Goliath And The Barbarians (aka Il Terrore Dei Barbari) (1959)

Set in 6th century Italy during the "Barbarian" invasions, when a small village is devastated by the pillage, rape and killing of its citizens by barbarian tribes, a young man (Steve Reeves) vows to avenge the death of his father and destroy as many of the barbarian tribe as he can. Directed by Carlo Campogalliani, this may be the best of the Steve Reeves Italian sword and sandal epics (which isn't saying much) but it lacks the imagination of his HERCULES or even HERCULES UNCHAINED. Reeves seems to easily conquer the barbarians by beating them with a big stick of some kind while it seems odd that it never occurs to the barbarians to shoot him with an arrow. The battle scenes are handled nicely and cinematography by Bitto Albertini often has a nice rich look to it and the Les Baxter score (for the U.S. cut) is stirring. The exotic Chelo Alonso as the daughter of a barbarian ruler, and Reeves' love interest, has a couple of sexy dance numbers. With Andrea Checchi and Bruce Cabot (the original KING KONG) makes an appearance.