Hercules the Avenger (1965) User Reviews

Heavily "influenced" by Hercules in the Haunted World

[bensonmum2 · 5/10 · 23 February 2005]

• Hercules (Reg Park) sets out on a quest to save his son's soul from the evil Earth Goddess Gia. He must battle all sorts of monsters, get past numerous obstacles, and resist temptations if he is to save his son. What Hercules doesn't know is that while he is away, Gia sends Antaius (her rotten son) to impersonate Hercules. Antaius reigns over the people as a cruel, heartless king. Can Hercules get back in time to save the people?

• It's not that Hercules the Avenger is a bad movie, it's just not very original. If you've seen Mario Bava's Hercules in the Haunted World (a much superior movie), then you've seen some of the best this movie has to offer. The similarities go beyond the obvious - Reg Park, a daunting quest, ocean voyages. etc. The similarities extend to actual set pieces. For example, in both films Hercules must traverse a rope over a boiling pit of lava. Another example, in both films Hercules must do battle with flying zombie type creatures. In addition, Lucidi copies some of Bava's style. The underground scenes in this movie are lit with the same colored gels used by Bava. The things taken from Hercules in the Haunted World were so obvious, I half expected to see Christopher Lee waiting for Hercules at the end of his journey.

• According to IMDb, this was the last time Reg Park would play Hercules. Other than Steve Reeves, I think he was the best actor/body builder to play the role. But after taking one look at Park in Hercules the Avenger, I'm glad he gave it up. He looks terrible. By 1965, he was no longer the chiseled specimen as featured on the DVD cover. Instead, he looks more likely to be playing Bluto than Hercules.

• With everything I've written being so negative, I'll finish by saying you could do far worse than Hercules the Avenger. The new Region 1 DVD (with Hercules and the Black Pirate a bonus) is probably as good as this movie ever looked.

Who stole My Loin Cloth?

[dfswatter · 6/10 · 15 July 2006]

MILD SPOILERS.

The other reviewer remarked that this film copies Hercules and the Huanted World. I can see where he got that impression because ten minutes of this movie was lifted from Hercules And The Haunted World. I believe that the fight with the giant rubber Iguanna came from Hercules and the Captive Women and the Volcano scene looks very familiar as well.That aside this entry in the beefcake sweepstakes is fairly is easy to take largely to do to Reg parks charisma and the smarminess of the chief villain who impersonates our hero and gives him a bad name.The Oracle is a hottie but the rest of the female cast is not as spicy or saucy as the toga babes of past efforts.Not bad if you're bored.

Hercules' cut-and-paste adventures

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 9 April 2014]

HERCULES THE AVENGER is a cheapo peplum adventure that rips off plenty of footage from two previous HERCULES outings, HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN and HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD. Needless to say, those two earlier films are much, much better, leaving this a curious relic more than anything else.

Director Maurizio Lucidi handles the newly-filmed footage which sees Hercules attempting to save his beleaguered son as well as the people of Syracuse when they're menaced by the Earth goddess Gaia as well as her evil son (played by SUPERARGO actor Giovanni Cianfriglia). Inevitably, much of the storyline sees our hero engaging in oddly-familiar adventures underground.

HERCULES THE AVENGER is really a film for cult fans only. It has its positives, such as a relatively fast pace for this genre and plenty of action, but the calibre of the acting is below par (Reg Park seems to be on particularly bad form) and the material is just too familiar to be fully enjoyable. Even the climactic fight employs a plot twist involving the strength of the villain which was already played out in one of the Steve Reeves HERCULES films I watched. Certainly a forgettable effort in a genre already loaded with them.

Tired and shoddy (but with a fun villain)

[SuperDevilDoctor · 3/10 · 21 June 2013]

More or less "Reg Park's Greatest Herc Hits", since huge chunks of this film are lifted lock, stock and barrel from HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD and HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (both 1961). A wraparound story is concocted about Hercules questing for his missing son Xanthus, who is imprisoned in the supernatural domain of Gia the earth goddess. Meanwhile, Gia's evil son Antaeus — himself a demigod — impersonates Hercules and takes over the city-state of Syracuse with the help of its ambitious queen. Ruling as a mad, barbarous tyrant, Antaeus (Giovanni Cianfriglia) starts exiling and slaughtering people at whim, generally soiling the name of Hercules something fierce. Naturally, the real Herc takes umbrage at this...

