Hercules in the Haunted World (1961)

Sadly Over-hyped

Fresh and Exciting

Fantastic!

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Never heard of this film this morning (or March 2017, when I typed up this review), discovered while doing research in work by accident, honest, found it on YouTube, watched it. The wonders of the modern world never cease to amaze me. This is a Hercules film made by Italian master Mario Bava, starring Christoper Lee! It's good before you even start watching it. Bava is very clever when it comes to cinematography, so you get loads of trick camera shots, great use of colour, amazing sets, and the guy knows that no one comes to these films for acting or political subtext. We want to see Herc smash things up, dammit!Herc and his best mate Thesus return to Italian to find Christopher Lee in charge and Herc's missus out of her head, muttering and not noticing Herc is standing in front of her. Lee's all sympathetic even though he was keeping her in a coffin while murdering people he'd hired to kill Herc (by impaling them on about 20 spikes). Herc figures somehow that he has to go to Hades to retrieve Pluto's stone to help his missus, but to get to hell he'll need to get the golden apple of the Aiedes, and to get that he'll need to get a special boat off of someone else! Bava luckily just piles on the crazy special effects until we just roll with the film instead of trying to figure out what's going on.Herc gets his ship, gets to the Aiedes, makes a massive slingshot and gets his golden apple! Mean while his mates are being attacked by a huge monster made out of stone but that just gives Herc the chance to throw the monster through a wall, exposing the entrance to Hades!Oh, after some trials, Herc gets his stone, but his mate Thesus has fallen in love with Pluto's daughter Persephone, which leads to all sorts of misery for everyone. So Herc's got crazy Christopher Lee trying to sacrifice his missus, the God Pluto hating on everyone, his mate Thesus trying to cut him up, and worst of all, a bunch of flying zombie ghouls after him. That last one came out of nowhere but was most welcome as it gave Herc the chance to throw huge rocks around the place.600,000 times better than any other Hercules/Maciste film I've watched from the sixties (but nowhere near the insanity of the two Lou Ferringo eighties Hercules film), this one benefits largely from having a true expert behind the camera, and another, lesser expert by the name of Joe D'Amato backing him up. Joe of course will go on to forge his own legacy in film with the great self-gut munching classic Anthropophagus and the classic post-apocalyptic film Endgame (plus endless porn films).Two things: Christopher Lee gets burned to a crisp by the sun, just like the last film I watched him in, and after a rather bloody murder involving the slashing of a girl's neck, Lee's face is revealed in the resulting pool of blood EXACTLY like David Hemming's face is reflected in the blood of the killer at the end of Dario Argento's Profondo Rosso. Coincidence?

In order to save his beloved "Princess Deianira" (Leonora Ruffo) from a delusional trance "Hercules" (Reg Park) must venture through the land of the Hesperides and into Hades itself in order to retrieve a sacred stone which will revive her sanity. On the way he and his two friends "Thesus" (George Ardisson) and "Telemachus" (Franco Giacobini) must battle all sorts of evil creatures in order to accomplish their mission and return to Icalia. And even then they must also endure the wrath of Pluto for the abduction by Thesus of his favorite daughter "Persephone" (Ida Galli). Anyway, as far as the merits of this particular Hercules film is concerned it had some good points and some bad points as well. First, I thought some of the dark and gloomy sets featuring plenty of smoke and good lighting effects were a very nice touch. Additionally, having two beautiful actresses like Leonora Ruffo and Ida Galli certainly didn't hurt either. On the other hand, some of the special effects during the action scenes were almost laughable. Likewise the acting wasn't exactly top-notch either. Still, it was a fun movie all the same and I give it an average rating.

Hercules must journey on sea to Hades to bring back a certain stone that'll remove the curse of anemia from his beloved Queen Deianira(Leonora Ruffo) caused by her evil uncle King Lyco(Christopher Lee)whose eyes are on her throne. Along with Herc are pals Theseus(George Ardisson)and Telemachus(Franco Giacobini, a weakling slapstick foil who provides the film's supposed comedy relief)..they must first find a specific golden apple in the land of Hermides before entering god Pluto's Hades to retrieve the special powerful stone. In Hermides, Herc must battle a stone creature while Theseus meets god Pluto's daughter with them falling in love instantly. She will return with Theseus causing Pluto to reign terror to Deianira's people. Lyco plans to separate Herc from Deianira and kill her before the dragon swallows the moon in the sky.To be honest, the story is pure nonsense. This is about directors Mario Bava and Franco Prosperi creating colorful, surreal fantasy worlds. Using a Hercules film as a palate, both men make good use of fog and wild colors that mix and mingle. The film works as an adventure fantasy for children and one might could say it allowed Bava to evolve and mature as an artist/filmmaker honing his craft for future Gothic horror that would make him a legend. The tools for creating otherworldly atmospherics certainly is represented her. Christopher Lee is, as always, just fine as the villain of the film at first sending Herc on a wild goose chase when his King Lyco was the actual fiend behind the horrors of the Queen and the village. Throw in the sappy forbidden love-affair between Theseus and his rejected-goddess and the minor tasks Herc must overcome to retrieve the precious stone needed to bring his beloved back from the cursed spell that had weakened her. The stories aren't as interesting as the presentation. Reg Park Provides the muscular physique needed to represent the Hercules character..and the directors do let him toss boulders. I think we get a taste of vintage Bava at the end when Hercules must fight of zombies rising from their graves in Lyco's underground pit underneath Deianira's castle. But, without the exotic visual presentation, I don't think this would hold up as well..I just feel that the fantasy itself, particularly the tests Herc must overcome, are not as motivationally conceived as the look.

HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD was directed by Mario Bava. I rented it. And I don't see what the fuss is all about. Physically, Reg Park fits the bill as Hercules but he simply can't act and has no charisma whatsoever. The story is very slight and after a while, the excellent cinematography can do so much with so little. Some scenes are beautiful and the whole golden apple moment was excellent, and the living dead attacking Hercules was equally fun but there's simply nothing much going on here to warrant this much attention. The problem with HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD is that, for an action film, it's very static. One only has to look at other Peplums, including those with Reg Park, and see how those film actually fit the bill as action films. HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN, though somewhat more cheesy than this Bava flick, was more fun to watch because it moved like a serial of yore. Reg was more animated in that film too. Mario Bava is a unique director, with a unique style, who was just not suited for action films.