Hercules Against the Moon Men / The Witch's Curse
There's more well-muscled beef on display here than at a cattle farm in Texas, but for fans of camp/cult titles or action with a mythological bent, this double bill of Italian-made sword-and-sandal adventure films will provide some old-school thrills. In the widescreenHercules Against the Moon Men, Alan Steel (née Sergio Ciani) steps into the toga as the World's Mightiest Mortal (though in the original Italian version, he was called Maciste) to defeat a hot-blooded queen in cahoots with a race of evil invaders from the Moon. And in Riccardo Freda'sThe Witch's Curse, Kirk Morris is Maciste, who must travel to Hell in order to save a woman possessed by the spirit of a dead witch. While the atrocious English dubbing renders these films into laugh fodder (Moon Menmade for one of the funnier "experiments" onMystery Science Theater 3000), their lush photography, frenetic pacing, and moments of pure budget surrealism (the ape creature inMoon Men, the visit to Hell inCurse) are solid reminders to both novice and veteran viewers of the Italian film industry's inventiveness and eye for spectacle, as well as the unadulterated fun these films provide.--Paul Gaita