La furia di Ercole

It always surprises me that given the serious amounts of effort that went into the production design of many of these “Hercules” films, they spent so little on the quality of the writing nor on bothering to cast actors who were not just as wooden as the staging. This one cast the shockingly static Brad Harris as the eponymous hero who arrives in a city ruled, rather ruthlessly, by the slightly unhygienically named queen “Cnidia” (Mara Berni) whom he has encountered before. She takes a shine to him, but no so much a shine as he takes to her handmaiden “Daria” (Brigitte Corey) who just happens to be a bit of a fifth columnists for some would-be rebels who have had enough of this despotic monarch and her devilish vizier “Menisto” (yep, it really is Serge Gainsbourg). What now ensues goes through the motions of repetitious frying-pan to fire scenarios allowing Harris to flex his muscles and defeat ten, no twenty of her guards as he pulls great stones from the walls and great chains from the moorings. Jeopardy? Don’t be daft - but there is some heightened fun at the denouement as the rebellion goes for broke and Hercules faces his most serious challenge of the whole film. It’s far too long and predictable; Harris is completely charm-free and despite it looking really quite decent, it’s an undercooked story presented flatly.