Hercule l'invincible

Super-buffed bodybuilder, Dan Vadis, as Argolese, certainly made for a mighty impressive son of Hercules, even though, according to ancient legend, Hercules never had any sons.

As our story in this Italian import unfolds - Argolese falls head-over-heels in love with Telca, daughter of King Tedaeo, whose great kingdom is being held in thrall by the fierce army forces of the evil queen, Etel.

Somewhere along the way Argolese (accompanied by his chubby, comic sidekick, Barbar), manages to fight off attacks from lions, bears, and even a nasty-tempered dragon, too.

Following his brief stint as a son of Hercules, chiseled muscleman Dan Vadis (1938-1987) went on to appear in 3 Clint Eastwood films - "High Plains Drifter", "Bronco Billy" and "Any Which Way You Can".

The soundtrack truly has beauty this movie almost doesn't deserve. This flick has Ercole fighting against a lion (to save the princess) and a bear, who follows the buffo for the honey the bad guys have smeared on his face before they tried to sacrifice him. There's also a scene where Vadis has to withstand 4 (!) elephants who try to tear him apart. The dragon-fight is taken as footage from the movie "Le fatiche d'Ercole", and the dancing scenes are also obviously "stolen" from another Italian masterpiece. You see Vadis running around in the caves of the cruel subterranean people (who love to sacrifice kids in order to gain their youth and women for their beauty) and beating up their soldiers, a cowardly comic relief character at his side who presents a contrast to Herc's unfailing braveness. The complete second half of the movie plays in the caves and becomes a little tiresome after a while. The opening sequence of the film is perfect though...in its own way.

I suppose we must allow a certain degree of cinematic licence here as the chunky Dan Vadis - our eponymous hero - has to combat a dragon (not one of his labours, methinks) after he has rescued a beautiful princess ("Teica" - Spela Rozin) from a couple of hungry lions. He had been promised the princess's hand in marriage after this but when he returns from his quest, he discovers that the kingdom is under new management - "the Demelus" - who live deep inside a mountain. It now falls to "Hercules" to rescue his girl, free their enslaved people and not to get torn limb from limb by some elephants. If you are expecting high cinema drama here, then you will certainly be disappointed. It's just your usual sword and sandals sort of effort with plenty of fights, sloppy editing and budget special effects - but it is still quite an entertaining piece of Peplum that doesn't ever hang about. There is plenty of adventure to occupy the wooden actors, the stolid script and - of course, there are plenty of glamorous ladies upon whom one might feast the eyes... It is by no means the worst of this genre, but no - it isn't very good.

Hercules (Dan Vadis) strangles a lion to save Princess Telca (Spela Rozin). Her grateful father promises him the hand of his daughter, but only if Hercules can slay a dragon, too. Hercules falls in love with Telca's beautiful blue eyes and decides it's worth trying. He makes the acquaintance of a witch in a cave. After a few evil 'Ha! Ha!' laughs, she provides Hercules with a spear that can kill the dragon - actually a clumsy dinosaur who lives in a remote valley, doing no harm. When Hercules returns, Telca and the king have been abducted by people from the 'Land of Darkness' who always need victims for their blood rituals. Of course, Hercules follows the raiders, determined to rescue the princess. Evil queen Melissa has other plans, though...

Colourful adventure with a lot of action and just enough comic relief. Sometimes movies of this genre drag on and on with pathos and too much dialog, but this is not the case here. It was good fun watching it. I'd like to see the Italian original though, because the American version seems to be re-edited and several minutes shorter.

Son of the great man - Argolese (Vadis) - saves heiress Telca (Rozin) from the clutches of a fearsome bear and is granted her hand in marriage by her father the king (Sasso). Before they can marry, Argolese must recover the tooth from a dragon - which he duly does, but discovers on his return that the kingdom has been overrun by bandits and his wife-to-be, kidnapped and enslaved by the evil Queen Ella (Brown). Argolese must overcome not only the Queen, but her trusted right hand man (Clark) and his scheming daughter (Fiore) who has designs on the throne.

Vadis is a behemoth (and looks like he's just performed a thousand hack squats before each take), although not as anatomically gifted as Steve Reeves or Reg Park, he still towers above the rest, dispatching men, horses, bears, boulders - he is apparently impervious to just about anything (except a pair of elephants trained to tear his limbs off). Rozin is innocent and sweet, whereas Fiore is the smouldering siren, but with a megalomaniacal streak that makes her both feisty and attractive. Me thinks Argolese, the great chastity-breaker, should re-consider his choice of damsel.

If you're accustomed to the peplum genre, then this "Son of Hercules" tale will be no more, no less what you'd expect with another amiable muscleman, scantily-clad babes and the ubiquitous comedian covering all the bases adequately.