Perseu, O Invencível

American actor/bodybuilder Richard Harrison stars in this peplum epic about the legend of Perseus who wins princess Andromeda and her kingdom by slaying all kinds of foes, human and monster. Since he's the illegitimate son of Zeus it's only fitting as he has the heroic lineage.

This story was remade much better with a name cast and special effects by master Ray Harryhausen in 1981 as Clash Of The Titans. Perseus is also the son of a queen who married and a real son who grew up to be as nasty a piece of work as his old man. Andromeda is princess in the next kingdom over and her bit of real estate is in the grip of the bad king and his Snidely Whiplash like son. And we always know what Snidely Whiplash villains have uppermost in their minds.

Anyway the bad guys have both the Medusa and a lake dragon, cousin of the Loch Ness monster working for them. I wonder how the dragon knows only to eat the enemies of the bad king?

It's his mission to get the bad monsters and as for Medusa there's a bit of license taken from Greek mythology.

Harrison is a bit of a sculpted Greek God himself. But the acting and the dubbing is real bad in this Italian peplum epic.

I'd see Clash Of The Titans first.

Yes, this old italian peplum is probably more fun and better acted than the major blockbuster Troy. At least the story is more plausible, even with a sort of medieval tournament for the hand of the princess and a medieval siege with catapults and boiling oil. Anyway, you have a couple of stop motion creatures (Medusa and a sort of aquatic dragon) made by Carlo Rambaldi, father of Spielberg's E.T., a lot of cinematic battle scenes without computer graphics, love, heroic adventures, swords and sandals. Exactly as Troy, but 40 years before and on a very low budget.

MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES is a pretty standard Sword & Sandal: though the story is simple enough, the direction (or lack thereof) makes the story look more convoluted than need be and it probably didn't make much sense to kids who saw this in theaters back in 1963. There are good guys and bad guys who fight for power. You know, the usual stuff. But there are some really good things in this meandering mini-epic: this first good thing is Richard Harrison. Harrison is one of the best actor to appear in S&S films. He's handsome, in good shape (but he's no Steve Reeves) and he can actually act. Every Peplum I've seen with Richard Harrison, he always stood out and gave believable performances even if the material was anything close to being believable.

The second and the most remarkable thing about MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES is the Medusa itself. The Medusa in this film is a tentacled monster instead of a woman with vipers for hair. When I saw it for the first time my jaw was on the floor. It's by far the coolest thing I've ever seen in a movie. A truly one of a kind creation. The Medusa, totally in black, looks like an evil tree and moves around with spidery roots and has a uber thick nest of tentacles for hair, and it freezes men into statues of stone with its single huge glowing white eye. We see it walk around in a misty landscape which is strewn with marbled soldiers. Some might find it cheesy but I thought the effect was amazing. The Medusa appears from head to toe, for several seconds, in full frame. No CGI here. Very evocative. Like a 1960s pulpy science fiction cover come to life. Carlo Rambaldi is a genius. I wish the (uninspired) direction was at the level of Rambaldi's imagination and it knew how to utilize the remarkable creation to the max.

There's also a full-sized dragon designed by Rambaldi which is also cool but it's pretty obvious it's mechanical after being on screen for a few minutes. It never leaves the beach and only the head moves. It doesn't compare to the Medusa though, which is, along with Richard Harrison, the main reason(s) to watch this film. Even with all its weaknesses, certainly with the weak script and workman-like direction, MEDUSA VS TE SON OF HERCULES is an overlooked fantasy film. It preceded almost every fantasy film of its type, including JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS. I give 5 stars for the film but a full 10 stars for the Medusa, so an average of 7 stars.

The peaceful people of Serifo are unable to use their trade route due to attacks by the soldiers of Argos, led by the king's wicked son Galenore (Leo Anchóriz), and the existence of both a dragon and the hideous Medusa along the way. Help comes in the form of Perseus, the rightful heir to the throne of Argos, who defeats the dragon and the gorgon, and commands an army to defend Serifo from an attack by the Argos army.

As much as I admire the work of stop-motion genius Ray Harryhausen, I was never that impressed with his final film, Clash of the Titans, which saw Greek hero Perseus defeat the gorgon Medusa and rescue the beautiful Andromeda from the Kraken. In some ways, this cheapo '60s Italian fantasy peplum adventure, in which Perseus (played by Richard Harrison) also battles Medusa, is marginally more enjoyable than the star-studded Clash.

While Perseus Against the Monsters' special effects are undeniably far cruder than those in Clash of the Titans, they are arguably more memorable, the dragon an impressive life-size mechanical model that is wheeled out (literally) whenever someone gets too close to the edge of its lake, and Medusa a tree-like cyclops with snake branches who moves along on writhing tentacles. Both are clumsy looking creatures, cobbled together out of odds and ends by effects man Carlo Rambaldi (of E.T. fame), but they're imaginative and surprisingly effective, Medusa in particular managing to be be quite unsettling despite the fact that 'she' looks like she might topple over at any moment.

Director Alberto De Martino also packs in more action than Clash, with none of that boring nonsense on Mount Olympus that really dragged the Harryhausen film down. There's a fun tournament that involves jousting and a duel on a wooden bridge, plenty of battles with clashing swords and deadly arrows, and a castle siege. There's even a jolly theme song over the opening and closing credits. It all adds up to a passable piece of peplum bolstered by some family friendly fantasy.

This movie is action packed! Shortly into the beginning of the movie is a very tense battle scene. You get a great sense of the army of Seriphus being stuck between a rock and a hard place as they battle a fantastically frightening dragon on one side and are dowsed with fireballs and arrows by the army of Argos on the other. When the retreat, they find themselves face to face with the deadly Medusa! For a Sons of Hercules title this is a very respectable story. The monsters are great! Medusa appears as a one eyed serpent with tentacles and snakes for her hair and at the end of her tail. The dragon is a work of art. I believe he was used in another sons of hercules title and I somehow get the feeling that he is just one of those mini front end loaders hiding under a dragon suit. Dont get me wrong! whoever was driving it was a convincing actor. I definitely recommend this title to die hard fans of medieval fantasy and peplum movies. Also if you want an awesome deal on some hard to find Hercules movies, pick up the adventures of Hercules boxed set. Seven great Hercules movies (including this one) for a very low price.