''Hercules the Invincible'' (Italian: ''Ercole l'invincibile'') is a 1964 Italian

Sword and Sandal Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (pepla plural), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budge ...

film directed by Alvaro Mancori and Lewis Mann and starring

Dan Vadis Dan Vadis (born Constantine Daniel Vafiadis, 3 January 1938 – 11 June 1987) was an American actor famous for his lead roles in many Italian films made in the 1960s. Biography Vadis was of Greek descent, with lineage tracing back to the isl ...

. It is the first of two directing credits for cinematographer Alvaro Mancori. The film was later released to American television retitled ''Son of Hercules in the Land of Darkness'' as part of the '' Sons of Hercules'' TV syndication package.

Plot

Hercules saves a woman named Telca from a lion and arrives in triumph in her village. Telca's father King Tedaeo offers Hercules Telca's hand in marriage, if he brings back the tooth of a dragon. Hercules seeks help from a witch who gives him a spear that will kill the dragon but wants the same tooth as her reward. As Hercules has promised the tooth to King Tedaeo the witch warns him that the magic of the tooth will only work once. In Hercules' absence Telca's village has been pillaged with all the survivors save Babar the comedy relief, are taken as prisoners to the Demulus, a tribe that lives inside a mountain and eats the hearts of their prisoners.

Cast

as Ercole (Argolese) * Spela Rozin as Telca * Carla Calò as Ella, Queen of the Demulus * Ken Clark as Kabol, Melissia's Father *Jon Simons as Babar * Eric Schenk as Jerckules the abandoned son *Jannette Barton as Etel *

Ugo Sasso Ugo Sasso, born Domenico Pasquale Giuseppe Sasso (23 March 1910 - 21 July 1981), was an Italian film and television actor. Life and career Born in Turin, in the early 1930s Sasso moved to Rome to attend the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografi ...

as King Tedaeo, Telca's Father * Howard Ross as Telca's Brother *

Olga Solbelli Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russ ...

as The Oracle *Alberto Cevenini as Capt. of the Guard *Tricia Pettitt as Slave Girl Supervisor *

Rosemarie Lindt Rosemarie Lindt is a German actress and ballet dancer who was known to the wider audience for her appearances in '' Frau Wirtin'' series in the late 1960s and in Italian exploitation cinema of the 1970s. Ballet career Lindt studied at Folkwang U ...

as Slave Girl *Kriss Moss as Guard *Jannette Le Roy as Slave Girl *Sara Laurier as Slave Girl *Christine Mathius as Slave Girl *Matt Malinowski as Slave Man

Reception

From contemporary reviews, an anonymous review in ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' noted that "the sloth-like hero belongs to the more dim-witted school of muscle-men, so that it takes a companion, in the shape of a comically cowardly assistant to demonstrate by contrast the heroic stature of Hercules." The review noted "there is some modestly colourful spectacle in the scenes of the underground city and its destruction by lava."

References

External links

* * (dubbed in English) 1964 films 1960s fantasy films Italian fantasy adventure films 1960s fantasy adventure films 1960s Italian-language films Peplum films Films scored by Francesco De Masi Sword and sandal films {{fantasy-film-stub