THE TRIUMPH OF HERCULES (1964)

Milo, the king's unscrupulous nephew, has his men attack and burn down a village because the people haven't paid their taxes, though the villagers claim they have and that his real reason for the attack is to enslave the people to act as his personal guards. When the king arrives, he's fed up with Milo's tactics and exiles him, but Milo has him killed. With the king's dying breath, he asks his messenger Erione to send for his friend Hercules. Milo heads to a cave filled with pink smoke to visit his mother, the sorceress Pasiphae, who uses long-distance magic to cause the messenger to fall into quicksand. Hercules, himself a demigod (we discover that Jove can take away his powers if he misuses them), saves Erione and goes to answer the late king's call. But Mom also gives Milo a magic dagger that, when drawn from its sheath, conjures up seven invincible golden warriors, the sons of Jaio, Juno's sister. Realizing he can't have the king's daughter, Até, for himself, Milo arranges a competition event, the winner of which will have Até's hand. In theory, Milo fixes it so that his buddy Gordio will win and Milo will be the influence behind him, but when Hercules enters and has a horse vs. chariot race, guess who the winner is? Not only that, but Hercules then saves Até from death on a platform of spikes which "accidentally" falls toward her. Milo's next plot involves the killing of Erione and the apparently kidnapping of Até; Hercules goes nuts and kills an innocent villager and friend, and Jove takes his powers away. Can Hercules get his powers back and save Até from more metal spikes, this time on a torture device? And, of course, don't forget about the seven golden warriors of Jaio's dagger. This is generally a fun entry in the original Hercules cycle. I like the fact that Herc's demigod background is a plotpoint, and I really like the golden warriors. This does not seem like a big-budgeted film but it looks a notch better than the average peplum film of the era. Weightlifter Dan Vadis is not ridiculously muscled but makes for an impressive Hercules, though as other reviewers have noted, he does have a frat-jock face that seems a little out of place. Marilu Tolo (the damsel in distress) and Moira Orfei (the wicked goddess) are both attractive, and as usual in these films, it's the bad lady who is called upon to do more acting, and Orfei is fine. Pierre Cressoy is an OK bad guy. This is a decent sword and sandal adventure flick, with the usual caveat about seeing a widescreen print. Aka HERCULES VS. THE GIANT WARRIORS. [YouTube]