Teseu e o Minotauro

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.

After having seen The Minotaur I'm surprised that no one recognized the plot elements from Alessandre Dumas's Man In The Iron Mask. Maybe there was no mask for Rosanna Schiaffino to wear, but she plays the twin princesses of Crete as both good and evil.

The star of this peplum epic is Bob Mathias two time decathlon champion and he gets to show off some of the prowess that got him that gold. He's a visiting prince from Greece who rescued good twin Schiaffino where she's been brought up by peasants to keep her safe from the Minotaur. He's one nasty looking 7 foot tall dude with the head of an American bison and teeth like a shark. Virgins are sacrificed regularly to him and royal virgins are his special delicacy.

Evil Schiaffino has overthrown dad with her boyfriend Alberto Lupo and they run things. Mathias as Prince Theseus from Athens is our hero.

I kind of liked the makeup done for the Minotaur. It's not Ray Corrigan in a gorilla suit, some care went into the creation of the beast.

Nothing too special in this peplum. It's a combination of the myth of the Minotaur with the plot The Man In The Iron Mask. Take it fromm there.

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.

This is a pretty good peplum film, based on the Theseus legend. It leaves out the ball of yarn gimmick that I recall from Bullfinch, alas; that made it a better story for me, showing Ariadne not only looked good in a short chiton, but had some brains.

Still, that's not what people watch swords-and-sandals flick for. The costume design is handsome, and there's some very nice photography under the supervision of Aldo Giordani, particularly the sequence with Theseus' rescue from drowning and Susanne Loret as Amphytrion. Bob Mathias plays Theseus and there's a bit with him throwing the discus. His principal claim to fame was winning Decathlon Gold at two Olympics, and he played himself in a cheap Allied Artist biopic, but his acting career was uninspiring.

Well made, good looking " Sword And Sandal" fantasy with famed athlete Bob Mathias in his sole acting role and he gets to show off some of his athletic skills.Rosanna Schiaffino is lovely in both twin sister roles and for it's time and aimed as a family entertainment. it is at times quite violent.The actual monster itself, isn't seen fully until the film's last four minutes and although it does not have the Bull head as in the legend, it is a passable effect. Entertaining film.