This week’s pick is from the forgotten pages of colonial history which deals with the Italian colonization of Libya before WWII. Anthony Quinn stars as famed guerrilla leader Omar Mukhtar in Moustapha Akkad’s Lion of the Desert (1981) which was shot on location in Libya and was actually funded by Muammar-al-Gaddafi’s government. Other actors include Rod Steiger as Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, Oliver Reed as Governor Gen. Rodolfo Graziani, Raf Vallone (Col. Diodiece), and John Gielgud (Sharif El Gariani).

Lion of the Desert shows the audience the twenty year long war that had begun when Italy was trying to rebuild an empire across the shores of the Mediterranean ‘The Fourth Shore.’ Beginning in 1911, Italy poured men and materials into Libya in order to establish a colony in North Africa just as other European nations like the French in Algeria and the British in Egypt had. The local populations which was comprised of mostly desert tribesmen fought against the Italian invaders and conflict soon escalated.

Hoping that rebellion would be put down swiftly, the fighting in Libya proved disastrous for an army that was not prepared to fight a guerrilla war. When Mussolini and his Fascists came to power in 1922, the triumphant Caesar god proclaimed that Libya would belong to the Italians and that the glory of a new Roman Empire would be recognized in the world.

The film opens up with an old fashion news reel which shows the chaotic situations which were occurring in 1929. Rod Steiger (Mussolini) appoints a six Governor Gen. (Graziani) to Libya in hopes that his reputation for ruthless tactics will put an end to this costly war for the Italian nation. Once in a power of authority, Graziani implements plans for concentration camps, the killing of livestock, burning of crops, and other brutal tactics in order to break Mukhtar’s will and to cut off aid which was given to him by many Bedouin tribes across Libya.

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Make no mistake Spartacus: Blood and Sand is one terrific series. After a slightly rocky start, it has quickly matured and become one of the most popular and successful in premium cable’s history. Obviously, we love it here at The Flickcast and have brought you a whole bunch of coverage to hopefully bring even more fans into the fold.

Helping to achieve that goal will be the series imminent debut on Blu-ray and DVD. Coming from Anchor Bay Entertainment, the four-disk set will include a whole bunch of new features and extras. Some of those include hours of bonus features which take you behind the scenes of the making of the show with interviews and commentaries from the actors and filmmakers, augmented with rare production footage exploring the series’ visual effects, production and costume design.

In addition, the release will feature enhanced digital effects for several of the episodes and as a Blu-ray exclusive, four episodes have been selected as “Directors’ Cut Extended Episodes” and will feature content considered “too risque’” even for cable. Other bonuses include featurettes such as “Gladiator Camp”, “The Hole” and “History Rewritten”, behind-the-scenes footage, audio commentaries, interviews, outtakes and more.

Given all the bonus features and extended episodes it seems like Starz and Anchor Bay are giving this release the attention and care it deserves. If you haven’t had a chance to see Spartacus: Blood and Sand yet, do yourself a favor and pick it up on Blu-ray or DVD. It’s a great show and you’ll be glad you did.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand The Complete First Season arrives on Blu-ray and DVD September 21st. Until then, check out this trailer for the release after the break.

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Since Tarantino and Rodriguez reintroduced the allure of the Grind House genre to an unsuspecting worldwide audience, original films and scripts from that time have been fair game for studios to snatch up and update for the modern audience. Rogue continued that trend last year by rebooting Wes Craven’s classic Last House On The Left. It opened with moderate success, and now it’s Anchor Bay’s turn, with a reboot of 1978′s I Spit On Your Grave (also known as Day of the Woman).

For those not in the know,  this is basically the ultimate revenge flick, updated for the modern, jaded youth with ultra sex and hyper violence. Need more? Here’s the film’s full synopsis.

Writer Jennifer Hills (Sarah Butler) takes a retreat from the city to a charming cabin in the woods to start on her next book. But Jennifer’s presence in the small town attracts the attention of a few morally deprived locals who set out one night to teach this city girl a lesson. They break into her cabin to scare her. However, what starts out as terrifying acts of humiliation and intimidation, quickly and uncontrollably escalates into a night of physical abuse and torturous assault. But before they can kill her, Jennifer sacrifices her broken and beaten body to a raging river that washes her away. Against all odds, Jennifer Hills survived her ordeal. Now, with hell bent vengeance, Jennifer’s sole purpose is to turn the tables on these animals and to inflict upon them every horrifying and torturous moment they carried out on her… only much, much worse.

Just hitting the web is the trailer to this frightening remake, and we can honestly admit that this remake plans on doing the original film justice.

Check out the full trailer after the jump, and be sure to catch the full film in theaters and Unrated on October 8th. No word on how a lack of MPAA rating will effect distribution, but be sure that we’ll be the first in line when this flick hits our local theater.

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