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It’s something of a cult in the peplum subgenre where Hercules (Reg Park), hoping for a blissful life with his wife and son, is instead kidnapped by Androcles, the King of Thebes (Ettore Manni), who drugs and sails him off to Atlantis, where Queen Antinea (Fay Spain) wishes to conquer the world while bringing back the deposed god Uranus to his rightful place in the heavens.
This Hercules does not enjoy showcasing his immense strength, rather much prefers sleeping or lounging around. He also seems to be quite fond of ships of this sort. Androcles, who failed to convince his senate to properly finance the expedition, filled his ship with outlaws who just wanted to dump Hercules onto the first landmass they found. To make matters worse for Hercules, his son is tagging along without him knowing.
As expected, Hercules’s plans go awry leading to a shipwreck on an island where he’s able to rescue Ismene (Laura Efrikian), but not without difficulty. Fire is only the first of many obstacles, next are a snake, a lion, an eagle, and a gigantic lizard. It turns out Ismene is the daughter of Antinea the queen who is more horrified than relieved at the girl’s return. This twist comes thanks to prophecies that suggest Ismene has to be sacrificed to save the city from destruction.
However, Atlantis is not your stereotypical kingdom. Setting aside everything that is odd about the Greek world, this place is ruled by the largely abnormal. Hercules encounters Androcles, his friend he thought perished in the shipwreck, but in reality, it’s merely a vision or something with the ability to shapeshift. The queen has the power to control nature, but those who disappoint her often encounter her fury which unleashes in the form of an acid bath. Life and death are bound by a fiery rock that is able to bring control to both ends of the spectrum.
As is typical with peplum films, the production values are well below those we have come to expect from Hollywood. The monstrous creatures that challenge the hero are, at best, laughable; yet, on the bright side, they are feats of imagination that no American studio would dare produce unless it was a scene that had to be fitted into the peplum swashbuckler imagination that they have. You essentially have to go with the flow and accept what is offered in terms of storytelling eccentricity. And remember, no one appears wearing as little as the costume shown in the poster.
In addition, you have to be on the lookout for a good copy. There are many versions, some even available for free, but the ones available are so devoid of color that it is impossible to follow what is happening, let alone appreciate the costumes, creatures, and sets that the narratives suggest should be present. This was taken using Technirama 70, filmed originally on 35mm but expanded to 70mm widescreen for general viewing. Therefore, it must be of a good technical standard. This was the same method used by Spartacus (1960).
Let’s be honest, it’s not a movie that falls under the so-bad-it’s-good criteria but considering it was made in a certain era and the acting is cheap, I would say it does have those qualities. It goes without saying, that Reg Park, Mr. Universer thrice, is foremost a bodybuilder and an actor second. He did also play Hercules and Maciste and apart from those roles, he remained in that zone. But being the idol of Arnold Schwarzenegger was probably sufficient for him.
Fay Spain, the American actress of B-grade horror films, is known for her role in The Private Life of Adam and Eve but she was never more than a supporting actress in television. She did appear in The Godfather: Part II but was pretty much invisible in the scene. Laura Efrikina is another actress who started her career in this movie but she would later play Dora in the Italian television mini-series David Copperfield.
Peplum enthusiasts are all too familiar with director Vittorio Cottafavi and his works The Warrior and the Slave Girl and Amazons of Rome, but aside from the immersed television industry, he only made one other picture, 100 Horsemen, in 1964.
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