Hercules vs. Moloch
| Hercules vs. Moloch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Giorgio Ferroni |
| Screenplay by |
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| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Augusto Tiezzi[2] |
| Edited by | Antonietta Zita[2] |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Embassy Pictures (US) |
Release date |
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Running time | 98 minutes[1] |
| Countries |
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Hercules vs. Moloch (Italian: Ercole contro Moloch also released as 'Conquest of Mycenae is a 1963 Italian/French international co-production peplum film written and directed by Giorgio Ferroni and starring Gordon Scott.[3][4][5] The film reuses battle scenes from Ferroni's 1961 film The Trojan Horse.
Plot[]
The city-state of Mycenae is able to dominate the rest of the nearby city-states due to its impregnable fortress. Led by a facially deformed King who believes himself Moloch incarnated, the madman demands slaves as tribute, where he tortures and kills a selected few. Prince Glaucus from Tiryns has an idea to seize and destroy Mycenae from within. Using the name of Hercules, he poses as one of the slaves given to Mycenae in tribute.
He becomes a gladiator but he secretly plots to lead a revolution and destroy the creature that has enslaved the people.
Cast[]
- Gordon Scott as Glaucus aka Ercole
- Alessandra Panaro as Medea
- Rosalba Neri as Demetra, Queen of Mycene
- Michel Lemoine as Oineo
- Arturo Dominici as Penthius
- Jany Clair as Deianira
- Nerio Bernardi as Asterion
- Giovanni Pazzafini as Archepolos
- Geneviève Grad as Pasifae
Release[]
Hercules vs. the Moloch was released in Italy on December 21, 1963.[2] It was released in the United States by December 15, 1965.[2]
Reception[]
From contemporary reviews, the Monthly Film Bulletin reviewed a 91 minute dubbed version.[1] The film stated that the plot was "completely routine" and its ending was "over-extravagant", the "Herculean hero is at least credited with a distinct measure of intelligence" noting that "the question of sheer physical strength is reated ambigulously [...] There is no penny-pinching in the staging; hundreds of extras are used for the big battle scenes, which really do succeed in giving the effect of an army and not merely a platoon."[1]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ a b c d e "Ercole Contro Moloch (Hercules Attacks), Italy/France, 1963". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 322, no. 377. British Film Institute. June 1965. p. 91.
- ^ a b c d e f Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 96.
- ^ Michele Giordano. Giganti buoni. Gremese Editore, 1998. ISBN 8877421835.
- ^ Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia; Mario Pecorari (1991). Dizionario del cinema italiano. I film. Gremese Editore, 1992. ISBN 8876055932.
- ^ Paolo Mereghetti. Il Mereghetti - Dizionario dei film. B.C. Dalai Editore, 2010. ISBN 8860736269.
Sources[]
- Kinnard, Roy; Crnkovich, Tony (2017). Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908-1990. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476662916.
External links[]
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- 1963 films
- 1960s adventure films
- Peplum films
- Italian films
- French films
- Films directed by Giorgio Ferroni
- Films scored by Carlo Rustichelli
- Films set in ancient Greece
- Sword and sandal films
- 1960s Italian film stubs
- Adventure film stubs