Possibly one of the cheapest peplums ever made, this low-budget epic is not totally without merit, although it does get pretty bad at times. Thankfully, instead of being so-bad-it's-boring, this is a so-bad-it's-funny kind of film which is pretty enjoyable to watch, even if the film itself fails to hold up as an effective slice of escapism as many of the pepla were. The story, which is simple and confusing at the same time, inter-cuts footage of the gods in a dry-ice temple in heaven arguing and discussing things with more standard sword-and-sandal action down on earth.
Our first introduction to Vulcan is when we see him banging away on his anvil. The sexist Vulcan is played by Rod Flash, who never became a peplum star for obvious reasons. Physically he's very impressive, however, with an impossibly broad chest and a Steve Reeves-style beard. Sadly, Flash's acting is non-existent, and his acting style is the most wooden that I've ever witnessed in a peplum movie. It's so bad as to be cringe-worthy. Flash fights people by beating them over the back or throwing them around unconvincingly, so in the action scenes he's not too good either. Thankfully the supporting cast are more interesting.
Vulcan's major opponent is Mars, played by Roger Browne (The Incredible Paris Incident). Browne in comparison is small and lithe, making the protracted battle of the pair at the end of the film a bit unnecessary. Still, he makes for a nice baddie, pairing up with an angry bald warrior king who looks like a cross between Peter Lorre and Telly Savalas. The pair are fighting over the love of Venus, an incredibly floozy who drapes herself over any man nearby; obviously the Italian's idea of the Goddess of Love is as a flirty, shallow, blonde bimbo woman! Appearing as a "special guest star" is none other than peplum favourite Gordon Mitchell as the evil Pluto, who is criminally under-used in this film. Appearing in only a handful of scenes, all he does is stand around, laugh, and occasionally act. In the end he gets banished back to his own kingdom by Jupiter - huh? Thankfully, the love interest (not Venus but Etna, a slave girl) is played by Bella Cortez, whose incredible figure is highlighted in the number of skimpy costumes that she wears; her exotic dancing is one of the film's highlights.
From the moment a lightning bolt appears, having been scratched manually on to the film, you're made aware that the special effects aren't up to much. In fact the only other "effects" (if you can call them such) are of the lizard men, obviously just green-painted actors with bad rubber covers tied to their backs. I mean, no attempt has gone into them to make them even look halfway realistic and not like actors, but there you go. What can you do when you don't have a budget? Other highlights include a scene where the delectable Cortez is attacked by primitives in a mountainous valley (probably the film's only good bit of action) and a cat fight between Venus and Etna, with the pair whipping each other!! Sadly these scenes are countered by the presence of a (very) annoying dwarf character who acts as an unwanted comedy sidekick for Vulcan. He does things like disguise himself as a bush and push people over and is one of the most irritating characters in a peplum movie ever. So, finally, VULCAN, SON OF JUPITER is worthwhile only for bad movie fans who may get a kick out of Flash's wimpish hero, or undemanding movie viewers who may get a kick out of grown men hitting each other with lumps of wood. The choice is yours.
Our first introduction to Vulcan is when we see him banging away on his anvil. The sexist Vulcan is played by Rod Flash, who never became a peplum star for obvious reasons. Physically he's very impressive, however, with an impossibly broad chest and a Steve Reeves-style beard. Sadly, Flash's acting is non-existent, and his acting style is the most wooden that I've ever witnessed in a peplum movie. It's so bad as to be cringe-worthy. Flash fights people by beating them over the back or throwing them around unconvincingly, so in the action scenes he's not too good either. Thankfully the supporting cast are more interesting.
Vulcan's major opponent is Mars, played by Roger Browne (The Incredible Paris Incident). Browne in comparison is small and lithe, making the protracted battle of the pair at the end of the film a bit unnecessary. Still, he makes for a nice baddie, pairing up with an angry bald warrior king who looks like a cross between Peter Lorre and Telly Savalas. The pair are fighting over the love of Venus, an incredibly floozy who drapes herself over any man nearby; obviously the Italian's idea of the Goddess of Love is as a flirty, shallow, blonde bimbo woman! Appearing as a "special guest star" is none other than peplum favourite Gordon Mitchell as the evil Pluto, who is criminally under-used in this film. Appearing in only a handful of scenes, all he does is stand around, laugh, and occasionally act. In the end he gets banished back to his own kingdom by Jupiter - huh? Thankfully, the love interest (not Venus but Etna, a slave girl) is played by Bella Cortez, whose incredible figure is highlighted in the number of skimpy costumes that she wears; her exotic dancing is one of the film's highlights.
From the moment a lightning bolt appears, having been scratched manually on to the film, you're made aware that the special effects aren't up to much. In fact the only other "effects" (if you can call them such) are of the lizard men, obviously just green-painted actors with bad rubber covers tied to their backs. I mean, no attempt has gone into them to make them even look halfway realistic and not like actors, but there you go. What can you do when you don't have a budget? Other highlights include a scene where the delectable Cortez is attacked by primitives in a mountainous valley (probably the film's only good bit of action) and a cat fight between Venus and Etna, with the pair whipping each other!! Sadly these scenes are countered by the presence of a (very) annoying dwarf character who acts as an unwanted comedy sidekick for Vulcan. He does things like disguise himself as a bush and push people over and is one of the most irritating characters in a peplum movie ever. So, finally, VULCAN, SON OF JUPITER is worthwhile only for bad movie fans who may get a kick out of Flash's wimpish hero, or undemanding movie viewers who may get a kick out of grown men hitting each other with lumps of wood. The choice is yours.