Woodyanders Jolly legendary strongman Hercules (an engaging performance by the handsome and muscular Reg Park) battles evil sorceress Amiko (gorgeous brunette stunner Mireille Granelli), who transforms men into vicious and hideous werewolf beasts. While the central premise certainly has promise, it's unfortunately rendered pretty flat and uninteresting thanks to Antonio Margheriti's pedestrian direction, the leaden pace, the meandering pace, a plot that fails to blend the horror and fantasy elements together into a cohesive and satisfying whole, the inevitable cruddy dubbing, a crippling lack of tension and vitality, and the classic problem of much dull talk detracting substantially from the too little, yet still quite exciting action (the usual rough'n'ready swordfights are especially stirring). The werewolf monster is likewise a disappointment; he's some pudgy guy in silly hairy make-up who proves to be more laughable than scary. On the plus side the girls are definitely attractive, with the ravishing Maria Teresa Orsini a stand-out as fetching slave girl Kato. Furio Meniconi delivers an effectively slimy portrayal of wicked no-count prince Zeretelli. Franco Mannino's score alternates between slushy orchestral mush and rousing full-speed-ahead barnstorming music. A passable, but overall forgettable diversion.

andreygrachev Quite rare stuff. Two masters of Italian horrors Antonio Margheriti and young Ruggero Deodato directed this film in 1964. It has a lot to do with antique fairy tales and the screenplay is really original. Ursus is the prototype of Conan and other muscled heroes of fantasy movies. He is real hero in this film, fighting against evil, black magic, selfish king with a small number of friends, like Robin Good. Good fighting scenes really liked them. Good costumes and rather progressive score. Bewitched fighters turn in to werewolves like monsters. So this is a real epic fantasy with wise dialogs and 60s colors. Andrey Tripod "www.myspace.com/neizvest" Quite rare stuff. Two masters of Italian horrors Antonio Margheriti and young Ruggero Deodato directed this film in 1964. It has a lot to do with antique fairy tales and the screenplay is really original. Ursus is the prototype of Conan and other muscled heroes of fantasy movies. He is real hero in this film, fighting against evil, black magic, selfish king with a small number of friends, like Robin Good. Good fighting scenes really liked them. Good costumes and rather progressive score. Bewitched fighters turn in to werewolves like monsters. So this is a real epic fantasy with wise dialogs and 60s colors. Andrey Tripod "www.myspace.com/neizvest"

zardoz-13 "Hercules, Prisoner of Evil" is awful. As an earlier commentator has noted, this Hercules movie occurs outside of the peplum era with Hercules living with a nomadic tribe somewhere in Europe. Reg Park plays the muscle-bound hero, but he has little in common with his other Hercules incarnations. This is not one of director Anthony M. Dawson's better movies. The tribe that Hercules resides with is being plagued by a monster that lurks in the woods at night, but it turns out that the monster is anybody who comes into contact with a witch who lives in a cave and has an evil potion. Drink the potion and you become the monster. Think of it as an early version of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." I bought the Retromedia DVD, too, and experienced the same problem with the audio, but I have an earlier VHS copy that I transferred to DVD-R for my own enjoyment and the audio and the picture are perfectly synchronized. Unfortunately, neither of them is in the widescreen process so the picture is cropped to full frame. The drama is minimal and Hercules really performs nothing in the way of memorable feats. Of course, when the monster appears, he is played by another actor who bears no resemblance to anybody in the cast so if you figure out the plot, you'll be lost. About midway into the action Hercules suffers a minor wound that takes him out of the story for several scenes. This is a below-average Hercules film and a below-average Reg Park movie. Only completists will want to watch this yucky yarn.

Maciste_Brother HERCULES, PRISONER OF EVIL is one of the worst Sword & Sandal films ever. It's unspeakably bad. The first thing is it's not even a Peplum. The setting is old Europe, not Ancient Greece or Rome. The story, about a witch wanting to become queen, is crap and confusing. The acting is bad. The production values are non-existent. Reg Park is somewhere in there. The "monster" is not scary but embarrassing. The shriek it makes is hilarious, not scary. I saw this on the Retromedia DVD of HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (that one is good) and the transfer was really bad. The soundtrack wasn't even in sync with the crappy image. All in all, a thoroughly unpleasant viewing and not just because of the bad transfer. I was entertained by other good S&S films even if the DVD transfers were mediocre. A good transfer wouldn't improve anything about this awful film.