Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0014381184822
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Label: Image Entertainment
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Image Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 06, 2002
Running Time: 82 minutes
Sales Rank: 81969
Studio: Image Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: 1964-04
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Editorial Review:
Description:
Hercules (Reg Park) must battle a monster made of stone, retrieve a golden apple from the tree of Hesperides, and brave the horrors of Hades to rescue his beloved from the clutches of the evil Lyco (Christopher Lee). Oracles, witches, and vampires abound in this delirious blend of sword and sandal adventure, horror, and psychedelia. Maestro Mario Bava's first color film is awash in a sea of primary hues, creepy atmosphere, and eye-popping imagery. Fantoma is very proud to present the original European cut of this widescreen wonder for the first time in the U.S.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - one of the best Hercules movies
Reg Park didn't have to lose weight for his role like Reeves did. See a real hercules in his prime.
Rating: - Action, terror and fantasy.
Here it is a nice and different movie from the 60's, a mixture of Sword&Sandal and terror,with astonishing special effects. Hercules (NATURAL bodybuilder Reg Park) opposes the evil and tyrannical Lyco (Christopher Lee). So Hercules must rescue his beloved princess Deianira (Leonora Rufo) from the curse that Lyco has put on her, and according to the oracle, must go down to Hades. Two friends accompany Hercules, one them is very funny. After many adventures, the hero fights a stone monster, gets a golden apple and a concoction from a flower, they return from Hell. Before the end there are some incredible, delirous and chaotic scenes in a graveyard with some creatures getting out of the tombs that become living deads and zombies and others like flying vampires all attack Hercules. Finally comes the punishment and the evil Lyco turns into dust. Sucessful color special effects by Mario Bava.
Rating:  - Bava is brilliant
Somewhere in the recent release of Danger: Diabolick someone points out that although Bava was given 3 million to make that film he only spent $400,000. Bava worked in that giddy realm of making do when making low-budget films. Roger Corman and his people were great at that but Bava was an artistic genius--his movies are frequently stunning, even though you might be looking at $200 in sets and props.
I love this film, almost as much as "Planet of the Vampires"-- my favorite Bava and very nearly my favorite film (Alphaville and 8 1/2 top it for me). Even the soundtrack on this Hercules flick is spectacular.
What's to like? Well, with minimal props Bava comes close to turning a cheap Hercules film into something rivaling the original "Beauty and the Beast" for sublimely weird atmosphere. One scene with Hercules and the Oracle is uncanny: I know I'm seeing two vases, some colored gels, tinsel, a mirror, and about 50 bucks in other stuff but my ever-vigilant analytical mind goes right to sleep during this bit and the magic of it never fails to overtake me. The Oracle is even wearing a mask left over from "La Dolce Vita."
When Hercules and his sidekick enter Hades the real craziness begins (as it should, considering it's Hades). Again, many stunning and surreal scenes. The film has its lumps and bumps but its amazing that it isn't solid lump, as most budget films can be. It also has Christopher Lee doing a swell job as the villain...as usual. All in all, a great ... Read More
Rating: - Bava's peplum epic
Italian director Mario Bava (1914-1980) is one of the giants of the horror film genre. Bava's big break into the field came with his 1960 black and white classic "Black Sunday" starring Barbara Steele. This was only the beginning, as Bava churned out a series of gruesome shockers over the next seventeen years; his films always promised great style mixed with scenes of murder and mayhem. Perhaps Mario's biggest contribution to the horror genre was his 1972 picture "Twitch of the Death Nerve," also known as "Bay of Blood." It doesn't take too long to realize "Friday the 13th" shamelessly cribbed from this slasher bloodbath. At least two of the murders in the film appear almost unchanged in the first installment of the Jason Voorhees franchise. That's right-- Mario Bava gave birth to the modern slasher film. But he also dabbled in non-horror films with projects like "Four Times That Night" and this film, "Hercules in the Haunted World." After watching his contribution to the peplum genre, I have to express further admiration for this amazing filmmaker; he could make an entertaining motion picture no matter what the subject.
Bava's Hercules (played capably by Reg Park) must set out on yet another quest the results of which will have a profound effect on the residents of a Greek city. It seems that the female princess of this town is under some zombie like spell, completely unable to function beyond rambling and stumbling about. In her place, a sinister man named Lyco (Christopher Lee!) "generously" ... Read More
Rating: - Terrific DVD showcase for eye-popping Bava beefcake epic
Fantoma's DVD release of Mario Bava's Hercules in the Center of the Earth ought to elevate his stature in the film world, if not as a "serious" movie director, then certainly as one of the cinema's most talented and artistic lighting cameramen/cinematographers. The story is fairly generic muscleman stuff and the acting is competent if unexceptional (although three-time Mr. Universe Reg Park definitely has a believable physical presence as Hercules); what really sets this movie apart from virtually any other peplum flick are Bava's neon-hued Technicolor visuals, which at times border on the hallucinatory. Throughout most of the movie he tosses off shot after stunning shot, many only a few seconds long, nearly every one impeccably lit, artfully composed, and accented with vibrant color. Bava's interweaving of light, shadow, color, and sometimes literal "smoke and mirrors" to define space, mood, and even character is consistently impressive, even more so after reading the liner notes describing how little he had to work with. Cool sequences and striking set-pieces abound, including Deianira rising from her sarcophagus and floating across the room (like Lon Chaney in Son of Dracula); Hercules's eerie visits with the sibyl; the psychedelic ocean vistas on the voyage to the Hesperides; Lyco (Christopher Lee) reflected in a pool of his victim's blood; the flying ghouls rising from their slimy crypts (which must have given nightmares to the kiddie matinee crowd in 1964); and the climactic showdown between Hercules ... Read More
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