Persée l'invincible

Ah yes, Richard Harrison as Perseus (aka: one of the myriad sons of Hercules) must battle all manner of men and monsters in THE MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES. All while wearing some very stylish power-tunics! Can Perseus defeat the eeevil meanie-pants, king Acrisio (Arturo Dominici) and his jerk-weed son, Galenore (Leo Anchoriz), before they fulfill their plan for old-world domination?

EXTRA POINTS: For the "tournament of strength" (aka: macho man contest), where the contestants get to use micro-shields that couldn't cover a baby!

EXTRA EXTRA POINTS: For the lovely Andromeda (Anna Ranalli) with her flaming red hair and fabulous earring choices!

EXTRA X3 POINTS: For the well-realized title creature, as well as the lake monster! For the time, and obviously modest budget, the animatronics are downright impressive!

Worth many late-night viewings...

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.

Passable low-brow mythological hokum: Richard Harrison is Perseus – who, rather than the offspring of Zeus, here is the adopted son of Hercules (and an unwitting deposed monarch to boot!). The film provides two villains in Arturo Dominici, an ambitious man who usurps the throne by killing the current ruler and marrying his wife (the scriptwriters must have read "Hamlet"), and Leo Anchoriz as his equally despicable son – who also acts as a rival to Harrison for the heroine's hand; the latter, then, is the usual lovely sovereign of a rival harassed empire (but who, at least, demonstrates a prowess with bow and arrow).

In this outing, Perseus fights a couple of monsters: a man-eating dragon residing in a lake(!) and the titular paralyzing creature (which, instead of sporting writhing snakes in its hair-do, is a vine-like Cyclops that would better fit the atmosphere of a science-fiction movie, in the vein of the shapeless one-eyed alien seen in IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE [1953], than a sword-and-sandal flick); nevertheless, the latter confrontation anticipates the Ray Harryhausen opus CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981). With respect to the human end of the scale, the ongoing dispute is resolved over a long-running duel between Harrison and Anchoriz taking place at the heart of a tournament organized by Dominici.

Director De Martino made a few peplums before going on to other "Euro-Cult" genres (Spaghetti Western, war, horror, giallo, etc). Eugenio Bava – father of cult film-maker Mario – served as technical adviser here, presumably contributing the matte work involved in the creation of the special effects. The film's score is highlighted by a catchy but corny title tune heard over the opening and closing credits.

A towering sword and sandals star in a historical exciting production with dragons , monsters and nasty rulers . Juvenile adventure-fantasy about the valiant Perseo who undergoes a perilous journey to free Andromeda from evil kidnappers and monstrous Medusa . A passable cinematic adaptation from legendary history of Greece which jointed one of the Peplum's greatest heroes playing an exciting fantasy derived from Greek mythology about a valiant and handsome he man .This is an enjoyable myth-opera with struggles,love, tortures and with meticulously battle scenes that convey us a spectacular scenario. Richard Harrison is perfect as the mythical hero who encounters pretty risked situations while trying to save his lover . It deals with Acrisio (the notorious character actor Arturo Dominici) who governs tyrannically Argos , while Cefeo (Roberto Camardiel who played several S.W.) rules over Serifo . Cefeo sends his son Alceo against forces of Galeron (the usual secondary Leo Anchoriz who performed many baddie roles) , but he is defeated and converted in stone sculpture by Medusa . The Danae's (the veteran Elisa Cegani) son named Perseo (the hunk man Richard Harrison ) who holds three birth's marks falls in love with Andromeda (Ranalli). Galeron kills his stepmother Danae and Perseo flees . Later on , Perseo does battle against the monstrous Medusa ( made by Amando De Ossorio , creator of ¨Templar blind dead¨ series ), her army of stone warriors and a giant dragon (made by Carlo Rambaldi: ET). |

This is an enjoyable sword and sandals movie with mythological backstage, action, love, battles and spectacular scenarios. The film gets breathtaking scenes of combats and stunningly cheap special effects as the shots and closeups of a giant Medusa which is a rubber-suited man struggling against Perseo . Glamorous landscapes filmed in Madrid outskirts and colorful matte painting by Emilio Ruiz Del Rio. Atmospheric musical score by Manuel Parada and glimmer cinematography by Eloy Mella , very well remastering . The picture is well starred by Richard Harrison , he is top notch as the historic hero who finds many dangerous situations while attempting save the kingdom and his true love ,Andromeda , of several risks. Strong and robust Richard Harrison was a magnificent muscle-man . He was one along with Ed Fury, Brad Harris, Kirk Morris, Reg Park, Mark Forest, among others, whom to seek fortune acting absurdly muscle mythological figures, but anybody topped Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott in popularity. Harrison played in Hollywood some minor roles as ¨Kronos ¨ and ¨South Pacific¨ , while shooting another inferior character in ¨Master of world (1961)¨ produced by American International , he met producer James H. Nicholson's daughter and married her within six months. Frustrated at not being able to secure meatier roles in America , Harrison jumped at the chance when offered the first character in 1961 ,¨The Invincible Gladiator¨ , which was filming in Europe along with his greatest success ¨The seven Spartans¨. He wound up settling in Italy for the next two decades. His lead role, of course, immediately typed him as another Herculean type and, to avoid being penned in too much as a muscle man, he sought characters in routine spaghetti westerns as ¨Texas the red , Gringo, Reverendo Colt, Joe Dakota ¨ , Wartime genre as ¨Leopards of Churchill and 36 hours in hell¨ and spy intrigue as ¨Master stroke and 077 challenge to the killer's¨ . Once Italy closed down film production after the muscular craze had died down, he, like others, found himself unemployed. He did manage to scrape up work in Hong Kong, but a large portion of them were bottom-of-the-barrel Ninja movies.

Rating : Acceptable Peplum fodder and better than many Sword and Sandals movies , thanks to Richard Harrison and slick direction by Alberto De Martino who creates an imaginative spectacle based on mythological Greek legends being spectacularly realized , though in medium budget. Other adaptations about this known story are the following : ¨Clash of titans (1981)¨ by Desmond Davies with Harry Hamlin , Judi Bowker , Ursula Andress and Laurence Olivier and it's recently filmed a remake by Louis Leterrier with Sam Worthington , Alexa Davalos and Liam Neeson.

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.