Good gracious, what a movie. Been watching my Peplums again after a need to better understand the character of Hercules came up. Sure, he's called Maciste (or however its pronounced) in this one but it's essentially the same guy: Muscle-bound demigod begotten from the Sire of Zeus/Jupiter wandering the Earth righting wrongs. Here he comes upon another Peplum Egyptian Pharaonic era royal court beset by all sorts of fascinating evils furthered by the attention-riveting Chelo Alonso, perfectly as the intelligent yet bloodthirsty slave girl come to be Queen of an Empire.Or whatever — This is one of the most violent and potentially disturbing Sword & Sandal mini- epic I can recall, with an implied body count in the thousands as she has entire human settlements wiped out to further her ambition for ultimate power. Humans torched alive on top of elaborate towers is a favored method of dispatching the unworthy, but our favorite will always be the Crocodile Pool into which assorted cast members are tossed to suffer hideously as they are devoured alive.And you know, something tells me we're missing a proper introduction to the plot device, as a key character is dispatched fairly early into proceedings, later appearing in a manner in which their identity cannot be confirmed and is supposed to be of bother to the story. Because, I suspect, he was devoured whole by crocodiles in a scene removed from the surviving print, which only mentions the Crocodile Pool towards the end of the proceedings. This totally defies how Pepla are usually structured and in a manner which can only be the result of external meddling.Much like a James Bond film the best Peplum thrillers establish an elaborately horrifying execution or torture device for its crazed villain's inept underlings fairly early on. The threat of ending up thrown into its workings then hangs over the rest of the plot, indeed driving its plot once the Hero has come into the story. And sure enough Mark Forrest's very capable Maciste is indeed thrown bodily into the Crocodile Pool at what would have been exactly the right moment — If we had known about the Crocodile Pool previously.Since we do not my suspicions were raised upon a 2nd viewing when going back to make sure the movie really was as cool as I'd thought it was. And "Son of Samson" is, just off-balanced by not having the Crocodile Pool established in the mind's eye of the viewer prior to Maciste being tossed into it. And a 3rd viewing established the likely place where our introduction to its horrors should have been cemented. There is no reason for the plot to insist that the identity of a certain key character is anyone but that person … Unless, that is, he had been devoured by the crocodiles & a dummy used in his place.The good news is that even after three viewings the film remains of fascination and deserves a restoration. Ms. Alonso is nothing shy of a revelation and her final doom is perhaps the most disturbing moment in Peplum history since Kirk Douglas had his run-in with the Lepers. I'll even forgive the movie for not having a rampaging monster for a big showdown match. Trust me: Maciste has his hands full in this one just contending with all the evil scheming afoot. Fitting in screen time for a giant cyclops or mechanical moon-men would have proved a distraction, and the film concludes on exactly the right note to leave the viewer wondering, "Wait … what was that again, with the thing?"

Maciste was very useful for the Peplum genre since the Italian folk hero wasn't rooted in any particular mythological tradition. He could turn up anywhere, "born of the rock," as Maciste (Italian American bodybuilder Mark Forest, who also played Hercules this same year) explains in the first Maciste entry of the Peplum revival that began in the late 1950s. Here, he turns up in ancient Egypt, which is being overrun with Persian marauders aided by the evil Queen Smedes (Chelo Alonso), who in the first few minutes has her uncooperative Pharoah husband assassinated. A chance encounter has Maciste befriending the Pharoah's hapless son, who is eventually bewitched by the beguiling Alonso, but at least Maciste knows that the guy is basically okay.There is the usual amount of double-crossing and mistaken ideas about various characters motivations, and most of the requite Peplum tropes, including the hero defeating lions and alligators and soldiers. Maciste gets several opportunities to perform feats of strength and Forest acquits himself well through all of it, flexing and looking strong. But this isn't one of the more engaging or entertaining entries in the genre, which was kicking into high gear. It's not as interesting as Forest's other 1960 Peplum, "Goliath and the Dragon" a.k.a. "The Revenge of Hercules." It largely wastes Alonso, who normally can be a dynamic presence in these films. She gets one decent dance number and has moderate fun trying to seduce Maciste, and of course she looks great and has good costumes. But the film could have done more with her, and suffers for not doing so.The English-language version was retitled "Son of Samson," with some dialogue added about Maciste maybe being a son of Samson. It's unnecessary, doesn't make much sense, and doesn't really matter. Maciste was largely unfamiliar to non-Italian audiences, so most of the Maciste films were retitled with other heroes and often the character was called someone else. Here, at least, he gets to keep the name if not the title.

Although as a fictional character Maciste did not have biblical origins in this film he is identified in the title as the Son Of Samson. Although why Samson the Hebrew's son would be bothering to help out Egyptians who kept his people in bondage for generations is beyond me. There really isn't any good history there.Maciste has been played by many actors from way back in the earliest days of the silent screen and in this peplum epic is played by Mark Forest. Egypt's pharaoh has died under mysterious circumstances and his second wife trophy queen is suspected of foul play. The slinky and sexy Chelo Alonso has a way with potions and such and she's got the new pharaoh, her stepson wrapped around her finger. Alonso is Persian and as her countrymen start taking over the government and enslaving the people, Maciste comes in like in westerns, spaghetti or American, and does in the bad guys and saves Egypt from a Persian takeover.As a sculpted body Forest is quite the eyeful, maybe even more of an eyeful than Steve Reeves. The sets look like they might have been used in The Ten Commandments. And whether taking a ladder full of soldiers, fighting lions and crocodiles, or dealing with the charms of Alonso, Forest fills the bill. He even registers an expression or two during the course of the film. Fans of the peplum genre of films should approve.

Noble and mighty Maciste (a likable performance by brawny hunk Steve Forest) comes to the aid of the oppressed people of the Egyptian city of Tanis, who are suffering greatly under the cruel reign of the beautiful, but ruthless and duplicitous Queen Smedes (superbly played with wicked aplomb by the delectable Chelo Alonso). Director Carlo Campogalliani and screenwriters Oreste Biancoli and Ennio De Concini relate the absorbing story at a constant steady pace and maintain a serious tone throughout. The stirring action scenes are staged with real flair and the moments of violence are surprisingly bloody and brutal. Forest makes for an impressive muscular hero as he either wrestles lions and crocodiles or throws huge boulders as if they were mere pebbles. The stunningly gorgeous Alonso positively burns up the screen with her steamy portrayal of Queen Smedes; the sequence with her performing a sultry belly dance in an attempt to seduce Samson rates as the scorching hot highlight of the whole movie. Moreover, there's solid supporting turns by Angelo Zanolli as the humane and dashing Pharoah Kenamun and Federica Ranchi as sweet, fetching peasant girl Nofret. The major last reel battle delivers the exciting rough'n'ready goods. Carlo Innocenzi's robust, roaring score and Riccardo Pallottini's crisp widescreen scope cinematography are both fine and effective. An immensely enjoyable picture.