June 20: Junesploitation’s topic of the day — as suggested by F This Movie— is Free Space! We’re excited to tackle a different genre every day, so check back and see what’s next.

Also known as Sopravvissuti della città morta (Survivors of the Dead City), this was directed by Antonio Margheriti and written by Giovanni Paolucci (who worked with Bruno Mattei* on his late career movies like The Tomb and Island of the Living Dead) and Giovanni Simonelli (Hansel e Gretel, Jungle Raiders).

Instead of Indiana Jones, we get Rick Spear (David Warbeck), a safecracker who travels to Istanbul to steal the spear of Gilgamesh from a cult. He brings along his girlfriend Carol, who he calls “Pussycat,” (Susie Sudlow in her only movie) and his buddies Mohammed (Ricardo Palacios) and Bettle (Luciano Pigozzi) to accomplish the impossible — breaking into the tomb and getting away in one piece — for the man who hired him, Lord Dean (John Steiner).

The miniatures are the real stars of this movie, as Margheriti somehow gets you to believe that Rick is driving a Trans Am around these ancient structures and that he’s not just shooting toy cars on miniature sets.

Rick also says, “Why didn’t you tell me this job called for Roger Moore!” at one point, which is funny, as at one point Warbeck was considered to play James Bond.

Nearly everyone in front of and behind the camera — Margheriti, Warbeck, Steiner, Pigozzi, cinematographer Sandro Mancori, editor Alberto Moriani, assistant director Edoardo Margheriti and voice/dubbing editor Nick Alexander — had already made another Raiders of the Lost Ark movie, 1982s The Hunters of the Golden Cobra. As far as I’m concerned, they could have just kept making them because I’d watch them all.

That set at the end, with all the red light and shaking camera and dry ice? That’s why I keep coming back to Italian movies.

*Speaking of Bruno Mattei, he totally stole scenes from this movie and used them in his 1988 Namsploitation movie Cop Game.