Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules

Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules, known in Italian as Maciste contro i mostri, is a 1962 film directed by Guido Malatesta. It was shot on location in Yugoslavia and Italy. The story takes place during the Ice Age. A nomadic group that worships the sun decides to settle in a new area. A young couple from the tribe, Idar and Rhia, encounter a water monster, which Maciste kills with a spear. They ask Maciste to join them, but he says he must continue his destiny of correcting injustices. Soon after, a cave-dwelling tribe of moon worshippers, led by Fuwan, attacks the village and kidnaps the sun worshippers’ women. Maciste returns and enters the moon worshippers’ underground city via a river. There he meets Moah, whose father and brother—former leaders—were murdered by Fuwan, who wants to take Moah as his own. Moah explains that the captured women will be sacrificed during a full moon celebration that night. Maciste swims through an underwater tunnel, defeats a three-headed hydra, removes the stone gate to the entrance, and lets the vengeful sun worshippers inside. The women are freed, but Maciste destroys their escape route after they leave, and he is captured. The moon worshippers bury him and later Moah in the earth to be eaten by worms. A volcanic eruption frees them and kills many moon worshippers. Seeking revenge, the moon worshippers ally with a cannibal tribe to attack the sun worshippers. The combined forces are defeated by the sun worshippers and Maciste. Moah then joins Maciste on his future travels. The cast includes Reg Lewis as Maciste (renamed Maxus in the English version), Margaret Lee as Moah, Luciano Marin as Idar, Andrea Aureli as Fuwan, Birgit Bergen as Raya, Nello Pazzafini as the chief of the Ulmar people, Miria Kent and Fulvia Gasser as women of the sun, Rocco Spataro as Dorak, and Ivan Pengov as Agur. Monsters include a river sea serpent, a lizard scaled up from a real lizard, and a four-footed walking dragon. The film was a co-production between Italy’s Euro International Film and Yugoslavia’s Caserbib. It was shot at Incir De Paolis Studios in Rome and in the caves of Ljubljana, Slovenia. In the English dub, Maciste is called Maxus, and whenever his name is spoken, a different, higher-registered voice adds the dubbed name. The film was released in Italy on 25 April 1962.