Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules

source: Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules

Moviecut—Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules

This movie is chronologically challenged. First off, it takes place in the Ice Age and stars the Son of Hercules,Maxus. Hercules himself, however, wasn't born until several thousand years later in Ancient Greece. How could his son appear in a movie that takes place thousands of years before he was born? The movie never answers that question and frankly, has bigger chronological fish to fry, namely, Reg Lewis' haircut. It's an old b-movie axiom, that while technology changes in these movies from that which we experience in the present, hairstyles will always remain constant to the time period in which the movie was made. In other words, the Son of Hercules sports and Elvis haircut, or what my mom would call a "Duck's @ss". And it works, for this type of film. It's just the type of anomaly that makes these movies amusing. And Reg himself makes an interesting hero.He is a rather easy going avenger, and with that hair I kept expecting him to break out into a rambling, rockin' rockabilly tune all the time. He plays Maxus a little like you think Elvis would have, and if he would have pushed the Elvis bit a little harder, we'd have a bona fide classic on our hands. Mr. Lewis is sufficiently beefy to make a convincing if low-key Hercules. Basically there are two tribes in this part of the world, the good Sun tribe and the rotten Moon tribe.Maxus befriends the good tribe by saving their crown prince from a water dragon. He hurtles a spear about 200 yards and nails it right in the eye. He then waves and quickly departs, because he never knows where he'll be needed next. This leaves our prince Idar, to romance his harpy of a girl friend, a babe that looks a bit like Ann Margaret. I couldn't really make out her name, but I think it was Brian(?) Brian pesters Idar, who just wants to spear fish, until he marries her in a ceremony where she promises to raise his children and skin his catch. Furthermore, if she fails to obey him, Idar can have her put to death. Both seem content with this arrangement. Ah the good old days. As soon as (And I mean this literally) they finish the vows, the evil moon tribe attacks! There is some pretty good fighting and the bad guys make off with the good guys women. After this it's pretty by the numbers. The good guys find Maxus wandering around the woods and recruit him to their cause. There are some good fights, Maxus gets buried up to his neck in the earth and is then freed by an earthquake, and a few more papier mache monstrosities are ferociously dispatched by the hero. Somewhere along the way another hottie named Moa or Mona joins Maxus' team and of course the two eventually ride off together. And yes, Maxus has the shiniest pecs I've ever seen. They are shiny on mountaintops,in caves, even underwater. Not a bad Herc movie at all, and the theme song is kinda catchy and fun. I wonder if there's a way I can make a ring tone out of it.

Such a great movie for its time! Wonderful performance from Reg Lewis. May he Rest In Peace and his contributions to film, bodybuilding, and Hollywood never be forgotten!

Reg Lewis went to Italy hoping to make several Hercules/Strongman movies. He ended up only making this one MACISTE AGAINST THE MONSTERS. The working conditions during filming were so severe that Reg packed his bags and returned home, abandoning all the other projects. (I would have liked to have seen Reg in those unmade movies). If you watch the Kirk Morris movie COLOSSUS AND THE HEADHUNTERS, you will spot Reg Lewis in the opening scenes during the volcanic eruption. Reg was supposed to be in this movie but instead the produces found a young Kirk Morris to take Reg's place. Too bad for the fans of this genre. If you look at the photos in the gallery, (posted by me), you will see a boob shot of Margaret Lee being held by Reg. I am sure the producers were hoping to make a "different" type of Hercules movie other than a simple FIRE MONSTERS AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES movie. Larry Anderson.

Repackaged for American audiences as part of the SONS OF HERCULES series, COLOSSUS OF THE STONE AGE opens with the most fantastically phenomenal theme song of all created time and space! Amen! A tribe of nomadic, prehistoric types, dressed in fuzzy bathroom throw rugs, builds a village. They should have checked out the neighborhood first, as there's a monster in a nearby lake! Thankfully, the shirtless mound of muscle known as Maxus (Reg Lewis) arrives in time to slay the creature, and to speak in a voice that's loud enough to set off car alarms, if they had such things in olden times, that is. It's not long before beautiful village women are dancing around in headdresses, apparently designed by Dr. Seuss. A rival tribe attacks, and several lives and throw rugs are lost. Good Lord! The marauding miscreants have absconded with the women! Have no fear! Maxus returns to lead the men on a rescue mission, and to battle those who've wronged them so wrongly. Fighting and more female dancing ensue. Also, watch for Maxus' struggle against a dragon that resembles a float in the Rose Bowl parade! Annnd, a band of horn-helmeted cannibals! Fine entertainment for fans of our muscular heroes...

This movie has some tribal squabble that is dull, otherwise the spots of actual life size monsters used are impressive.

Reg Lewis is back as Maxus/Germanicus (Maciste). Maxus happens upon a two primitive tribes: the good sun-worshipers and the evil moon-worshipers. The two tribes are battling it out because the evil moon people want it that way and end up capturing some of the sun people. Luckily for the sun people there are monsters that destroy the cave they are held in and Maxus is there to save them. OH and there is hydra in the film. Barely entertaining film. It has it's moments of being okay but those moments aren't that grand. You'd think I would like this one with all the big monsters in it but I find it only barely tolerable to skim though. 2/10

Another one of the erstwhile "Sons of Hercules" films by Embassy Pictures. This time the American dub turns Maciste into "Maxus," Son of Hercules. We get the usual super cool theme song tacked on by Embassy and a really goofy dub for Reg Lewis, who sounds like two different guys depending on the scene. And (owing to the crappy print quality) his ridiculous pompadour looks orange! All in all, a bizarre beefcake lead for this prehistoric adventure. This is old school cavemen stuff, with a papier mache volcano, foam boulders, and four, count 'em FOUR monsters - a lake monster, a multi headed hydra, one forced perspective monitor lizard, and a cave dragon! Not a bad haul! I love the dragons in peplum films. No fancy special effects processes, just a giant, immobile wood frame draped in canvas. Maybe the head(s) moves, and a little fire comes out, and then Hercules throws a stick at it and it falls over in all its inarticulate glory and some blood pours out the mouth. This is one of those mythic peplum entries where the strongman ignores the boundaries of space and time to just go wherever the hell he wants in order to fight for what is right. In this case, Maxus defends a tribe of peaceful prehistoric sun worshipers from their aggressive, subterranean, moon worshiping neighbors. The peaceful tribe are basically a bunch of naive innocents, and Maxus runs around saving these dopey people from themselves. The action is spiked with the occasional monster highlight, and a third act volcanic eruption that plays as a low budget version of the climax to ONE MILLION YEARS BC, still four years to come. You just can't go wrong with a fun film like this. It's cheap, it's cheerful, and Margaret Lee makes for one saucy cave dweller. By the time the theme song swells for THE END, you'll be blissfully humming along, awaiting the next adventure of THE SONS OF HERCULES! Heed the words of Maxus: "Don't forget to defend yourselves from wild animals!"

This particular peplum is a prehistoric item as Maciste goes back to the caveman era and helps out one tribe which has been dislocated by the Ice Age to settle on some new lands. It seems as though the other tribe that was there before isn't happy about these late arrivals hunting in their forests and want them removed. Bodybuilder Reg Lewis of Mae West's review plays the legendary Maciste here. He's got to deal with all kinds of prehistoric beasts including a multi-headed hydra. One thing I swear I can't understand is how Maciste avoids pneumonia when he insists on going in his usual loincloth while everyone else is bundled up in animal skins. But his body is what the movie-going public is paying to see. Nothing here you haven't seen in One Million BC and a few hundred other successors.