HERCULES AND THE TYRANTS OF BABYLON (1964)
(a.k.a. ERCOLE CONTRO I TIRANNI DI BABILONIA)
Article #1699 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 11-8-2005
Posting Date: 4-7-2006
Directed by Domenico Paolella
Featuring Peter Lupus, Helga Line, Mario Petri

Hercules rescues slaves from the clutches of the tyrants of Babylon.

His name is Rock Stevens in the credits, but we all know him from “Mission Impossible” as Peter Lupus. So why do they call him Rock Stevens? Maybe it’s because of all the rocks he throws in his first scene in the movie. Nevertheless, members of his fan club should recognize him, especially when he attacks villains with his club which he fans in the air. All right, someone should be lynched for those puns, but the presence of Lupus does give this movie a novelty value it might not have otherwise; for the first half of this movie, it’s the usual compendium of sword-and-sandal cliches, with an overly large amount of political intrigue and (surprisingly) not a single dance scene. Things pick up a bit in the second half, with an effective moment when someone tries to assassinate Hercules with a spiked club, and the scene in which Hercules destroys Babylon with the help of a giant chained wheel (it really can’t be described) is worth catching. Other than that, it’s pretty standard fare of this sort.