US lobby cards set of HERCULES (1983) starring Lou Ferrigno. Good set. The set features Lou in almost all the cards. Good approach. No photos of the cheesy special effects. Cannon group knew how to sell the movie!
Ferrigno is undeniably well cast as Herc, but the overall production is befuddling. What's the premise, is it a peplum or a sci-fi epic? The movie sort of can't decide. When one of my pals wants to watch something weird I always lend them my DVD of this movie, and nobody's been disappointed yet.
The big sword Ferrigno is holding in the second to last card is a prop that's seen quite a bit of action in Europe-based films. It even briefly makes an appearance in Ridley Scott's "Legend" as a foreground prop in the tree fortress of the demon Darkness. Right beside it in that same shot is one of the swords from Ray Harryhausen's "Jason and the Argonauts", which was actually sold at a prop auction the other year.
IMHO, genres overlap, so, for example, a movie like Them!, The Thing From Another World, or The Creature From the Black Lagoon would be both science fiction and horror. Or, a cavalry vs. Indians movie (Fort Apache, A Thunder of Drums, Major Dundee) would be both a Western and a war movie.
So, Hercules (or Jason & the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, Conan the Barbarian, or Hercules in the Haunted World) could be classified as both peplum and fantasy.
Or, the fantasies, with giants, dragons, sorcery, and mythological gods, could be considered a subgenre of peplum.
Ferrigno looked the part.
ReplyDeleteIf it had been my call, though, I would have included more scenes with Sybil Danning. She was awesome.
Ferrigno is undeniably well cast as Herc, but the overall production is befuddling. What's the premise, is it a peplum or a sci-fi epic? The movie sort of can't decide. When one of my pals wants to watch something weird I always lend them my DVD of this movie, and nobody's been disappointed yet.
ReplyDeleteThe big sword Ferrigno is holding in the second to last card is a prop that's seen quite a bit of action in Europe-based films. It even briefly makes an appearance in Ridley Scott's "Legend" as a foreground prop in the tree fortress of the demon Darkness. Right beside it in that same shot is one of the swords from Ray Harryhausen's "Jason and the Argonauts", which was actually sold at a prop auction the other year.
IMHO, genres overlap, so, for example, a movie like Them!, The Thing From Another World, or The Creature From the Black Lagoon would be both science fiction and horror. Or, a cavalry vs. Indians movie (Fort Apache, A Thunder of Drums, Major Dundee) would be both a Western and a war movie.
ReplyDeleteSo, Hercules (or Jason & the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, Conan the Barbarian, or Hercules in the Haunted World) could be classified as both peplum and fantasy.
Or, the fantasies, with giants, dragons, sorcery, and mythological gods, could be considered a subgenre of peplum.