Hercules (Alan Steel) is summoned to oppose the evil Queen Samara (Jany Clair), who has allied herself with aliens and is sacrificing her own people in a bid to awaken a moon goddess.Sergio Ciani started his career as a stuntman; then he became the body double for Steve Reeves in "Hercules Unchained" and in "The Giant of Marathon", in which he also played a minor role. In the early 1960s he adopted the stage name Alan Steel and starred the leading roles in a number of peplum films with good commercial success. With the decline of the genre Steel thinned out his appearances, until his retirement at the end of the 1970s. This film, like many others, is really an extension of his stunt work. And with the misleading "Hercules" title for English audiences, it even seems like they picked up where Reeves left off.Trying to judge a film like this is tough. The dubbing may make it appear worse than it really is, and the print quality is typically bad because it has fallen in the public domain. What if it was properly scanned in 4K and subtitled, treated like a forgotten cult film? Sure, it may still be second-rate, but certainly not as bad as it is generally seen.

I feel I should mention that I saw the movie in its original and widescreen version, not the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version. After seeing it, I regret not seeing the MST3K version; surely the hosts of that show would have added some life to the movie by their non-stop comic jabs. To put it bluntly, this movie is a real bore. It is extremely slow-moving and with very little plot unfolding during its endless slog. Making things worse is the character of Hercules himself. There is almost no character development done with this demi-god; believe it or not, for large chunks of the movie he becomes a weak supporting character. Even worse are the moon men; they only appear for a few minutes in the entire movie! Some of the production values are okay for an Italian muscleman cheapie of this time, but they don't enliven the enterprise very much. Unless you watch the MST3K version, I would only recommend the movie to insomniacs.

Aliens from the Moon have landed near the kingdom of Samar and are terrorizing the people into sacrificing their children in order to appease them. Desperately searching for a way to stop this madness a man by the name of "Gladius" (Nando Tamberlani) appeals to "Hercules" (Alan Steel) to come to Samar and lead the people to victory against them. Unfortunately, the evil leader of Samar named "Queen Samara" (Jany Clair) has made a secret deal with the leader of the Moon Men, "Rudolphis" (Roberto Ceccacci) and she intends to stop Hercules at any cost. Now, as far as this movie was concerned I will just say that it had a good plot, adequate acting and some nice cinematography. Likewise, the dubbing from Italian to English was also quite good. However, the costumes for the Moon Men were pathetic and the overall film lacked passion. There was also one scene involving a dust storm that seemed to go on forever. In short, this wasn't a bad film by any means--but it also wasn't as good as it should have been. All things considered then I rate it as just slightly below average.

"Goliath and the Vampires" director Giacomo Gentilomo's "Hercules Against the Moon Men" ranks as a better-than-average science fiction/fantasy peplum. A swarthy robust Alan Steel (aka Sergio Ciani) contends with foes both supernatural and human as well as masculine and feminine. Mind you, these 1960s peplum outings qualify as an acquired taste that most casual moviegoers ridicule because of the low-budgets, inferior dubbing, juvenile plotting, and poor thesping. Nevertheless, if you enjoy this kind of far-fetch nonsense, "Hercules Against the Moon Men" represents one of the better examples of the genre. The eponymous villains look terrific when they show up about halfway through this 88-minute melodrama. Moreover, they appear in numbers, not just two or three. The torture contraption that Hercules is placed in is elaborate, and Gentilomo stages the action with aplomb. The villains are thoroughly wicked while the heroes are wholesale and virtuous.The people of the ancient kingdom of Samara suffer under the despotic rule of tyrant, Queen Samara (Jany Clair of "79 A.D."), who has allied herself with aliens that crashed into Mount Samara one night and have taken over a mountain. They demand human sacrifices every third moon from Queen Samara and she obliges them with the children of her subjects. The Moon Men plan to dominate the world one day as soon as their Queen Selene is resurrected, and they have promised Queen Samara all the riches in the world. Queen Samara's elderly adviser Gladius (Nando Tamberlani of "Cleopatra's Daughter"), who faithfully served her late father, urges her to summon Hercules so her subjects no longer have to face the prospect of more human sacrifices. Naturally, Queen Samara not only rebukes Gladius, but she also dispatches her best warriors to ambush Hercules.When we first see Hercules, the muscle-bound man is riding a white horse. Suddenly, he finds himself beset by assailants. Uprooting a tree, he wields it like a battering ram to repulse them. Gladius' daughter Agar (Anna Maria Polani of 1965 "Goliath at the Conquest of Damascus") shows up afterwards and brings the strong man to the palace to confer with her father. Initially, Hercules believes that his assailants were thieves who thought they were preying on a wealthy merchant with a fat purse. Gladius knows better. After they discuss the situation, Gladius decides to escort Hercules out of the palace by a different route so as not to arouse suspicion. Gladius takes a secret passage, but evil Queen Samar has eavesdropped on him and prepared a homicidal reception for them. No sooner have they entered the passage than Queen Samar's henchmen trigger a cluster of spears that impale poor Gladius and kill him. At the same time, Hercules plunges through a trap door in the floor and nearly drowns in a chamber when water gushes into it. Our brawny hero smashes his way out of his death trap. No sooner has he escaped than he encounters a huge ape with fangs. Of course, the ape is really a man in a ridiculous suit. Hercules defeats him in short order and breaks out.Queen Samara cannot believe the resilience of Hercules. Meantime, she has to prepare another human sacrifice and plans to offer up her sister, Princess Billis (Delia D'Alberti of "Fellini's Intervista"), for the next one. The princess doesn't have a clue about her older sister's plans for her. Indeed, she seeks Queen Samara's permission to marry the son of one of the noblest families in the kingdom, Darix (Jean-Pierre Honoré of "Joy House"), who is just as eager to wed her. Queen Samara's men attack Darix and nearly kill him. He manages to escape, but he is in critical condition. Meantime, one of the Moon Men priests materializes in Queen Samara's chambers and reminds her that Hercules must be destroyed at all costs. Furthermore, he explains that they need Billis because she bears a striking resemblance to their Queen Selene. Later, the Moon Men priest explains to Samar about the significance of the next sacrifice. "When the planet Saturn comes into conjunction with Mars and under the evil influence of Uranus, then will occur unimaginable disasters. The oceans will rise and mountains will crumble and inexorably our moon will draw near the earth. After a long night of sleep, we shall become the masters of the earth." Hercules sets out to save Billis, but he finds himself caught in a trap. Queen Samar puts Hercules in chains and places him into a contraption that has two wings that fold inward with sharp knives on them. She has chained slaves to a huge wheel and they are beaten mercilessly. Each turn of the wheel by hand brings the knives closer to Hercules. Gentilomo does a good job of generating a modicum of suspense by showing the knives getting closer to Hercules' body. Eventually, Hercules exerts his mighty strength and breaks the contraption. Rather than kill him on the spot, Queen Samar takes him to her quarters where she tries to drug him. Shrewdly, Hercules plays along with the Queen and fools her into believing that he is her slave. Queen Samar captures Darix once again and at Hercules' prompting plans to kill him. Of course, Hercules doesn't let this happen. The wicked queen flees to the Moon Men and they kill her.The screenplay by Arpad DeRiso of "Churchill's Leopards," Giacomo Gentilomo, Angelo Sangermano of "Zorro the Fox", and Nino Scolaro of "Revenge of Ursus" not only adheres to formula, but also contains a happy ending. The action is presented in straightforward fashion without flashbacks. Alan Steel looks like he has been basted with oil to make his muscles bulge. Altogether, he makes a worthwhile Hercules and "Hercules Against the Moon Men" is better than you might expect.