Hercules Against the Moon Men

Last updated
Hercules Against the Moon Men
Herculesmoonmen.jpg
Directed by Giacomo Gentilomo
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyOberdan Troiani [2]
Edited byBeatrice Felici [2]
Music byCarlo Franci [2]
Production
companies
  • Nike Cinematografica
  • Comptoir Francais de Productions Cinematographiques [3]
Release date
  • 27 June 1964 (1964-06-27)(Italy)
Running time
90 minutes [2]
Countries
  • Italy
  • France [3]

Hercules Against the Moon Men (Italian : Maciste e la regina di Samar, "Maciste and the Queen of Samar") [1] is a 1964 Franco-Italian international co-production sword and sandal film. It was directed by Giacomo Gentilomo in his final film and stars Alan Steel and Jany Clair. [Note 1] [5] The English version of the film runs for 90 minutes and is dubbed.

Contents

Plot

In ancient Greece, a race of evil aliens from the Moon land on Earth. For years they have terrorized the nearby city of Samar. Hercules (Maciste in the original version) attempts to free the people of the kingdom of Samar from the rule of their evil queen. She is under the spell of invading Moon Men who demand children for sacrifice in hopes their spilled blood can revive their own dead queen.

The Queen of Samar has made a pact with the Moon Men to conquer the world and become the most powerful woman alive. The downtrodden residents of Samar cheer the arrival of the mighty Hercules, who on their behalf faces deadly obstacles, battles the Moon monsters and eventually confronts the leader of the Moon Men, Redolphis, a metal-headed giant.

Cast

Production

In the original Italian-language version, the hero was not Hercules but Maciste, originally a hero in silent Italian cinema. Hercules Against the Moon Men "blends" elements from a number of mythologies: Roman, Greek, Ancient Egyptian and Cretan elements are all thrown in. [6] Filming took place in Italy, primarily at the Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome and in Lazio, Italy. [7]

The term The Moon Men and the plot element of such beings seeking to conquer the Earth appeared earlier in the novel of that name by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, though the details of the conquest in Burroughs' book are very different from the film.

Release

Hecules Against the Moon Men was released in Italy on 27 June 1964. [2] It was released in the United States in May 1965. [2]

Reception

The original Italian title of Hercules Against the Moon Men was Maciste e la regina di Samar (Maciste and the Queen of Samar). The French title of the film was Maciste contre les hommes de pierre (Maciste Against the Men of Stone), but the English distributors dubbed him to be Hercules, because Maciste was not well known to American audiences. For audiences who wanted to see an accurate interpretation of the Hercules story, the film "... made little or no effort to remain faithful to antiquity." [6]

Film historian Gary Allen Smith noted: "In this combination of peplum and science fiction, this silly, but diverting, entry has the indomitable Alan Steel (real name: Sergio Ciani) fight a collection of Moon monsters before the inevitable cataclysm destroys the invaders. In the film's one inventive touch, the sequences which take place in the mountain kingdom of the Moon Men are filmed in sepia tone, rather than full color ... or Cosmicolor, as stated in the American publicity material." [4]

MST3K

Hercules Against the Moon Men (given as Hercules Against the Moonmen) was also shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000 , making it infamous for its "Deep Hurting" Sequence (the very long sandstorm sequence). This sequence involved many of the cast floundering around pointlessly in a sandstorm for upwards of five minutes of screen time, in which no plot movement or character development is made at all. The "Deep Hurting" concept is introduced by Dr. Forrester as a follow-up to "Rock Climbing", a pain point of the movie Lost Continent that had previously been shown. [8]

DVD releases

Hercules Against the Moon Men has received numerous 'bargain box' releases from various studios. The MST3K version of the film was released by Rhino Home Video as part of the 'Collection, Volume 7' box set.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maciste</span>

Maciste is one of the oldest recurring characters of cinema, created by Gabriele d'Annunzio and Giovanni Pastrone. He is featured throughout the history of the cinema of Italy from the 1910s to the mid-1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sword-and-sandal</span> Genre of largely Italian-made historical or biblical epics

Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum, is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget Hollywood historical epics of the time, such as Samson and Delilah (1949), Quo Vadis (1951), The Robe (1953), The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960), and Cleopatra (1963). These films dominated the Italian film industry from 1958 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by spaghetti Western and Eurospy films.

<i>Colossus and the Headhunters</i> 1963 film

Colossus and the Headhunters, is a 1963 Italian peplum film written and directed by Guido Malatesta, and starring Kirk Morris.

<i>Hercules in the Haunted World</i> 1961 film by Mario Bava

Hercules in the Haunted World is a 1961 Italian sword-and-sandal film directed by Mario Bava. British bodybuilder Reg Park plays Hercules while British actor Christopher Lee appears as Hercules' nemesis Lico. Shooting at Cinecittà, director Mario Bava used some of the same sets from the earlier Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis which also stars Park.