If you've already seen HAUNTED WORLD and/or CAPTIVE WOMEN then there's really no point in watching this one. All of AVENGER's monster action and FX scenes are borrowed from those films, only with different dialog dubbed in. Its main cheesy pleasure is Gianfriglia's Antaeus. A schoolyard bully in a he-man's body, he's such a cruel, arrogant jerk that you keep watching for the moment when Herc finally kicks his butt. He's at least good for a few laughs, as when barking commands such as, "Drive them into the Valley of Agony... and block the way out!"

cut and paste your way to excellence!

[winner55 · 9/10 · 30 June 2009]

Hercules the Avenger is by far the best single entry in the muscleman genre I can recall. The charge against it made by critics - it is a cut and paste of two previous Hercules films, with some added new material to make it appear fresh - misses the fact that this cut-and-paste approach solves one of the central problems of the sword-and-sandal movies. With most of these films, the middle third sags horribly - usually involving a sappy love story or arcane political intrigue or both (queen falls in love with Hercules and her evil brother plots against them, etc.) It's often hard to hold on through this to watch the exciting finale. Hercules the Avenger cuts all that crap from the source films, and adds a rather brisk narrative of a Hercules impersonator bullying his way into power. (It should be noted that this episode also functions as a distant but pointedly critical remark on the rise of Fascism in Italy.) This also sets up a fine final wrasslin' match between the real Hercules and his impersonator.

In a narrower focus, I might also add that further editing has improved individual scenes borrowed from the other films. For my money, the mutiny scene here is much better than it first appeared in Hercules and the Captive Women, since it has been tightened with the reduction of several characters and their plot complications.

There are also floppy monsters, creepy underworld atmospherics borrowed (literally) from Mario Bava, an entire city destroyed, and the usual amount of lovely babes in revealing gowns. Since no one expects any of these films to compete with The Seven Samurai - or even with The Magnificent Seven - it seems a bit picky to hold the film's borrowing from other films against it.

More Italian muscleman fun

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 5 June 2009]

Hercules' son gets severely wounded during a lion hunt that goes awry. Hercules (a solid and engaging performance by the beefy Reg Park) has to venture into an eerie and dangerous alternate dimension ruled by the evil and vengeful Gia the Earth Goddess (a deliciously wicked portrayal by Gia Sandri) and battle various monsters in order to save his son's soul. Meanwhile, Gia's equally nasty son Antaius (a perfectly hateful turn by Giovanni Cianfriglia) poses as Hercules and takes over an entire city as a cruel and ruthless tyrant. Director Maurizo Lucidi relates the engrossing story at a steady pace and maintains a serious tone throughout. This film begins a little slow, but really starts cooking once Hercules enters the misty and perilous subterranean spirit world: Rousing highlights include Hercules grappling with a humanoid lizard beast, Hercules climbing a giant gnarled tree, and Hercules being attacked by a bunch of creepy rotting zombies. Better still, the bizarre spirit world just reeks of spooky atmosphere (gotta love that persistent thick swirling fog!). The strenuous rough'n'tumble mano-a-mano major physical confrontation between Hercules and Antaius likewise totally rocks. Of course, we also get a big mondo destructo climactic volcanic eruption as well. Allvaro Mancori's crisp widescreen cinematography gives the movie an impressively expansive sense of scope. Ugo Filippini's robust, rousing score has a nifty majestic sweep to it. Okay, so this flick is an obvious cheapo cute'n'paste job that uses copious footage from both "Hercules in the Haunted World" and "Hercules and the Captive Women," but it's still an extremely lively and entertaining romp all the same.

