Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules (1962) ** (out of 4)Maciste (Reg Lewis), the son of Hercules, is wondering around when he runs into two members of a tribe that worships the Sun. They are being attacked by large fire breathing monster so Maciste kills it. Flash forward and the Moon worshipers are starting to kidnap the women from the Sun tribe so they go to Maciste for help.FIRE MONSTERS AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES, the American title of this Italian movie, isn't a film that is meant to be taken serious. Outside of the Mario Bava film HERCULES IN A HAUNTED WORLD, this is the first in the series that I've seen and from the start I couldn't help but think of the Toho Godzilla series with the poor dubbing and rather silly special effects. Of course, I'm sure many people would say the only way to fully enjoy this or even judge it is by watching the original Italian cut but I don't have that available.As far as this American edit goes, I thought it was actually entertaining as long as you don't expect too much from it. The performances are pretty much what they are and it's certainly hard to judge them with the atrocious accents and dubbing. Poor Maciste appears to be dubbed by someone simply holding their breathe. The film does contain quite a bit of action, which helps keep it move at a nice pace and it's certainly never boring.As for the title monster, it's a real doozy and appears to have been made from supplied bought at a dollar store. Yes, it looks incredibly cheap and silly but it somewhat adds to the charm.

The monster barely puts in a cameo in this half gladiator/half cave man film where the good guys are all blondes and the villains all brunettes. What does exist of the Hydra (Fire Monster) is one of the silliest looking creatures in cinema history that looks like a monster face painted on somebody's index finger with the camera up real close to try and fool its audience. The rest of the film (following a "Blob" like theme song obviously added to the American release print) mainly surrounds the alleged son of Hercules (named Maciste) stepping in to save the day as he battles the dark-haired villains to free the light haired captured slaves after they've been conquered. While some of the action sequences are actually pretty intense, this is as forgettable as gladiator movies can get.

Another one of the erstwhile "Sons of Hercules" films by Embassy Pictures. This time the American dub turns Maciste into "Maxus," Son of Hercules. We get the usual super cool theme song tacked on by Embassy and a really goofy dub for Reg Lewis, who sounds like two different guys depending on the scene. And (owing to the crappy print quality) his ridiculous pompadour looks orange! All in all, a bizarre beefcake lead for this prehistoric adventure. This is old school cavemen stuff, with a papier mache volcano, foam boulders, and four, count 'em FOUR monsters - a lake monster, a multi headed hydra, one forced perspective monitor lizard, and a cave dragon! Not a bad haul! I love the dragons in peplum films. No fancy special effects processes, just a giant, immobile wood frame draped in canvas. Maybe the head(s) moves, and a little fire comes out, and then Hercules throws a stick at it and it falls over in all its inarticulate glory and some blood pours out the mouth.This is one of those mythic peplum entries where the strongman ignores the boundaries of space and time to just go wherever the hell he wants in order to fight for what is right. In this case, Maxus defends a tribe of peaceful prehistoric sun worshipers from their aggressive, subterranean, moon worshiping neighbors. The peaceful tribe are basically a bunch of naive innocents, and Maxus runs around saving these dopey people from themselves. The action is spiked with the occasional monster highlight, and a third act volcanic eruption that plays as a low budget version of the climax to ONE MILLION YEARS BC, still four years to come.You just can't go wrong with a fun film like this. It's cheap, it's cheerful, and Margaret Lee makes for one saucy cave dweller. By the time the theme song swells for THE END, you'll be blissfully humming along, awaiting the next adventure of THE SONS OF HERCULES!Heed the words of Maxus: "Don't forget to defend yourselves from wild animals!"

This particular peplum is a prehistoric item as Maciste goes back to the caveman era and helps out one tribe which has been dislocated by the Ice Age to settle on some new lands. It seems as though the other tribe that was there before isn't happy about these late arrivals hunting in their forests and want them removed.Bodybuilder Reg Lewis of Mae West's review plays the legendary Maciste here. He's got to deal with all kinds of prehistoric beasts including a multi-headed hydra. One thing I swear I can't understand is how Maciste avoids pneumonia when he insists on going in his usual loincloth while everyone else is bundled up in animal skins. But his body is what the movie-going public is paying to see.Nothing here you haven't seen in One Million BC and a few hundred other successors.