<i>Hercules in the Valley of Woe</i> 1961 film

Hercules in the Vale of Woe, a.k.a. Hercules in the Valley of Woe, is a 1961 Italian Franco and Ciccio comedy film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Kirk Morris as Maciste and Frank Gordon as Hercules. The film is a comical take on the popular sword-and-sandal epics of the 1950s and 1960s.

<i>Maciste, the Avenger of the Mayans</i> 1965 film

Maciste, the Avenger of the Mayans is a 1965 Italian film directed by Guido Malatesta.

<i>Goliath and the Dragon</i> 1960 film

Goliath and the Dragon is a 1960 international co-production sword-and-sandal film starring Mark Forest and Broderick Crawford. The name of the main character was changed from Hercules to Emilius for release in North America by American International Pictures to sell it as a sequel to their earlier Goliath and the Barbarians (1959).

<i>Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules</i> 1962 film

Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules is a 1962 film directed by Guido Malatesta that was filmed in Yugoslavia and Italy.

<i>Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules</i> 1961 film

Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules is a 1961 Italian peplum film directed by Antonio Leonviola and starring Mark Forest.

<i>Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops</i> 1961 film

Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops is a 1961 Italian epic adventure film starring Gordon Mitchell and Chelo Alonso.

Sergio Ciani, best known as Alan Steel, was an Italian bodybuilder and actor.

<i>Hercules Against Rome</i> 1964 film

Hercules Against Rome is a 1964 peplum film directed by Piero Pierotti.

<i>Hercules Against the Barbarians</i> 1964 film

Hercules Against the Barbarians is a 1964 Italian peplum film directed by Domenico Paolella.

<i>Hercules Against the Mongols</i> 1963 film

Hercules Against the Mongols is a 1963 Italian peplum film directed by Domenico Paolella.

<i>Samson and the Slave Queen</i> 1962 film

Samson and the Slave Queen is a 1963 Italian peplum directed by Umberto Lenzi. It was originally made as a Maciste film in Italy, in which the fabled strongman meets Zorro. It was redubbed into a "Samson" movie for distribution in the U.S. and "Samson" meets "El Toro"

<i>The Fury of Hercules</i> 1962 film

The Fury of Hercules is a 1962 peplum film written and directed by Gianfranco Parolini.

<i>The Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules</i> 1964 film

The Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules is a 1964 peplum film directed by Mario Caiano and starring Mark Forest and Marilù Tolo.

<i>Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas</i> 1964 film

Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas is a 1964 film written and directed by Piero Pierotti and starring Alan Steel. Originally conceived as a peplum film, given the contemporary success of A Fistful of Dollars, it was turned into a western film during the shootings, resulting in a bizarre crossover between the two genres. Although Alan Steel reverts to a Hercules-like character in the film's climax, the bulk of the film resembles a standard Spaghetti Western.

<i>Hercules vs. Moloch</i> 1963 film

Hercules vs. Moloch is a 1963 Italian/French international co-production peplum film written and directed by Giorgio Ferroni and starring Gordon Scott. The film reuses battle scenes from Ferroni's 1961 film The Trojan Horse.

<i>Hercules and the Masked Rider</i> 1963 film

Hercules and the Masked Rider is a 1963 Italian peplum film written and directed by Piero Pierotti and starring Alan Steel and Mimmo Palmara. A crossover film, it is set in the seventeenth century Spain and it features Hercules in a Zorro-like scenario.

References

  1. ↑ Alan Steel's real name was Sergio Ciani and he also used the stage name of John Wyler. [4]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 82.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 83.
  3. 1 2 Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 84.
  4. 1 2 Smith 2009, p. 117.
  5. ↑ "Cast: 'Hercules Against the Moon Men' (1965)." Archived 2016-08-25 at the Wayback Machine Movieweb. Retrieved: 14 May 2016.
  6. 1 2 Morford and Lenardon 1999, p. 589.
  7. ↑ "Original print information: 'Hercules Against the Moon Men' (1965)." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: 14 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Beaulieu 1996, p. 72.

Sources

  • Kinnard, Roy; Crnkovich, Tony (2017). Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908-1990. McFarland. ISBN   978-1476662916.
  • Beaulieu, Trace. The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide. New York: Bantam Books, 1996. ISBN   978-0-5533-7783-5.
  • Morford, Mark P. O. and Robert J. Lenardon. Classical Mythology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN   978-0-1951-4338-6.
  • Smith, Gary Allen. Epic Films: Casts, Credits and Commentary on More Than 350 Historical Spectacle Movies. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009. ISBN   978-0-7864-4081-8.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.