IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

Three years ago, I did a deep dive into Italian genre cinema, specifically gothic horror and giallo films. I was viewing the vast majority of these films for the very first time, and I enjoyed most of them.  However, there was a common factor shared by the movies that I loved the most, including Blood and Black Lace (1964), Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970), and Lisa and the Devil (1973); They were all directed and lensed by Mario Bava.  Since then, I have made it my business to seek out and view all of Bava’s films, regardless of genre.

This month, Kino Lorber released a Blu-ray of a 4K restoration of Mario Bava’s first directorial effort shot in color, Hercules in the Haunted World (1961).  As a Mario Bava film, I felt I needed to watch it.  However, I must admit that I approached the film with some trepidation.  I’m not a fan of peplum (sword and sandal pictures), and a Hercules peplum promised to be particularly inane.  But as a Bava completist, I persevered and inserted the disc into my Blu-ray player.

Ostensibly a follow-up to Hercules Conquers Atlantis (also starring Reg Park as Hercules but not directed by Bava), Hercules in the Haunted World sees the demi-god strongman return home to Italy to his wife, Princess Deianira (Leonora Ruffo).  Unfortunately, the Princess is out of her gourd, due to a spell put upon her by her guardian, Lico (Christopher Lee).  Lico not only lusts for power; he is also a dark wizard (and maybe some sort of vampire… It isn’t really clear).  Hercules consults an oracle, who tells him that Deianira’s senses can only be restored by the Stone of Forgetfulness, which is located deep in the underworld of Hades.  Thus begins an adventure that involves tree roots that bleed, lava pits, a rock monster, flying reanimated corpses, and painful comic relief.

So what did I think of Hercules in the Haunted World?  Well, it’s a Hercules movie.  In other words, it’s dumb… really dumb… vacuously, absurdly dumb.  Still, I’m glad I saw it, because the visual design, lighting, and cinematography are all top notch.

Bava began his career as a cinematographer.  Consequently, when he had the opportunity to direct his first movie in color, he took complete advantage of the pallet.  Acting as his own director of photography, Bava superbly bathed the set in shafts of colored light.  Vibrant reds, greens, and purples butted up against each other in underground caves where no natural light should penetrate.  It is in no way naturalistic, but who cares?  It looks cool.

I also must admit that while the plot is stupid, that stupidity is a large part of the fun.  I especially enjoyed that Hercules’ answer to every problem was to throw a rock at it.  If the problem was really big, he’d throw a larger rock at it.  And if the problem was a monster made of rock…  Well, you get the idea.

Overall, Hercules in the Haunted World is beautiful, candy-colored style over very little substance.  As such, it is far from Mario Bava’s best.  In fact, I’d rank it near the bottom of his filmography.  Still, when watched with a group of like-minded friends, it can be a very fun viewing.  It may be an extremely silly time-waister, but it is much more enjoyable than most “bad” movies.

Italy/C-86m./Dir: Mario Bava/Wr: Sandro Continenza, Mario Bava, Francesco Prosperi, and Duccio Tessari/Cast: Reg Park, Christopher Lee, Leonora Ruffo, George Ardisson, Marisa Belli, Evelyn Stewart, Franco Giacobini

For Fans of: Fans of Bava’s colorful camerawork in such films as Black Sabbath and Blood and Black Lace will probably enjoy Hercules in the Haunted World, for the visuals, if for nothing else.

Video: Kino Lorber has gone all out with their definitive Blu-ray release of Hercules in the Haunted World, which has been released under their “Kino Classics” and “The Mario Bava Collection” imprints.  Most importantly, the two-disc set includes three separate versions of the film.  It was not unusual for Italian films of the time to be released in slightly different forms in different countries, and such was the case for Bava’s first directorial effort in color.  There is only five minutes difference between the longest and shortest versions of the film, and the differences are almost totally in the opening pre-credits sequences.  Still, Bava completists will be overjoyed to have all three versions in a single package.

All three versions have undergone a new 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative, and the resulting image quality is vibrant, sharp, and beautiful.  There are a few shots, especially in the pre-credits sequence that only appears in the original Italian version, that aren’t quite as clean and colorful as the rest of the film, but overall, the movie looks eye-poppingly great.

The other major difference between the three versions is the audio.  Italian movies of the time were filmed silent and then dubbed in different languages for audiences around the world.  The U.S. release version of the movie has English-dubbing (with optional English SDH captions), the original Italian version has Italian dialogue with optional English subtitles, and the U.K. release version is in English with no subtitles.

Which version you watch is up to you, but I would suggest watching the original Italian version.  At 86 minutes, Vampire gegen Hercules; aka Ercole al centro della Terra, is the longest version, and is Mario Bava’s original vision.  The Italian audio also sounds a bit more robust than the English track.

Here’s how the content is laid out across the two discs:

Disc 1: Hercules in the Haunted World

• U.S. release version: Hercules in the Haunted World (with optional English SDH captions)
• U.S. theatrical trailer

Disc 2: Hercules at the Center of the Earth

• European release version: Vampire gegen Hercules; aka Ercole al centro della Terra (Italian dialogue with optional English subtitles)
• U.K. release version: Hercules at the Center of the Earth 
• Audio commentary by Tim Lucas, author of Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark
• Interview with actor George Ardisson
• U.K. theatrical trailer

(The menu of Disc 2 is fairly confusing, as the original, European release version plays when you select to play Hercules at the Center of the Earth.  The U.K. version, which actually has the title of Hercules at the Center of the Earth, is hidden under the “Extras” section.)

Streaming: At the time this review was posted, Hercules and the Haunted World could be streamed as part of an Amazon Prime subscription.

More to Explore: Mario Bava directed a couple of additional sword and sandal films, Erik the Conqueror (1961) (which I previously reviewed) and Knives of the Avenger (1966), both starring Cameron Mitchell.

Trivia: Reg Park had to perform all of his own stunts for the simple reason that there were no stuntmen beefy enough to double for the bodybuilder.

For More Info: If you want to know more about Mario Bava and his work, consult Tim Lucas’s essential reference, Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark.  An e-book version of this out-of-print tome can be purchased directly from the author HERE.