SON OF SAMSON (1963)
aka Maciste nella valle dei re
Article 3054 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-17-2009
Posting Date: 12-24-2009
Directed by Carlo Campogalliani
Featuring Mark Forest, Chelo Alonso, Angelo Zanolli
Country: Italy / France / Yugoslavia
What it is: Sword-and-Sandal fantasy of the evil queen variety.

The son of Samson (known as Maciste) comes to ancient Egypt to do battle with an evil queen who has joined forces with the Persians to enslave the villagers and steal their lands.

If ever there was a series of movies that seemed plotted with a Mad Libs book, it would be the evil queen variety of the sword-and-sandal epics from the sixties; just change the locations, the names, and a few details, but otherwise, it’s the same plot. Still, Chelo Alonso may be one of the sexiest evil queens of the bunch, and she does a mean belly dance as well. Mark Forest plays Maciste this time around, and his waist is so thin while his upper torso is so developed he looks almost insectoid. This one is bloodier and more brutal than most, with a couple of memorable scenes; in one, we see villagers buried up to their heads (or shins, for those buried the opposite direction) in a field full of snakes, and in another, one of those chariots with bladed wheels runs through a crowd of enslaved villagers. Maciste’s great strength and a charm that puts a man under hypnotic control are the fantastic elements here. Outside of the hackneyed plot, its worst problem may be its pacing; it wanders around for its first hour and then tries to pack as much of its plot as it can into the last thirty minutes.

I must be nearing the end of these…