A blog about my favourite movies, music, and TV.

22 February 2009

Hercules (1983)

How have I lived all these years without seeing this slice of b-movie perfection. Hercules starring Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk, himself!) and Sybil Danning (Howling II: Stirba - Werewolf Bitch) as the evil princess Ariadne! This not very faithful telling of the Greek legends of Hercules (I'm not sure the producers even know which one!)I think it would be best to describe it as a collage of ideas set to some of the dodgiest CGI you will ever see and some seriously groovy Casio keyboard sound effects thrown in for good measure. Most of the 'actors' are dubbed and the sets are a mixture of papermache and cardboard! Somehow all of this makes for the perfect Saturday afternoon film. Watch out for the hilariously bad costumes - especially those worn by the 'gods'! Hercules is apparently from outerspace now too...

As you will notice from the box, this is a double feature, so expect the sequel to get a little mention shortly. This was basically an Italian movie dressed up a little for the US market with a couple of names to help sell it. It's from Golan-Globus Productions who also gave us such epics as Supergirl and Masters of the Universe, although this makes those two look like $100 million dollar features by comparison.







The fabulous Sybil is enjoying something of a comeback having spent so many years out of action. After making her own movie LA Bounty and appearing in the dreadful Fred Olen Ray movie Phantom Empire, she called it a day in 1989. Out of nowhere she re-appeared in Grindhouse and Halloween last year, as well as the independent drama Jump. Now she will appear alongside Elvira Mistress of the Dark herself, Cassandra Peterson, in a new indie horror flick entitled All About Evil. I believe she is even pitching some of her own ideas for new movies and is looking sensational. However, her next big project could very well be joining the cast of Here's 'The Lair' - the vampire themed spin-off of Dante's Cove, produced by Olen Ray. If it's true I can't wait!

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