5/10
Average but passable Peplum with the muscle-man Mark Forest taking on the underground Mole Men
10 July 2021
Italian production typical of the genre with haunting scenarios , wonderful indoors and functional production design. Here Maciste (Mark Forest) arranges enemies for himself and he befriends a new pal called Bangor (Paul Wynter) to be captured by a strange band of white-clad marauders and taken to an underground city . There the two are forced to turn a huge wheel along with other captives as part of a gold-and-diamonds mining operation . The underground city's queen, Halis Mosab (Moira Orfei) , takes note of the bouncing Maciste and chooses him to be her consort if he can meet such challenges as saving the abducted Princess Saliura (Rafaella Carra) from a gigantic ape . Maciste faces off the ape and fights a deadly struggle with the giant gorilla . As Maciste is up to his pecs in trouble as he fights nasty Mole Men in order to save the abducted lady , carrying Saliura back to the aboveground world . As the bare-chested warrior goes on an all-out rampage to save her , being mercilessly chased by the mysterious masked warriors . Meanwhile, high priest Kahab informs his son, Katar (Gianni Garco) , that he has to marry the powerful queen to inherite the underground empire . Later on, Maciste must use his strength to rescue his friends and attack the hidden city . As he battles the evil queen and attempting to destroy the unstoppable wheeling machine .

This is a so-so spaghetti , myth-opera with action , love , battles and interior scenarios . The movie has not mythological accuracy neither expecting historical , but it results to be a simple and plain fantasy . Breathtaking scenes when take place at the underworld with the enormous wheel and overwhelming final battle . It stars handsome, muscular Mark Forest , he is perfect as the mythical hero who encounters many dangerous situations while trying to save a princess of numerous odds . Forest who played the mythic Maciste in great number of movies was randomly assigned the identity of Hercules , Goliath , Samson or Aron for U. S. viewing . Bouncing and strong Forest was the second American actor bodybuilder , after Steve Reeves , to be recruited by Italian producers to star in Peplum films . The muscle-man Forest left allegedly the sword and sandals genre for the Opera . He used the amount of money he made acting as hero and gladiator films in Italy to study Opera , he currently teaches in the Los Angeles zone . He was one along with Ed Fury , Dan Vadis,Brad Harris , Alan Steel , Reg Park , Gordon Scott whom to seek fortune acting absurdly as muscle mythological figures but nobody topped Steve Reeves in popularity . Forest only starred Peplum , such as : 1964 Hércules against sons of sun , 1964 Lion of Tebas , 1964 Maciste Nell'inferno Gengis Khan , 1964 Maciste, Gladiatore Sparta , 1963 Maciste Contro i Mongoli ,1963 Maciste, l'Eroe più Grande del Mondo ,1962 Maciste, Gladiatore più forte Mondo , 1961 Maciste, the Son of Hercules , 1960 La Venganza De Ercole . In the picture turns up Peplum and Spaghetti ordinaries such as : the recently deacased Raffaella Carrà (at 78), Roberto Miali , Nando Tamberlani , Graziella Granata and spaghetti star Gianni Garco , the popular actor of Sartana and other Western antiheroes .

It contains a moving and thrilling musical score by Armando Trovajoli. As well as colorful cinematography by Alvaro Mancori , including spectacular vistas of falls , shot in Lacio, mount Gelato and and Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome . The motion picture was middlingly directed Antonio Leonviola (1913-1995) who often used pseudonym Leon Viola or as Leonviola. He was a craftsman , a writer and filmmaker who directed all kinds of genres as dramas , wartime , comedy , such as : Le due verità , Sul ponte dei sospir , Al suo più grande amore,Noi cannibali , Human Torpedoes , Rita da Cascia, Fiera di tipi and outstanding in Peplum , Sword and sandal and adventures such as : The Women gladiators , Taur the Mighty , Maciste, the Colossus and this Maciste el invencible. Rating : 5/10 .
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