Whipped: A Lesbian Romance

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The characters are SO unlikable that it's impossible to find it comedic. I started hitting the fast forward in hopes of finding some comedy but there just isn't any. Gordon Scott is tied and about to be whipped while his girlfriend is tied up to torture device in KERIM - SON OF THE SHEIK. Fun time for the whole family! The Torture Wheel scene from SWORDS WITHOUT A COUNTRY. The film itself is very benign. Strictly rated PG but then bam, here comes a very effective torture scene, which almost puts it in the R rated category. There seem to have been five basic Feats of Strength used in these situations in these pictures.. .

The serials of the 1930s were a source of inspiration but many of these scenes pre-date the serials since there was a PEPLUM explosion during the silent era and torture scenes were common in them as well. Politically, I find it fascinating that these scenes were permitted during the time the films were made.Mark Forest wrestles with a bad guy, in the mud, in MACISTE - GLADIATOR OF SPARTA. The first mud wrestling scene even put on screen? The film suddenly took an unexpectedly kinky turn. I believe that another influence may well have been the comic strips or "fumetti", which were as popular in Italy as anywhere else. "Flash Gordon" was popular all over Europe, and that strip had its share of torture, executions, and arena scenes. Clever, strikingly innovative, and beautifully filmed, Le Marquis de la Croix highlights the emergence of Mila Joya as an actress. Though she has few lines that are often blunted by the pain of torture, her performance is exemplary. The native Bolivian uses her physical expression, particularly her eyes, to tempt, seduce, and react to her torturer, who struggles against his own sexual arousal to complete his self-appointed task. From Le Marquis, Part One: The Museum by Rich Moreland, April 2017

Like so many things, these torture scenes existed since the days of silent cinema. It was a way to get a reaction from audiences : torturing the main character as a test of wills. But during the Golden Era, these torture scenes took a whole another level. This is mostly thanks to Cecil B DeMille, who's film, SIGN OF THE CROSS (1932), became a template of sorts for all films made afterwards. SIGN OF THE CROSS at it all : whipping, beastiality, sex slaves, forced lesbianism, you name it, it was in it. But as kinky as SOTC was the stuff that would appear in film of the 1950s and 1960s would even make DeMille blush. For example, the torture scene in DUEL OF THE TITANS (above right, Steve Reeves) is totally gratuitous. We see a stripped down Reeves on a cross, being turned around and whipped mercilessly. It just comes out of nowhere and we never see any consequences of that moment afterwards. But then few people complained about that scene, if you know what I mean. It added very little to the film except for some naughty sexiness. The numbers tell their own story. There are 300 points difference between Maleficarum and Le Marquis and almost 400 points between The Passion of Isabel and Maleficarum. That gives us an idea of how our films move in the world.These torture (aka kinky) moments were so common that when the more explicit films of the 1970s came along, people were already pretty much accustomed to seeing them in such films set in Antiquity and the next logical step was simply going even further, like what they did in CALIGULA (1979).

Torture wheel is a common device used in other PEPLUM films, including SODOM & GOMORRAh and THE INVINCIBLE BROTHERS MACISTE, just to name a couple. I have to admit that it was these scenes of "kinkiness"--torture, deathtraps, and Feats of Strength--that got me into the Peplum genre in the first place. The film with the most tortures and whippings and Feats of Strength is MACISTE IN KING SOLOMON'S MINES (above, with Wandisa Guida). I posted an image from it last Monday. It's a cornucopia of kinky torture scenes. Many fans of the PEPLUM genre love these scenes. They are the most requested scenes, aside from wrestling / fighting scenes. Maciste (Mark Forest) holds tons up or else he'll get crushed to death, just after invariably skewering his two friends with those blades. This scene can also be listed under 'Elaborate and impractical torture devices.' Both films directed by Antonio Leonviola, who has an incredible talent for these OTT scenes.It would pointless to enumerate all the films which have some of these scenes. In fact, it would probably be easier to list the few films that don't have such scenes. Just a couple weeks ago I uploaded such a scene from THE MIGHTY URSUS (below). The scene perfectly encapsulates the overtly kinky tone of these types of scenes. As a note, when MIGHTY URSUS was released on DVD in Spain, most of the torture scenes were trimmed down or removed. Too much for today's audiences. I can understand why the "kinky" scenes are among the most requested. They are some of the most iconic scenes in the entire Peplum genre. Another aspect that is primarily seen in films of the PEPLUM genre is the kinky overtones. It's an odd aspect. Practically every PEPLUM film has a torture scene, or whippings, or some extremely elaborate test of strength our hero has to endure to overcome the obstacles set up by evil villains. They are so common that they are, imo, synonymous with PEPLUM cinema. The frame grab used for "Swords Without A Country" doesn't tell very much. What is this "torture wheel" that is used in that picture? I don't know if it is available anywhere. If you're an Amanda Peet fan (and who isn't?), you might have been considering viewing this one. Don't. It's a mess.