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Hercules vs. Moloch
Hercules vs. Moloch
Directed by	Giorgio Ferroni
Screenplay by	Remigio Del Grosso; Arrigo Equini; Giorgio Ferroni;
Produced by	Diego Alchimede; Roberto de Nesle;
Starring	Gordon Scott; Alessandra Panaro; Rosalba Neri; Arturo Dominici; Michel Lemoine; Jany Clair; Nerio Bernardi; Giovanni Pazzafini; Geneviève Grad; Pietro Marascalchi;
Cinematography	Augusto Tiezzi
Edited by	Antonietta Zita
Production; companies	Explorer Film '58; Comptoir Francais du Film;
Distributed by	Variety Distribution
Release date	21 December 1963 (Italy);
Running time	98 minutes
Countries	Italy; France;

Hercules vs. Moloch (Italian: Ercole contro Moloch, French: Hercule contre Moloch, also released as Conquest of Mycenae) is a 1963 Italian/French international co-production peplum film written and directed by Giorgio Ferroni and starring Gordon Scott.^[3]^[4]^[5] The film reuses battle scenes from Ferroni's 1961 film The Trojan Horse.

Plot

The city-state of Mycenae is able to dominate the rest of the nearby city-states due to its impregnable fortress. Led by a facially deformed King who believes himself Moloch incarnated, the madman demands slaves as tribute, where he tortures and kills a selected few. Prince Glaucus from Tiryns has an idea to seize and destroy Mycenae from within. Using the name of Hercules, he poses as one of the slaves given to Mycenae in tribute.

He becomes a gladiator, but he secretly plots to lead a revolution and destroy the creature that has enslaved the people.

Cast

Gordon Scott as Prince Glauco (Glaucus) a.k.a. Ercole (Hercules)
Alessandra Panaro as Medea, Queen of Tiryns
Rosalba Neri as Demetra, Queen of Mycenae
Arturo Dominici as Penteo (Penthius), General of Mycenae
Michel Lemoine as Oineo (Euneos)
Jany Clair as Deianira
Nerio Bernardi as Asterione (Asterion), the High Priest
Giovanni Pazzafini as Archiloco (Archepolos)
Geneviève Grad as Pasifaë
Pietro Marascalchi as Moloch

Release

Hercules vs. the Moloch was released in Italy on December 21, 1963.^[2] It was released in the United States by December 15, 1965.^[2]

Reception

From contemporary reviews, the Monthly Film Bulletin reviewed a 91 minute dubbed version.^[1] The film stated that the plot was "completely routine" and its ending was "over-extravagant", the "Herculean hero is at least credited with a distinct measure of intelligence" noting that "the question of sheer physical strength is related ambigulously [...] There is no penny-pinching in the staging; hundreds of extras are used for the big battle scenes, which really do succeed in giving the effect of an army and not merely a platoon."^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Ercole Contro Moloch (Hercules Attacks), Italy/France, 1963". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 322, no. 377. British Film Institute. June 1965. p. 91.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 96.
^ Michele Giordano. Giganti buoni. Gremese Editore, 1998. ISBN 8877421835.
^ Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia; Mario Pecorari (1991). Dizionario del cinema italiano. I film. Gremese Editore, 1992. ISBN 8876055932.
^ Paolo Mereghetti. Il Mereghetti - Dizionario dei film. B.C. Dalai Editore, 2010. ISBN 8860736269.