Gordon Scott in HERCULES AGAINST MOLOCH (1963)
This film is one of those PEPLUM 'Frankenfilms' : big chunks of it were taken from two movies and re-edited with new scenes. Fortunately, the scenes re-used from both films, THE BACCHANTES and THE TROJAN HORSE, both released in 1961, were also directed by the director of HERCULES AGAINST MOLOCH, Giorgio Ferroni. Ferroni is one of the best directors of the genre and I love all his films, including this Frankenfilm. Aside from Gordon Scott, who's in top form here, this movie is one of those rare films which hits all the right PEPLUM notes. It's a virtual PEPLUM buffet. I finally got a nice widescreen copy (thanks Alan) and this screenshot is from this copy (I already had one in English and widescreen but it was from a fuzzy VHS source). Will I make a FanDub with this? We'll see.
The "Frankenfilm" technique has been around for a long time.
ReplyDeleteIn Hollywood producer/director Sam Katzman was a master of this cost cutting approach. In THIEF OF DAMASCUS (1952),for example, he recycled combat footage from JOAN OF ARC!
Katzman made many dozens of films during his long career. Many of these are very forgettable.
A fan dub of HERCULES AGAINST MOLOCH would be most appreciated. Subtitles would be a fully acceptable - perhaps even a preferable - approach.
Too bad about YouTube's censorship, but that is just something one has to tolerate for absence of an alternative.