| Hercules vs. the Moon Men | |
|---|---|
Promotional film poster |
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| Directed by | Giacomo Gentilomo |
| Produced by | Luigi Mondello |
| Written by | Giacomo Gentilomo Angelo Sangermano Arpad DeRiso Nino Scolaro |
| Starring | Sergio Ciani Jany Clair Anna Maria Polani |
| Music by | Carlo Franci |
| Cinematography | Oberdan Troiani |
| Distributed by | Governor Films Inc. |
| Release date(s) | 27 June 1964 |
| Running time | 90 min |
| Country | France Italy |
| Language | Italian |
Hercules Against the Moon Men (1964) is an Italian/French sword and sandal film. It was directed by Giacomo Gentilomo and starred Alan Steel (real name Sergio Ciani) and Jany Clair. The film runs for 90 minutes and is dubbed.
The film "blends" elements from a number of mythologies. Roman, Greek, Ancient Egyptian and Cretan elements are all thrown in.
In the original Italian language version, the hero was not Hercules but Maciste, originally a hero in silent Italian cinema, and its original Italian title was Maciste e la regina di Samar (Maciste and the Queen of Samar). Its French title was Maciste contre les hommes de pierre (Maciste Against the Men of Stone), but the English distributors dubbed him to be Hercules, because Maciste was not well known to American audiences.
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In ancient Greece a race of evil aliens from the moon land on earth. For years they have terrorized the nearby city of Samar, demanding children for sacrifice. Now, the queen of Samar has made a pact with the moon men to conquer the world and become the most powerful woman alive. However, the residents of Samar, sick of all the chaos, cheer when the mighty Hercules shows up to put a stop to it all.
It was also shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000, making it infamous for its "Deep Hurting" Sequence (the very long sandstorm sequence). This sequence involved many of the cast floundering around pointlessly in a sandstorm for upwards of five minutes of screen time, in which no plot movement or character development is made at all.