Hercule contre les vampires

Sword-and-sandal afficionados will be happy to hear that this lush Mario Bava-helmed Hercules movie is getting a widescreen treatment on DVD. It's one of the more atmospheric Italian schlock epics, full of the imaginative and colorful set pieces distinctive to the renowned Italian filmmaker, Mario Bava. Reg Park was among the most impressive bodybuilders to ever play the mythical hero and he is given generous opportunity to strut his stuff. Hercules literally goes to Hell to defeat satanic villain Christopher Lee in this engaging muscleman movie, a definite kitsch classic of it's kind, now being made available in it's once-glorious Super Technirama format on videodisc.

Directed by Mario Bava, HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD stars Reg Park as the human steam engine of the title. It also has the one and only Christopher Lee as the eeevil King Lico!

Big H is given the opportunity, almost immediately, to toss a hay wagon at some of Lico's warriors. His glistening, gleaming physique barely straining in the process!

Soon enough, Herc must embark on a quest to end a curse and rescue a princess. Along with his comrade, Theseus (George Ardisson), he must locate a magical object, and enter Hades itself!

Due to Bava's involvement, this is an exceptional example of its sub-genre, with the Director's flair evident throughout. Park is quite good in his bulging role, adding a certain amount of pathos to the character. For his part, Lee does what he does best, by being as wicked as possible!

The story is effective, complete with a big twist. There are some nice touches along the way, including the talking, robotic rock man, the bleeding vines- containing the souls of the damned, and the molten lava beds. The finale is also great, with a battle against the undead and Lico himself!

Fans of these films need to watch this one right now!...

Not really an action movie as you might be led to believe by the title and given the fact that these epics were invariably promoted with chunky poster art of Hercules holding a boulder aloft ready to drop it on some unfortunate adversary. In fact, he does manage to fill the mandatory quota of rock throwing in this particular sword and sandal outing but at other times it's a bit slow moving. Not that it really matters because it still has a lot going for it.

Apart from anything else, it's a gorgeous looking film. The sets, costumes, special effects and camera work are a joy to behold and director Mario Bava's distinctive style is very much to the fore. Bava specialized in the creation of surreal and subtly sinister atmospherics and there's plenty of that.

Reg Park had a vibrant and attractive screen presence and turned in a convincing performance as the muscle bound super hero. His fellow players were also well cast and provided (dare I say it ?) "strong" support. And there are enough suspenseful moments along the way to keep the sandman at bay.

You could never say that "Hercules in the Haunted World" moves along at a cracking pace. It's more like a pleasant, slow boat ride through a kaleidoscope of fairy tale images.

Not being a big fan of other Hercules films from the '60s I had seen, I wasn't excited to watch this one. But I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The reasons for why it is good can be attributed to director Mario Bava, who takes a flimsy story and brings it to life with rich visuals and an otherworldly atmosphere. Reg Park has muscles on top of muscles, which is pretty much all that's required of him for the part of Hercules. As others have pointed out, Christopher Lee is dubbed and that is pretty much criminal. However, Lee still has enough screen presence to do more with a look than lesser mortals could with two hours of dialogue. It's quite easily the best Hercules movie I've ever seen. I do like the camp value of the Ferrigno movies from the '80s but I don't think they are good for anything other than laughs. This film is a stylish and fun piece of entertainment for people who enjoy escapist fantasy movies. If your rear is sans stick, you should be able to find something to like about this.

In terms of story and plot, this HERCULES film is arguably every bit as good as(and quite often better than)many others. The main flaw being the common solution Hercules uses for every problem he faces.

Still this movie is great fun to watch in either language(as the dub isn't too bad--only its too bad Christopher Lee didn't do his own) and features lots of terrific haunting color visuals from a master-Mario Bava. Any Gothic Horror fan will find much to enjoy here.