. They are separated as children - Erik (Giorgio Ardisson) is found by the English queen and brought up as her own son, while Eron (Cameron Mitchell) is raised by his uncle and poised to become the next Viking-king. These 2 also happen to fall in love with twin sisters, who are vestal virgins (in Viking culture?) and do the dancing in diaphanous outfits. There's a convoluted plot which involves an evil British regent who actually engineered the death of the brothers' dad and is continuously scheming to gain control of the British throne, even if it means handing over the castle keys to the Viking invaders.

This is a melodramatic adventure movie, in which a fair amount of the script feels like it was being made up or shuffled around on a daily basis. More than the brothers or their lady loves, it is François Cristophe as the British Queen and Andrea Checci as the scheming regent who make an impact. Erik the Conqueror is not one of Bava's more distinctive directorial features, but it has its moments. The action scenes, given that this would have not got even a tenth of a Hollywood studio film's budget are fairly well done, with multiple planes of fighting (although there are some obvious repeated shots of people being felled). I'm sure Bava biographer Tim Lucas' commentary, which is included on the Arrow blu-ray I watched it on, will give some revealing insights into how specific scenes were filmed and how Bava used his VFX expertise to conceive and execute scenes well above the production's meager means.