User Reviews

Bizarre but not unappealing peplum epic, which sees muscleman Maciste inexplicably awaking from suspended animation in a Russian mountain after an archaeologist rubs plentiful baby oil into the naked man's chest! If this weird sequence isn't worth watching the film for alone, then there's plenty of strangeness to follow, don't worry. Maciste's survival for centuries in a tomb is never really explained, with our muscular hero feigning memory loss for the production, and similarly we never really do find out what he was doing in Russia in the first place to get tombed up.

What follows are typical peplum antics, involving a wicked tyrant who oppresses and whips innocent peasant folk, and Maciste succumbing to the evil influence of said Czar. He nearly has his arms torn from their sockets by wild horses whilst struggling to avoid impalement on a row of swords, and accidentally drinks a wonder-drug that sends him back to sleep for a million years. Despite these pitfalls, Maciste strives out in the end to launch a rock-throwing assault against the Czar and his men.

The action sequences in this film are highly amusing. The film-makers seem to be striving to outdo previous pepla by giving sweaty Maciste bigger and better objects to lift. Therefore we have him hauling large rocks at the bad guys and even lifting a colossal table at the end of the movie. The wild horses bit is classic spectacle and highly entertaining. The rest of the plot is fast-paced and the film as a whole is a colourful, wacky delight. Kirk Morris (MACISTE IN HELL) comfortably plays it straight as the musclebound strongman and is supported by some typically ravishing Italian beauties. Genre favourite Massimo Serato (THE LOVES OF HERCULES) seethes, plots and barks orders for all his worth as the wicked tyrant and generally has a good time of it all. A bizarre and utterly different kind of peplum that is easy to watch and never becomes tiresome or a bore, this colourful fantasy is a delight to be enjoyed.