Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

winner55 Hercules the Avenger is by far the best single entry in the muscleman genre I can recall. The charge against it made by critics - it is a cut and paste of two previous Hercules films, with some added new material to make it appear fresh - misses the fact that this cut-and-paste approach solves one of the central problems of the sword-and-sandal movies. With most of these films, the middle third sags horribly - usually involving a sappy love story or arcane political intrigue or both (queen falls in love with Hercules and her evil brother plots against them, etc.) It's often hard to hold on through this to watch the exciting finale. Hercules the Avenger cuts all that crap from the source films, and adds a rather brisk narrative of a Hercules impersonator bullying his way into power. (It should be noted that this episode also functions as a distant but pointedly critical remark on the rise of Fascism in Italy.) This also sets up a fine final wrasslin' match between the real Hercules and his impersonator.In a narrower focus, I might also add that further editing has improved individual scenes borrowed from the other films. For my money, the mutiny scene here is much better than it first appeared in Hercules and the Captive Women, since it has been tightened with the reduction of several characters and their plot complications.There are also floppy monsters, creepy underworld atmospherics borrowed (literally) from Mario Bava, an entire city destroyed, and the usual amount of lovely babes in revealing gowns. Since no one expects any of these films to compete with The Seven Samurai - or even with The Magnificent Seven - it seems a bit picky to hold the film's borrowing from other films against it.

Woodyanders Hercules' son gets severely wounded during a lion hunt that goes awry. Hercules (a solid and engaging performance by the beefy Reg Park) has to venture into an eerie and dangerous alternate dimension ruled by the evil and vengeful Gia the Earth Goddess (a deliciously wicked portrayal by Gia Sandri) and battle various monsters in order to save his son's soul. Meanwhile, Gia's equally nasty son Antaius (a perfectly hateful turn by Giovanni Cianfriglia) poses as Hercules and takes over an entire city as a cruel and ruthless tyrant. Director Maurizo Lucidi relates the engrossing story at a steady pace and maintains a serious tone throughout. This film begins a little slow, but really starts cooking once Hercules enters the misty and perilous subterranean spirit world: Rousing highlights include Hercules grappling with a humanoid lizard beast, Hercules climbing a giant gnarled tree, and Hercules being attacked by a bunch of creepy rotting zombies. Better still, the bizarre spirit world just reeks of spooky atmosphere (gotta love that persistent thick swirling fog!). The strenuous rough'n'tumble mano-a-mano major physical confrontation between Hercules and Antaius likewise totally rocks. Of course, we also get a big mondo destructo climactic volcanic eruption as well. Allvaro Mancori's crisp widescreen cinematography gives the movie an impressively expansive sense of scope. Ugo Filippini's robust, rousing score has a nifty majestic sweep to it. Okay, so this flick is an obvious cheapo cute'n'paste job that uses copious footage from both "Hercules in the Haunted World" and "Hercules and the Captive Women," but it's still an extremely lively and entertaining romp all the same.

Dukey Flyswatter MILD SPOILERS.The other reviewer remarked that this film copies Hercules and the Huanted World. I can see where he got that impression because ten minutes of this movie was lifted from Hercules And The Haunted World. I believe that the fight with the giant rubber Iguanna came from Hercules and the Captive Women and the Volcano scene looks very familiar as well.That aside this entry in the beefcake sweepstakes is fairly is easy to take largely to do to Reg parks charisma and the smarminess of the chief villain who impersonates our hero and gives him a bad name.The Oracle is a hottie but the rest of the female cast is not as spicy or saucy as the toga babes of past efforts.Not bad if you're bored.

bensonmum2 Hercules (Reg Park) sets out on a quest to save his son's soul from the evil Earth Goddess Gia. He must battle all sorts of monsters, get past numerous obstacles, and resist temptations if he is to save his son. What Hercules doesn't know is that while he is away, Gia sends Antaius (her rotten son) to impersonate Hercules. Antaius reigns over the people as a cruel, heartless king. Can Hercules get back in time to save the people? It's not that Hercules the Avenger is a bad movie, it's just not very original. If you've seen Mario Bava's Hercules in the Haunted World (a much superior movie), then you've seen some of the best this movie has to offer. The similarities go beyond the obvious - Reg Park, a daunting quest, ocean voyages. etc. The similarities extend to actual set pieces. For example, in both films Hercules must traverse a rope over a boiling pit of lava. Another example, in both films Hercules must do battle with flying zombie type creatures. In addition, Lucidi copies some of Bava's style. The underground scenes in this movie are lit with the same colored gels used by Bava. The things taken from Hercules in the Haunted World were so obvious, I half expected to see Christopher Lee waiting for Hercules at the end of his journey.According to IMDb, this was the last time Reg Park would play Hercules. Other than Steve Reeves, I think he was the best actor/body builder to play the role. But after taking one look at Park in Hercules the Avenger, I'm glad he gave it up. He looks terrible. By 1965, he was no longer the chiseled specimen as featured on the DVD cover. Instead, he looks more likely to be playing Bluto than Hercules.With everything I've written being so negative, I'll finish by saying you could do far worse than Hercules the Avenger. The new Region 1 DVD (with Hercules and the Black Pirate a bonus) is probably as good as this movie ever looked.