Ercole e la regina di Lidia

The sequel to HERCULES (1958) is even less enthusing but remains, nonetheless, an adequate example of the peplum genre.

Sylva Koscina's role of Iole, Hercules' love interest, is diminished here since the most prominent female figure on display emerges to be the femme fatale-ish Queen of Lidia Omphale (the film's original title, incidentally, translates to HERCULES AND THE QUEEN OF LIDIA) – the latter is played by another red-headed beauty Sylvia Lopez, who died of leukemia not long after the film's release! Needless to say, the muscle-bound hero (Steve Reeves) falls under her spell after having conveniently drunk from a spring that renders him an amnesiac (though not before he's been engaged in an irrelevant wrestling bout with ex-heavyweight champion Primo Carnera as an irascible giant!); his friend Ulysses, however, is on hand to watch over him (ostensibly in the function of Hercules' deaf-mute slave). Meanwhile, back home in Thebes, two brothers fight it out over the throne – with Iole at the mercy of a cackling maniac (an over-the-top Sergio Fantoni)...

By the way, both of these Hercules films featured atmospheric cinematography by Mario Bava - who would himself direct one of the better adventures revolving around this mythical figure, HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD (1961) starring Reg Park. As for Francisci, he worked most often in this genre: from ATTILA (1954; co-starring Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren) – which is overdue for a reappraisal and has, incidentally, just been announced as an upcoming DVD release from Lionsgate! – to the low-brow HERCULES, SAMSON AND ULYSSES (1963; with Kirk Morris now as Hercules) and SINBAD AND THE CALIPH OF BAGHDAD (1973; his last film and which I recall watching eons ago on Italian TV).

This is the second Hercules flick featuring Steve Reeves as the man of muscle. The legendary Reeves melds with the god/man Hercules and turns what could have been a cheesefest into an action/adventure spectacle as tightly woven as Hercules' toga. Competing with Reeves for biggest chest is his umptuous co-star Sylvia Lopez as the evil Queen Omphale who makes living statues out of her conquests. Hercules' pals include Gabriele Antonini as Ulysses who gives the man of muscle a mighty rubdown and competes for Herc's attentions with his sexy wife Iole, played with sweet sassiness by beautiful Sylvia Koscina. With Hercules shirtless (and occasionally oiled) for most of the flick and his mini-toga riding up his thick manly thighs there's something for everybody to enjoy. Of special note is the dance of Queen Omphale's slave girls and Herc's wrestling match with real life Italian pro-wrestler, Primo Carnera. Keep an eye out for plentiful low camera angles.

The movie opens with the musclebound mythical Hercules ( Steve Reeves ), his recent wife Iole ( Sylva Koscina), and the young Ulysses (Gabriel Antonini) setting off for the city of Thebes , continuing the end of the quest for the Golden Fleece (depicted in the former picture , Hercules , that was essentially a recounting of the tale of Jason and the Argonauts). Their trip is interrupted when Hercules must do battle with the giant Anteus (Primo Carnera), whose strength seems to exceed his own until he realizes that Anteus is the son of the earth goddess, Gea, and can't be defeated on land. On their arrival in Thebes, the trio discovers that the kingdom is in the midst of civil war , Oedipus (Cesare Fantoni), the blind old king, is dying, and his two sons, Polynices (Mimmo Palmara) and Eteocles (Sergio Fantoni), are confronting for the throne and threatening to destroy each other and the populace. Hercules must leave Iole in the hands of one side in order to try and settle the dispute between the two would-be kings. While en route between the two armed camps, however, he is put under the spell of Omphale (Sylvia Lopez), the Queen of Lydia .Hercules drinks from a magic spring and lost his records , then the Queen casts out his memory , is seduced and tangles him as a lover , in addition Ulysses in tow pretending to be his deaf-mute servant. Ulysses must figure out how to keep himself alive, restore Hercules' record, get them both out of Omphale's grasp before she tires of amnesiac Hercules and has him killed , and get them both back to Thebes before the kingdom is burned to the ground. His solution arrives in the form of his father, Laertes ( Andrea Fantasia ), and Hercules' companions as Argo (Aldo Fiorelli) the shipbuilder and the Argonauts from his voyage for the Golden Fleece. They all escape Omphale's clutches and arrive at Thebes where the political tensions raise as war has broken out between the Edipo's sons and their armies , furthermore his new spouse finds herself in mortal risk . In a breathtaking denouement, Hercules brings his chariot into the middle of the thunderous fighting , knocking down assault towers and sweeping cavalry before him to halt the battle.

This mythological movie is plenty of adventures , emotions, thrills , atmospheric settings and colorful scenarios well photographed by the maestro Mario Bava . The plot this time is drawn from the legends surrounding the royal house of Thebes, which are most familiar to audiences through the Theban plays of Sophocles as Aedipus at Colonia and Seven against Thebes by Aeschylus . It is widely considered to be one of the top 10 greatest Peplum films of all time. This great film will surely attract a whole new generation of classic movie fans. And for seasoned cinematic connoseuirs, Hercules Unchained (1959) will rekindle an era of film making at its best. This is Steve Reeves' second and last film portrayal of Hercules is, in certain ways, better than his first . For others who simply enjoy watching timeless pieces with icons such as Steve Reeves. The corpulent Steve Reeves was a hunk man who made lots of roman epic films also called ¨Musclemen movies¨. Luck's Reeves changed when Italian director Pietro Francisci persuaded him to go overseas to star ¨Hercules¨ and sequel ¨Hercules and queen of Lydia also titled Hercules unchained ¨ that served as the prototypes of all cloak-and-sandal movies to come and both of them became a surprise US hit smash . Later on, he followed with ¨Goliath and the Barbarians, The giant of Marathon, The Trojan horse, The son of Spartacus and The Avenger¨ among them . Steve was an American bouncing who emigrated Italy and created a true star-system based on pumped-up heroes. He paved the way for other actors to seek their fame and fortune in Italy playing bouncing adventurers . Other stars by the time on this type of movies are Mark Forest, Gordon Mitchell, Dan Vadis, Brad Harris and 'Gordon Scott' who made him more important competence. Nobody, nevertheless, topped Steve in popularity . Rating : Good , high recommended for Peplum fans

but not at the level of the original 1958 film also starring Steve Reeves in the lead role.

Still this does deliver some good thrills such as Hercules battling the giant Antaeus (Primo Carnera), trying to escape the influence of Queen Omphale (Sylvia Lopez who I feel was truly bewitching in the role), tangling with deadly tigers and finally trying to rescue his lovely bride Iole (Sylva Koscina) from the crazed Eteocles all while trying to stop his homeland of Thebes from descending into war.

The middle portion of the film which has Hercules under the spell of Queen Omphale once his memory has been wiped away by the waters of forgetfulness is a bit slow but is still fun...fun adventure not to be taken too seriously is how I'd describe this one.

This film is a nice sequel to Francisci's gem "Hercules," the film that launched a seven-year festival of swords, sandals, cloaks, daggers, musclemen, and gorgeous women in the Italian cinema. In this sequel, Mario Bava returns as the FX man, and dazzles us with an array of visual effects which impart to this film an almost Hollywood-like sensationalism. The problem is, there is too much of it! After the first 30 minutes or so, the stuff tired me, sheerly through the fact that my mind ceased to remain in the elevated state necessary to appreciate and "roll with" what the director wanted to achieve visually. So there were alternate periods of depression and elevation, although the film, when viewed as a whole, must be one of the most stunning sword-and-sandals of all time. In this respect, Pietro Francisci did well. However, I still prefer the first entry to this one.