Maciste contro i mostri

I actually quite enjoyed this, even though the production is pretty woeful. Tapping into the mythology, we meet the shockingly wooden but muscular Reg Lewis as "Maxus". He is strolling the land looking for some good to do when he encounters a tribe of sun worshippers who have been brutally attacked by the cave-dwelling moon worshippers. This event was especially annoying for "Aydar" (Lucia Marin) who was just about to tie the knot with the feisty "Moah" (Margaret Lee) who has now gone and got herself taken captive by the evil "Fuan" (Andrea Aureli). Luckily, this young man manages to convince "Maxus" to help them, and so our adventure begins. Nope, the conclusion is never in doubt but along the way we have a sort of Ali Baba-esque cave, loads of maidenly sacrifices, some angry gods, great stone-axe combat and best of all - a dragon! The dubbing seems to be largely over English dialogue, which takes some getting used to and the camerawork is certainly nobody's finest work as it frequently suggests that few of these actors were in the same room at the same time. Much of the limited jeopardy relies on the noisy audio and lively score, but that works if you just take this for what it is. A cheap and cheerful adventure that is decently paced and quite good fun.

Reg Lewis is back as Maxus/Germanicus (Maciste). Maxus happens upon a two primitive tribes: the good sun-worshipers and the evil moon-worshipers. The two tribes are battling it out because the evil moon people want it that way and end up capturing some of the sun people. Luckily for the sun people there are monsters that destroy the cave they are held in and Maxus is there to save them. OH and there is hydra in the film.

Barely entertaining film. It has it's moments of being okay but those moments aren't that grand. You'd think I would like this one with all the big monsters in it but I find it only barely tolerable to skim though.

2/10

"A hydra is threatening the countryside and the people are terrified for their lives. The people's only hope of survival rests with Maxus, a powerful man who has the strength of many men. Before Maxus can battle the multi-headed monster, he must face other challenges in order to prove himself worthy and to prepare for the fateful battle," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Actually, the story mainly involves a struggle between two pre-historic tribes: the "Good" or "Sun" worshipers, and the "Bad" or "Moon" worshipers. The "Sun" tribe of Nomads has decided to settle and live in peace; but, they pick land claimed by nearby "Moon" worshiping Cavemen. Bodybuilder Reg Lewis (as Maciste, or Maxus in English) does not belong to any tribe; however, he bonds with "Sun" leader Luciano Marin (as Idar), after saving him (and his woman) from a sea monster. The plot thickens when Mr. Lewis and "Moon" tribe woman Margaret Lee (as Moah) fall in love.

In English, misleadingly reproduced as "Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules". The English dubbing is dreadful; in a couple of scenes, two completely different voices dub Lewis. The bleached-blond muscleman throws cavemen around, and poses. Mr. Marin essays his part better than others; but, considering the shoddiness of the production, it's a wasted effort. The best part of the movie is the added-on TV theme song, "The (Mighty) Sons of Hercules".

*** Maciste contro i mostri (4/25/62) Guido Malatesta ~ Reg Lewis, Margaret Lee, Luciano Marin

Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules (1962)

** (out of 4)

Maciste (Reg Lewis), the son of Hercules, is wondering around when he runs into two members of a tribe that worships the Sun. They are being attacked by large fire breathing monster so Maciste kills it. Flash forward and the Moon worshipers are starting to kidnap the women from the Sun tribe so they go to Maciste for help.

FIRE MONSTERS AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES, the American title of this Italian movie, isn't a film that is meant to be taken serious. Outside of the Mario Bava film HERCULES IN A HAUNTED WORLD, this is the first in the series that I've seen and from the start I couldn't help but think of the Toho Godzilla series with the poor dubbing and rather silly special effects. Of course, I'm sure many people would say the only way to fully enjoy this or even judge it is by watching the original Italian cut but I don't have that available.

As far as this American edit goes, I thought it was actually entertaining as long as you don't expect too much from it. The performances are pretty much what they are and it's certainly hard to judge them with the atrocious accents and dubbing. Poor Maciste appears to be dubbed by someone simply holding their breathe. The film does contain quite a bit of action, which helps keep it move at a nice pace and it's certainly never boring.

As for the title monster, it's a real doozy and appears to have been made from supplied bought at a dollar store. Yes, it looks incredibly cheap and silly but it somewhat adds to the charm.

Can't get the theme song out of my mind! The monster in the lake was pretty good, probably took up most of the budget, and if it had been featured more, say wreaking havoc among the two ice age tribes and having an apocalyptic fight with the toothy hero amid exploding volcanoes, hurtling moons and collapsing ice cliffs, it would have been a decent club-and-sandal flick. But it got killed after just a few minutes, spear thrown through the eye from almost the next county...ouch! The other monsters would have seemed more lame had it not been for the human actors...made even paper mache look good.

But it's set in the Ice Age, which makes it pretty unique for these types of movies, so a little more interesting than it would have been otherwise. It would make a nice Friday night double feature with "Goliath and the Dragon" if you had some pizza and beer.