Hercules (Alan Steel) is summoned to oppose the evil Queen Samara (Jany Clair), who has allied herself with aliens and is sacrificing her own people in a bid to awaken a moon goddess.
Sergio Ciani started his career as a stuntman; then he became the body double for Steve Reeves in "Hercules Unchained" and in "The Giant of Marathon", in which he also played a minor role. In the early 1960s he adopted the stage name Alan Steel and starred the leading roles in a number of peplum films with good commercial success. With the decline of the genre Steel thinned out his appearances, until his retirement at the end of the 1970s. This film, like many others, is really an extension of his stunt work. And with the misleading "Hercules" title for English audiences, it even seems like they picked up where Reeves left off.
Trying to judge a film like this is tough. The dubbing may make it appear worse than it really is, and the print quality is typically bad because it has fallen in the public domain. What if it was properly scanned in 4K and subtitled, treated like a forgotten cult film? Sure, it may still be second-rate, but certainly not as bad as it is generally seen.
Sergio Ciani started his career as a stuntman; then he became the body double for Steve Reeves in "Hercules Unchained" and in "The Giant of Marathon", in which he also played a minor role. In the early 1960s he adopted the stage name Alan Steel and starred the leading roles in a number of peplum films with good commercial success. With the decline of the genre Steel thinned out his appearances, until his retirement at the end of the 1970s. This film, like many others, is really an extension of his stunt work. And with the misleading "Hercules" title for English audiences, it even seems like they picked up where Reeves left off.
Trying to judge a film like this is tough. The dubbing may make it appear worse than it really is, and the print quality is typically bad because it has fallen in the public domain. What if it was properly scanned in 4K and subtitled, treated like a forgotten cult film? Sure, it may still be second-rate, but certainly not as bad as it is generally seen.