When I first looked over Mario Bava’s body of work, seeing his early period dominated by films in assorted genres like the Viking picture, I expected work more generic or chameleon-like from him. Instead, Bava, using his background as cinematographer and assistant director, was making everything his own visually from the start. So, Erik the Conqueror, Viking adventure, ends up kind of exactly what one would imagine a Mario Bava Viking adventure to be. Also, since Bava cowrote the film (along...