Tarzan chez les coupeurs de têtes

This film features the Italian hero Maciste who is an adventurer super strong type a bit like the Greek Hercules. So much so that a few of Maciste's adventures (there were a lot of them back in the 60's) were repackaged as Hercules films here in the United States. This was the case with the 1964 Maciste film that is more well known as, Hercules Against the Moon Men. This one was given the title, Colossus and the Headhunters, which was a bit strange seeing as how during the duration of the film the hero was never referred to as Colossus, but rather the Italian name Maciste. My guess they did not go with giving the name Hercules to the film due to the hero not sporting a beard like would be the case with the Moon Men film. Heck, in that one the actor playing Maciste would be the man who was Steve Reeves' stuntman in the first two Hercules films. So these two characters kind of cross together in many ways. This film was one of two Maciste films featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 along with Moon Men while Hercules would be riffed a total of three times, though they did tend to make it out like the Moon Men one was a Hercules film too. This film is not as good as the Moon Men film as that one may have featured an overly long sandstorm sequence, but at least it had some good traps and a few monsters within it. This one for the most part is a bit of a yawn after what was kind of an explosive way to start a movie!

The story has an island having a volcanic eruption. When I was watching this I thought the people were cavemen or something, but then a guy who seemed more Spartan showed up and then a big muscle dude comes along and gets as many people as he can on his raft so that the people can escape this explosive onslaught as the volcano claims the island. At this point I suspected it was another Maciste film and when I checked online I would learn my instincts were correct. After the eruption which seems almost as if there needed some sort of backstory but there is none the people float around until they reach land where they are promptly captured and Maciste wounded. Turns out their captors are not the bad guys and we learn of this tribe of headhunters who helped this one man overthrow this queen and her people and they soon capture her and the king may be alive and a lot of stuff is thrown in before a rather boring mob scene climax that is not as cool as the opening volcanic eruption.

This made for a rather funny episode of MST3K. Joel did the previous films featuring Hercules and Maciste, but Mike is the one that was burdened with it this time. This one is the worst of the films as the Hercules films were actually well done and even the Moon one had its moments. This one was just watching Maciste walking through brush through much of the film. They kept referring to him as Ma-cheese-steak as that is what it sounded like his name was. There are also funny moments during the end as the 'wedding' ceremony breaks down into an all out fight.

So, this film was not all that good after the volcano scene which basically started the film off with a bang! Granted, it was a bang that really needed a bit of story behind it and I am wondering if the previous Maciste film ended with him discovering the island and the volcano about to erupt or something. I do know there were a lot of Maciste films back in the 60's; however, I am not as sure if they followed each other as closely as the Hercules films as those films picked up after each other. If the Moon one is the next film then the answer to whether the Maciste films pick up after each other is a resounding 'no'.

This is one of Kirk Morris' best movies. A simple "hero" story where he shows up out of nowhere and save an entire race of displaced people. Reg Lewis was supposed to star in this movie but backed out at the last minute. If you watch the opening scenes you can see Reg running towards the volcano. He can be seen in a few other place throughout the movie.

I posted several stills on this site. They were straight when I sent them but IMDB turned them sideways for some unknown reason.

You will enjoy watching this movie.

COLOSSUS AND THE HEADHUNTERS stars Kirk Morris as Colossus (aka: Maciste). He must leap into action right off the bat, to save the inhabitants of a small island from a volcano. He even uses his enormous boat to relocate them!

Oh no!

While Colossus is out looking for water, the entire tribe is abducted by men with checkered placemats on their heads! Colossus will soon meet up with these guys again, along with their queen. We know she's the queen because she wears a sequined tea cozy on her noggin.

Said ruler tells our huge hero about some headhunters that have been giving her trouble. Colossus winds up helping her and her placemat people against these napkin-domed savages, giving him ample opportunity to flex, and crush things.

How could anyone ever tire of watching grown men throw each other around?

Morris isn't bad in his role, but he's certainly no Mark Forest!

Make sure not to miss the odd, somewhat disturbing "wedding dance", performed by a woman in some sort of tutu! Annnd, yes, saints be praised! There are bongo drums!

This is transcendent entertainment, folks!...

Maciste rescues Ario, the son King Sandor, and his people from their land in a volcanic island that blows-up and they sail to the Land and Urias in a long and dangerous voyage. They are captured by the Urias but when the Queen Amoha meets Maciste, she tells that the traitor Kermis has joined the tribe of Head Hunters and slaughtered her people, but the warrior Taro has saved them from the annihilation; however, her father King Olibauna was missing in action. She asks Maciste to help her against the Head Hunters, but Maciste tells that he is protecting the tribe of Ario. When the Urias are attacked by the Head Hunters, Maciste decides to help Queen Amoha.

"Maciste Contro i Cacciatori di Teste" is really a bad movie and deserves the low IMDb User rating. The story has an abrupt beginning, a predictable screenplay, poor special effects and terrible acting. I saw this movie in a low-quality VHS released by Reserva Especial Video to make it worse. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Maciste Contra os Caçadores de Cabeças" ("Maciste Against the Head Hunters")

Who are these people? Where are we going? Are we the good guys or the bad guys?

This film has its stints of non stop action and mayhem and even more and more padding of either someone or a large group of people moving from point A to point B. It is hard to miss the kempt hair of Maciste (personally I prefer a chicken sub to cheesesteak) as he combats the merciless Headhunters. Note Nello Pazzafini playing one of the tougher baddies who also appeared in Danger!! Death Ray (Nello sure was in a lot of films!). More amusing stuff includes Amoa's Easter Egg hat hair, village bonfires, and death by archery. Also, one of the wackiest moments is the less than stellar choreographed dance to appease the gods by Amoa's right hand maiden Moana.

Not exactly up alongside the Hercules films, but fun in a goofy sort of way.

Fave line: "Then what happened?"