Somewhere in a parallel world free of the limitations of historical
accuracy: Ursus (Reg Park) is the leader of the Cherkessians, Zereteli
(Furio Meniconi) is the Prince of the Kirghiz, and the two people seem to
be at constant war with one another - stupid really since Ursus and Amiko
(Mireille Granelli), future queen of the Kirghiz, are secretly in love
with each other and tend to meet in some secret caves only Amiko has the
keys to. Of course, at home Amiko is pretty much forced into submission by
Zereteli, but she swears she won't go down with a fight. There is one
thing that really fans the conflict between the two parties: A wolfman who
apparently only kills Kirghiz, and thus Zereteli thinks Ursus is behind
this - and thus burns down one of the Cherkessian villages, blaming it on
the monster. Ursus meanwhile is out fighting the monster, and is gravely
injured by it. Ursus' brother Ilo (Ettore Mani) and his right hand Frido
(Claudio Ruffini) find the cave where Ursus and Amiko tend to meet and
accidently lock themselves in ... when Frido turns into the monster, and
Ilo has to kill him. So the monster is dead, right? Wrong of course, but
before it reappears, Ursus has to find out that Amiko is actually an evil
witch and his own slave Kato (Marķa Teresa Orsini) is the actual Amiko,
has to fight it out with Zereteli and his men, has to learn witch Amiko
has kidnapped Kato, is turned into the monster by Amiko, but is able to
save Kato nevertheless while the witch is killed and her caves are burned
to ashes. So yeah, everything ends happily pretty much. Pretty
much your typical peplum with horror elements attached to it, Ursus il
Terrore dei Kirghisi is a film that suffers from trying to tell a very
simple story (good vs evil, with good winning and evil represented by
black magic) in a way too long-winded and convoluted way. So additional to
the basic monstermovie plot (that could have been a fun basis for a peplum
if left unspoiled) we are presented with a complex plot full of political
intrigue, betrayal and the like - and before you know it, you've got no
idea (and have forgotten to care) what's going on. It's one of these films
where less would definitely have been more. Well, at least Ursus il
Terrore dei Kirghisi looks better from a directorial and stylistic
point of view than most peplum from the tail end of the genre's era, but
this still is not enough to really make the film worthwhile.
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