Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

bkoganbing 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.

wes-connors "A hydra is threatening the countryside and the people are terrified for their lives. The people's only hope of survival rests with Maxus, a powerful man who has the strength of many men. Before Maxus can battle the multi-headed monster, he must face other challenges in order to prove himself worthy and to prepare for the fateful battle," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Actually, the story mainly involves a struggle between two pre-historic tribes: the "Good" or "Sun" worshipers, and the "Bad" or "Moon" worshipers. The "Sun" tribe of Nomads has decided to settle and live in peace; but, they pick land claimed by nearby "Moon" worshiping Cavemen. Bodybuilder Reg Lewis (as Maciste, or Maxus in English) does not belong to any tribe; however, he bonds with "Sun" leader Luciano Marin (as Idar), after saving him (and his woman) from a sea monster. The plot thickens when Mr. Lewis and "Moon" tribe woman Margaret Lee (as Moah) fall in love.In English, misleadingly reproduced as "Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules". The English dubbing is dreadful; in a couple of scenes, two completely different voices dub Lewis. The bleached-blond muscleman throws cavemen around, and poses. Mr. Marin essays his part better than others; but, considering the shoddiness of the production, it's a wasted effort. The best part of the movie is the added-on TV theme song, "The (Mighty) Sons of Hercules". *** Maciste contro i mostri (4/25/62) Guido Malatesta ~ Reg Lewis, Margaret Lee, Luciano Marin

Mike_Noga 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.

ralphv2 Can't get the theme song out of my mind! The monster in the lake was pretty good, probably took up most of the budget, and if it had been featured more, say wreaking havoc among the two ice age tribes and having an apocalyptic fight with the toothy hero amid exploding volcanoes, hurtling moons and collapsing ice cliffs, it would have been a decent club-and-sandal flick. But it got killed after just a few minutes, spear thrown through the eye from almost the next county...ouch! The other monsters would have seemed more lame had it not been for the human actors...made even paper mache look good.But it's set in the Ice Age, which makes it pretty unique for these types of movies, so a little more interesting than it would have been otherwise. It would make a nice Friday night double feature with "Goliath and the Dragon" if you had some pizza and beer.