Italian Peplum Movie with Reg PARK and Giovanni CIANFRIGLIA

[ZeddaZogenau · 8/10 · 15 February 2024]

Sword and sandal film with Reg Park and Giovanni Cianfriglia

This late sword and sandal film by Maurizio Lucidi is burdened with quite a bit of a mortgage. The director and the film producers make it very easy for themselves by "muddying" key excerpts from Reg Park's performances in ERCOLE AL CENTRO DELLA TERRA (1961) and ERCOLE ALLA CONQUISTA DI ATLANTIDE (1961) for this film. Of course, this causes confusion and doesn't always fit well with the plot. One advantage of the film is that Reg Park (1928-2007) has a more than equal antagonist as Hercules in Giovanni Cianfriglia (*1935). Thanks to his appearance as the ultra-nasty Anteo, Steve Reeves' (1926-2000) former stunt double was able to really get started. As Ken Wood, Giovanni Cianfriglia then played several leading roles in superhero films (Superargo) and spaghetti westerns.

But first, let's get to the plot of this film! Hercules and his wife Deianira (Adriana Ambesi) are in great grief. Their son Xantos (Luigi Barbini) was so badly injured while hunting lions that he has been in a kind of vegetative state ever since. Hercules is convinced that he can only save his son by completing tasks in the underworld in order to please the gods. When Hercules has already set off, the desperate Queen Leda (Gia Sandri) of Syracuse appears and wants to ask Hercules for help in defending her throne. And now comes the big highlight! ;-) The evil goddess Gaia lured Hercules to the underworld to give her son Anteo the opportunity to bug the desperate queen. And the brazen muscleman does it brilliantly. By claiming that he is Hercules, the unscrupulous daredevil even manages to proclaim himself king of Syracuse. The queen realizes too late what monster she has brought into the royal bedchamber. Only the true Hercules can help. And so it comes to the final battle between the two muscular mountains, which even pushes a volcanic eruption into the background.

Despite the brazen reuse of the old film material, the encounter between two equal opponents still results in a very attractive sword and sandal film. And Giovanni Cianfriglia is really nasty in his role, which immediately increases the tension.

Recommended for all Peplum fans!

Colossal

[Falconeer · 8/10 · 30 April 2018]

The way in which "Hercules the Avenger" was made is fascinating and incredible from a cinematic point of view. Using scenes from two earlier "Hercules" films, and then creating a fantastic new story and an entirely new film; one which is superior to the films it borrowed from. This is a dark entry in the series, free of any suggestion of comic relief. Greek mythology comes alive as Gia, the Sun Goddess, desires revenge on Hercules for slaying the Hydra. Imprisoning Hercules in a delirious, neon -colored Hades, she sends her own evil son, Anteo, to Earth, to annihilate the family of Hercules, as well as their Kingdom. Anteo is an incredible villain, cruel and sociopathic and full of hatred for all mankind. As Hercules tries to rescue his son from the evil spell of Gia, Anteo takes the throne of Hercules, murdering men, women and children without a thought. Why people have a problem with the way this movie was conceived, is beyond me. All that matters is the end result. "Hercules the Avenger" takes the finest elements from Mario Bava's "Haunted World," and excises everything that dragged that lesser film down, such as the silly characters, the slapstick comedy, and continuity errors. The end result is a colossal film, filled with vast sets, jaw-dropping special effects, and a hypnotic struggle between Good and Evil. This film is supposedly an allegory to the rise of Fascism in Italy. Some of the set pieces are incredible, like the destruction of the city, as well as an impressive lion hunt that culminates in the on-screen slaying of at least one real lion. This practice of killing animals on screen is thankfully, a thing of the past. But to see actual "real" lions in place of the ridiculous CGI that we are all used to, is quite a surreal experience. And the volcano eruption that wipes out the city makes the similar destruction in the recent "Pompeii" look like a joke. Honestly, this film is INSANE. I would love to watch this on a huge screen with surround sound. This is one film that deserves a Bluray restoration, complete with the original Italian audio. To date it is my favorite Hercules movie. Highest recommendation.