MOLE MEN AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES / Interfilm - 1961

It's What The Maciste in Hell Copy-Cat Friday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Since Eegah!! just posted one on Wednesday, one good sword and sandal flick deserves another! We gots a story about a mysterious band of white-clad marauders who dwell in an underground city. Maciste and his new friend, Bangor, allow themselves to be captured by the Mole Men where they are forced to turn an enormous wheel along with other captives, part of a gold-and-diamonds mining operation. The underground city's queen is impressed by Maciste and chooses him to be her consort if he can meet a number of challenges, like battling a giant ape! The Mole Men will instantly dissolve whenever they get caught in sunlight.

Eegah!! sent over a cool lil' soundclip with the catchy theme "The Mighty Sons Of Hercules" with a little sunlit drama from the underworld at the end, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located there next to the moldy old loin cloth, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's our audio offering for... MOLE MEN AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES!

Mark Forest plays Maciste, here he is pulling a huge whale onto the beach... All by hisself!!! Mark also starred in GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON, SON OF SAMSON, COLOSSUS OF THE ARENA, GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON, HERCULES AGAINST THE BARBARIANS, THE LION OF THEBES, HERCULES AGAINST THE SONS OF THE SUN, THE MAGNIFICENT GLADIATOR and KINDAR THE INVULNERABLE. He only worked in movies from 1960-65, and, get this... He used the money he made making gladiator movies in Italy to study opera and currently teaches it in the LA area!

Maciste befriends Bangor after saving his life from the Mole Men. American bodybuilder Paul Wynter plays Bangor.

This is underground Queen Halis Mosab, played by Moira Orfei, who was also in a number of sword and sandal flicks. She definitely gots the look!

Here's everbloody turning the gigantic mining wheel, working in the pits, looking for the olives!

I guess they're in Africa now, but anyway, Maciste has to face off against this big deadly ape. Maciste barely wins with a choke hold!

This is the secret opening-and-closing entrance the Mole Men use whenever they want to come to the surface.

You can hear this poor soul whine at the end of the soundclip, to not be toasted by the sunlight, however, ends up a meatless skeleton from the exposure!

This is one wild 'n' weird part here, Maciste has to support this giant weight to save his friends as the Mole Men keep adding big slabs to it! Believe or not, Maciste stands up straight, sending all the weights tumbling off the posts, thus winning the day... Wow!

They even gas our hero while he sleeps... Hey, his pillow looks like a woman's butt!

Finally, Maciste uses a giant chain to wrap around the main pillar, then, him and Bangor turn the wheel, taking up the slack and bringing down the house!!

MACISTE NELLA TERRA DEI CICLOPI - Carlo Innocenzi - "Atlas In The Land Of The Cyclops" (1961)

Welcome to the Wednesday Sword and Sandal Spectacular! Tonight's feature is titled "Maciste Nella Terra Dei Ciclopi" or in some kind of English translation, "Atlas Against The Cyclops," or also known as "Atlas In The Land Of The Cyclops!"

Now to the best of my limited understanding, "Maciste" translates from Italian into English as "Strongman," so I guess that's why in movie titles, sometimes Maciste is Samson, sometimes he's Hercules, or in this case, he's Atlas!! I guess it's just whatever mythical strongman the producer's decided to go with!

That's pretty much the whole story in a nutshell! Everything else is just gravy on the turkey and potatoes!

Plunder and pillage! Pillage and plunder! Pillage the village! Plunder like thunder!

A knife to the back just shows you what kind of people we're dealing with here!

I'm telling you one thing for sure, you couldn't pay me enough money, and there is no way in Hell I would walk out on a bridge like this, movie or no movie!

These are the two main protagonists in the film, Gordon Mitchell as Maciste (Credited as Mitchell Gordon), and Chelo Alonso as Capys! Muscle Beach flex monster, Gordon was always great in roles as guys with names like Pluto, Achilles, or Obro! Chelo was always cast as females like Erica, Landa, or Queen Smedes! Gordon Mitchell has 146 acting credits, Chelo Alonso has 19, so I guess it's not going to be difficult to figure who is going to come out on top in this battle!

