Italian cinema moves in popular waves; after the sucess of Hercules (1958) and Hercules Unchained
(1959), the peplum became the popular genre and for four years the
majority of Italian cinematic output comprised bulky heros fighting
evil. Having already helped shoot several of the genre's earliest entries, and made a big splash with his directoral debut Black Sunday (1960), Mario Bava was the obvious choice to helm this horror themed peplum,
Hercules (Reg Park) is due to marry Princess
Deianira, and travels to Ecalia to find her. However, on arrival he
discovers that she is very ill and seems to be possessed. The sinister
King Licos (Christopher Lee) seems to be responsible, making deals with
the Gods of Darkness. Seeking help from his father, Zeus, Hercules
learns of a stone held within Hades that has the power to
free Deianira from the curse. With his friend Thesus, they down
head into hell itself to save the day....
The story behind Hercules in the Haunted World
is a pretty standard Peplum plot - Hercules travels around, finds a
problem, learns of the 'impossible' challenges needed to solve the
problem, sets out to do them all and save the day - references to Greek
mythology abound, including links to Homer's Odyssey, and plenty of
name dropping. The script includes plenty of chances to show off
Hercules' strength, although there are not many fight scenes here
and the focus is more on Hercules having to solve problems - although
don't expect too many clever twists.
The pacing is good, the film moving without many problems, although
presumably due to the low budget, the
climax battle is rather anti-climactic. The most annoying aspect
of the film is
Hercules' comic relief side-kick, who can become rather grating at
times (a common genre problem) and has the worst ending line in movie history.
Despite the rather typical storyline and a very low budget, Hercules in the Haunted World stands
out as one of the best films in the genre thanks to the highly
impressive direction from Mario Bava. For the most-part he abstains
from the exteriors that take up most of these films, with almost all
the action taking place on sets - this allows Bava much greater control
over the atmosphere. Lit with red and green, the sets are dark and
mysterious, and particularly in the Hades sequence give the film a very
other-worldly feel. The music is light and typical of the genre, and fits very well.
Reg
park played five Herculean characters in an all too brief career - a
three time Mr Universe he even more heavily built than genre regulars
Alan Steel and Steve
Reeves and his acting is surprisingly convincing. Christopher Lee had
risen to quick horror movie fame with a quartet of Hammer Horror
pictures and in 1961 had moved to work in Europe, his villanous
reputation is played up well here and he gives a typically strong
performance. The rest of the cast, including the beautiful Ida Galli (Django Shoots First (1966)), a very buff George Ardisson (Grand Canyon Massacre (1965)) and a young Rosabela Neri (Lady Frankenstein (1972)), look fine in their roles.
These days the Peplum films are often overlooked as pure trash cinema, and especially in the English dub, Hercules in the Haunted World
is a pretty daft film with some silly comedy - but with its very
impressive direction and a good cast it is certainly a genre highlight
and a good entertaining watch. A must see for all Peplum and Bava fans, and a great starting place for newcomers to both.
In Brief
Anyone famous in it?
Christopher Lee - A horror icon of the 1960s who made his name in Britian but worked widely in Europe. Reg Park - A five time Peplum star who also starred in the horror tinged Hercules Prisoner of Evil (1964)
Directed by anyone interesting?
Mario Bava
- Often considered to be one of the best European cinema directors he
directed a wide range of films, but was most at home in the horror
genre.
Is it scary?
No.
Any violence/gore?
Some blood.
Any sex?
None.
Who is it for?
Fans of euro-cinema should enjoy this daft but well directed film.
The DVD
Visuals
Original Aspect Ratio - 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Colour The
print is decent - very grainy and rather soft in places (although this
is sometimes deliberate) with some damage, it is miles better than most
of the PD peplum prints and always watchable.
Audio
Italian and English tracks. Both sound good.
Subtitles
English - translation of the Italian track.
Run-time
Feature: 1hr 21m 07s
Extras
The disc includes:
Original American Cinema trailer - very low PQ. (1m 32s)
Picture galleries - manually scrolling mix of publicity shots and promotional materials.
Liner notes by Tim Lucas - very detailed.
Region
Region 1 (USA) - NTSC
Other regions?
None known.
Cuts?
The
film is believed to be uncut. The print used is the English print. (The
American print was re-edited heavily and included different scenes not
present here)
Summary
A typically daft peplum plot is lifted by strong direction and a good cast. A must see for Peplum and Bava fans.
A good looking print and the audio options are good - one of the best looking Pepla on DVD.
