I’m not big on swords and sandals films, known colloquially as “peplum”. It seems telling that word is so similar to “pablum”.
So I was surprised by how much I enjoyed 1961’s Hercules in the Haunted World. It doubtlessly helped it was directed by Mario Bava, a director so fond of strongly colored lighting that to consider de-colorizing one of his films would be as pointless as colorizing the black-and-white parts of The Wizard of Oz.
It also helps to have a young Christopher Lee as the villain, though he isn’t given terribly much to do. But, let’s face it, most us would watch the actor eating lunch. The horrific thing Lee has done is to wipe Hercules (Reg Park) from the memory of his true love (Marisa Belli). Sure that is appalling to Park, but I suspect this may have been doing a favor to Belli.
In a way, the structure of the film is similar to 8-bit NES adventure games, and that’s because those games were influenced by pictures such as this. There are various locales to go to, then get an object, then go to the next place, etc., all leading to a boss battle. If this case, the objects are a golden apple, the Stone of Pluto and, finally, the Stone of Forgetfulness. One location is basically a fire level. A climatic battle with Lee is the big boss fight. If anybody ever remakes this picture, they should filming it as a side-scroller.
The Luigi to Park’s Mario is George Ardisson, playing an absolute horndog. We first see making time with Ely Drago, though we soon learn she is supposedly the fiancée of affable dispenser of comic relief Franco Giacobini. In this analogy, maybe Giacobini is Toad(?). OK, so I couldn’t carry the Super Mario analogy very far.
A slight expansion of the goal-oriented nature of the plot occurs when Ardisson falls in love with Persephone (Ida Galli) and whisks her away from the kingdom of the dead. I guess his undying love for Drago died when he met a dead woman. If they consummate this relationship, is that necrophilia?
Anywho, Park tells Ardisson Galli must return to the underworld, because they have incurred the wrath of Pluto. Ardisson isn’t crazy about this, but Galli decides to return of her own accord, saying their love had ran its course. Guess she’s of the opinion you throw away the packet after you’ve used the seeds.
To be honest, I’m not sure I completely followed the plot. Really, the plotting feels threadbare but so much is vaguely defined as to leave one with the impression more is going on than I suspect there really is. Also, having elements from various mythologies does not necessarily mean anybody who worked on this was a scholar in the subject. Regardless, I was along for the ride, and chose to dismiss anything that didn’t feel like it made sense.
This film has some genuinely creepy elements. One thing I liked were the vines that, when cut, drip with the blood of the damned they imprison. Far weirder is the stone monster that decides of Ardisson “You should be longer. You will be as thin as the ropes that bind you”. He also announces he is going to cut Giacobini down to size because he is too long for the slab he’s on. I found the…um, stone cold logic of the monster unnerving.
Supposedly, Hercules in the Haunted World was made by Bava as a test for himself, to use as few set components as possible, and rearrange or repurpose them to appear to be different locations. If that is true, then I would say mission accomplished, as I otherwise would not have been aware of this self-imposed limitation. I had a good time watching this, though I recommend turning one’s brain off as best they can while doing so.
Dir: Mario Bava
Starring Reg Park, Christopher Lee, George Ardisson
Watched on Kino Lorber blu-ray