I don't care if it's made out of styrofoam or papier-mâché, I still wouldn't be able to pick up a giant urn like that!

Gordon Mitchell demonstrates perfectly what is commonly referred to in wrasslin' terms as 'The Double Noggin Knocker!"

Time to bring out the dancing girls!! Yeehaw!! The soundtrack for "Atlas In The Land Of The Cyclops" was composed by Carlo Innocenzi who also wrote the music for "Mill Of The Stone Women," "Terror Of Oklahoma," "Goliath Against The Giants" and 130 more films. Ironically, Carlo died in 1962 at the age of 62!

Atlas has a few different encounters with various characters, despite some stiff competition, he wins his bout with the black Adonis in the third round!

This movie runs approximately 100 minutes, and just about the time you're ready to give up, they finally produce a cyclops in about the last ten minutes of the film, but you gotta admit, it's a good one!!

Almost anybody can act, but it takes a lot of hard work to get a set of big muscles like this!

The cyclops was played by Aldo Pedinotti in one of only six roles he had in his career. Aldo was also in "Hercules In The Haunted World," and "The Loves Of Hercules!!"

Well where else would you think a cyclop's weak spot would be?

One more shot of Gordon's flexcicles!

And in the end, all of the spoils go to the victor!

THE SHE-CREATURE / Golden State Productions - 1956

It's Classic Fifties Rubber Monster Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. This is a redo of an older post from 2008, time to hit the old reset button on this one! Paul Blaisdell created and played the creature, when coming out of the surf the monster suit was extremely heavy and hard to maneuver in because it absorbed so much water! It's a good thing Paul was a strong dude. And, the budget was $100,000 which was 2-3 times the budget of a typical low budget film! I used to own the insert poster...

Eegah!! sent over a musical soundclip from the party scene, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button over there by the cat, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's our audio offering for... THE SHE-CREATURE!

It starts suspiciously with Dr. Lombardi, a local carnival mystic and hypnotist, inspecting a beach home just after a double homicide. Filmed at Malibu beach. Lombardi's played by Chester Morris, who was popular as crime buster Boston Blackie and played many a bad-boy cow punchers.

Back at the ranch, Dr. Lombardi has another annoying conversation with Johnny, his nosey carny neighbor. Johnny wants to know why Lombardi keeps his subject, Andrea, in a trance most of the time. Paul Dubov plays Johnny, Paul was in some cool flicks.. ABBOTT And COSTELLO MEET THE KEYSTONE KOPS, DAY THE WORLD ENDED, VOODOO WOMAN and THE ATOMIC SUBMARINE!

Marla English is Andrea, she cannot get away from Lombardi's influence even when she's awake. VOODOO WOMAN was Marla's last role a year later.

Businessman Timothy Chappel shows up at Lombardi's to swing a business deal... And, to get a special private peep show for a few extra clams!

Lombardi has had it with Johnny's curiousity, so, summons the She-Creature from the sea to take care of him for good!

Mission freakin' accomplished!!..

Here's a great shot of Ron Randell as Police Lt. Ed James, Tom Conway as business guy Timothy Chappel and Lance Fuller as skeptic Dr. Ted Erickson. Ron was THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE, Tom was The Falcon and Lance was married for a short time to blonde bombshell Joi Lansing. The gaudy gold leaf on the wall and door really annoys me..

Andrea changes into the monster and almost pile-drives Dr. Erickson with her prehistoric limbs, then stops, realizing who it is and goes back into the ocean.

Then, the cops find these weird foot prints on the beach!

Everything goes bonkers at the end, Andrea, as the creature, turns on Chappel and Lombardi. Free of Lombardi's influence, the spirit of the creature leaves Andrea's body forever...

As I look at this beautiful model head of The She-Creature, I see love, admiration and homage for it's creator!