HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN (1964)
Tagline: Earth's mightiest man battles moon monsters!
(Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Aliens From The Moon Where Else) [G]
Note: This movie was not given an MPAA rating, but likely would have landed an [G].
Behold, when the planets are in conjunction with Mars, the evil influence of Uranus then will occur unimaginable disasters, the oceans will rise, the mountains will crumble and the moon will draw near the earth through this cataclysm only our form of life can survive…
In this one Chancellor Gladius is smart enough to realize that Queen Samara is pretty evil and she isn’t about to stop just sacrificing her own people to cave monsters to try and wake up a moon goddess that she thinks will give her power that will allow her to be one of the masters of the earth, so he summons Hercules to come and stop the madness.
One thing right off the bat in this one is that it’s pretty “INDIANA JONES” like when it comes to booby traps. We have pits that get filled with water and spiked walls and all kinds of cool stuff. This thing has moon monsters aliens and all kinds of rad stuff in it. Apparently, this was never meant to involve Hercules though, it’s actually an Italian film that featured a hero named Maciste. Having said that, changing the name to Hercules who was way more popular in America works really well for this film.
The dub voice actors are actually outstanding and Sergio Ciani plays a fantastic Hercules. I guess I am not the only one that thought that since he played the character in at least 2 movies and Samson in a couple as well. Jany Clair is pretty solid as the villainous Queen Samara, but I am not familiar with any of her other work. I also liked Anna Maria Polani in this as Agar, Hercules's love interest in the film. What is kind of janky is that they fall in love in like 10 minutes with barely a full conversation.
What I loved about this movie were the creature designs. These rock aliens are gloriously goofy looking and it’s fantastic. This thing has one of the crazier attempts at torture that I have seen in any movie from the 50s or 60s that didn’t involve a mad scientist. The sets are all pretty rad so that always helps. The pacing works pretty well for the most part. There is nearly always something going on that moves the plot forward, it doesn’t seem like there are any wasted scenes. The plot is also ridiculously bonkers and I dug that this thing swings for the fences.
I think where this movie kind of falls flat, is in some of the dialogue. Some of it just comes across as pretty cheesy and other parts are just a bit over the top. There are also a few scenes where I am pretty sure Hercules knocks over a few dudes that he barely touched.
Yes, this movie is one of those films that most people call “so bad it’s good” but I actually really enjoyed this one for some of the goofier stuff in it. It’s a pretty fun story with some really wild ideas all packed neatly into an 88-minute romp.
Overall I have to give this thing a 5 out of 7. I would definitely watch it again.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF NIKE CINEMAGRAFICA AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
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