El monstruo de Creta

In ancient Crete, a monster called the Minotaur can only be satisfied by virgin sacrifices. The evil ruler of Crete is determined to keep the monster happy by sacrificing as many of the island's virgins as he can, but a pair of friends determine to kill the monster and stop the sacrifices.

Director Silvio Amadio is unfortunately not well known, perhaps best remembered for "Wolves of the Deep" (1959), and even that is rather obscure. Star Bob Mathias has a much more fascinating biography -- he was a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a Marine Corps officer, actor and Republican Congressman representing the state of California.

For movie buffs, the most recognizable might be Paul Mueller, who would go on to appear in a few 60s and 70s horror films by Jess Franco, including his version of "Count Dracula".

Anyway, that was all just to full space. You should watch this.

Theseus of Athens (Bob Mathias, an actual Olympian) and his companion Demetrio (Rik Battaglia) rescue beautiful Ariadne (Rosanna Schiaffino) from brigands, only to discover that she is the twin sister of wicked Phaedra, princess of Crete (also Rosanna Schiaffino), who has no filial love for this potential rival for the throne. The malignant princess' power in Minos is maintained by fear of the Minotaur, a fearsome beast imprisoned in a labyrinth beneath the palace in Minos, a God to whom Phaedra sacrifices dissenters and their families. As Italian sword and sandal quasi-epics go, this one is not too bad. Decathlete Matthias has a heroic physique (although not quite as impressive as that depicted in the posters), the fight scenes are entertaining (despite numerous unconvincing armpit stabbings), and the women, especially Ariadne have skimpy outfits and very big...hair. The final showdown with the titular monster comes very late in the film and is somewhat anticlimactic as the film's Minotaur does not much resemble homo-bovine hybrid of myth. The film is a simple adventure that would appeal to kids but does contain some grim scenes of torture. I watched an adequately English-dubbed version on TCM which was OK, but there were some very abrupt cuts (when a woman's blouse is pulled off during the attack on Ariadne's village or when a character gets a red-hot poker in the eye) that suggests that a more 'adult' version may have been lensed. Entertaining but not great (but 'great' is not what the genre is known for).

The legend of Theseus finding his way through the Cretan maze in order to battle the Minotaur and rescue Ariadne is one of the great tales in Greek mythology. Alas, this version takes the tale and dilutes it into the standard "sword and sandal" plot. You know how it goes. The coldly-beautiful but evil queen lusts after the handsome, muscular hero. He already has a girlfriend and is a foe of tyranny and so spurns the queen. She's outraged, has the girlfriend imprisoned, and subjects the hero to a torturous trial. He triumphs, frees the girlfriend, and overthrows the tyrant. Grateful citizens cheer the happy couple. The End.

Steve Reeves might have been able to lift this mixture to a higher level but in his place we have ex-Olympics champion, Bob Mathias. Mathias is an affable sort and he's given an opportunity to show off his athletic prowess by engaging in a display of javelin throwing, pole vaulting, and discus throwing. He also looks pretty good with his shirt off, though not quite as good as you'd hope and he seems a bit self-conscious about baring his chest. On a more troubling note, however, his personality is bland, his acting ability no more than passable, and he lacks the swaggering sexuality needed to give his character that necessary edge.

Rosanna Schiaffino gets to play the evil queen as well as her virtuous twin sister. She's good at being bad but bad at being good. As for the Minotaur, traditionally represented with the head of a bull, it's poorly depicted here as a stunt-man dressed in sort of a King Kong suit, and the climatic battle between Theseus and the Minotaur doesn't deliver the expected thrills. Also, little is made of the strand of yarn which leads Theseus out of the maze, and the Minoan culture is only vaguely hinted at in the sets and costumes.

And once again, the movie bungles the torture scene. Theseus winds up in the queen's torture chamber, chained to a wall, but he's modestly allowed to keep on the top of his tunic! So when the torturer approaches with the red-hot iron, he must reach out and make a discreet rip in the hero's shirt in order to expose a bit of bare flesh next to the hero's left nipple. Hey, this is a "sword and sandal" movie featuring a muscular actor as its star. Why not rip that shirt all the way off and put the hero's sweaty torso on proper display?

King of Crete named Minos (Carlo Tamberlani) has two daughters , one good named Ariadna and one evil named Fedra (Rosanna Schiaffino in a double role). Fedra orders Sciron (Alberto Lupo) to kill Ariadna , but the murderer fails thanks to Teseo , prince of Athens , and Demetrio (Rick Battaglia). Fedra rules over Crete and supported by Scirion wage war Athens . Athenians are defeated and obligated to tribute of fourteen maids for feed minotaur , a horrible monster , part human and part bull . Meanwhile , Teseo taking on Fedra and Sciron , when Ariadna goes into the cave of the monster and using the famous thread.

This ¨Sword and Sandals¨ movie packs adventures , fights , mythology , impressive battles , spectacular scenarios and results to be quite amusing . The film confronts ¨Greek culture¨ as pacific , civilized , luxurious and ¨Crete or Minoic culture¨ as cruel , brutal and worshipping Gods with human sacrifices included . However , from discovery Crete by archaeologist ¨Evans¨ is considered Crete a very developed civilization , above average the countries by that time . In fact , the palace of Knososs in Crete -partially reflected on the movie- was the greatest and luxurious for that time . Furthermore , the picture mingles wrongly the Crete setting from 1600 B.C. with Greeks dressed like V century . The film is starred by Bob Mathias , an US athlete , twice world champion decathlon and justifying his fans , he plays some scenes demonstrating his abilities , along with another starring , Rick Battaglia . The pic contains evocative cinematography by Giordani and atmospheric musical score by Carlo Rustichelli accompanying the usual dancing choreography . The motion picture was well directed by Silvio Amadio who filmed another Peplum set in Babylone titled ¨Seven thunderbolts¨ . Rating : Acceptable and passable . The film will appeal to muscle-man sub-genre buffs.

In legendary times, the Cretans offered their children as sacrifices to the Minotaur. The movie starts with such a sacrifice. King Minos' wife Pasiphae is on her death bed. She reveals that Princess Fedra has a twin, Arianna who was raised as a Greek peasant. Fedra sends out her loyal guard Chirone to kill her rival. Teseo, son of King Aegeus of Athens, and his Cretan friend Demetrio happen upon the massacre and manage to rescue Arianna.

The acting is pretty bad and the dubbing does not help. Italian beauty Rosanna Schiaffino does better than most. Olympian Bob Mathias needs to go shirtless all-the-time to show off his form. He does get to do a few decathlon events. This is a cast of hundreds and the scale of production is pretty good. This spaghetti swords and sandals flick is not the worst. This should hinge on The Minotaur and The Labyrinth. Sadly, that is a bit of a disappointment.