Hercules vs. Moloch

Hercules vs. Moloch is a 1963 Italian/French international co-production peplum film written and directed by Giorgio Ferroni and starring Gordon Scott. The film reuses battle scenes from Ferroni's 1961 film The Trojan Horse.

Plot

The city-state of Mycenae is able to dominate the rest of the nearby city-states due to its impregnable fortress. Led by a facially deformed King who believes himself Moloch incarnated, the madman demands slaves as tribute, where he tortures and kills a selected few. Prince Glaucus from Tiryns has an idea to seize and destroy Mycenae from within. Using the name of Hercules, he poses as one of the slaves given to Mycenae in tribute.
He becomes a gladiator, but he secretly plots to lead a revolution and destroy the creature that has enslaved the people.

Cast

Gordon Scott as Prince Glaucus a.k.a. Hercules
Alessandra Panaro as Medea, Princess of Mycenae
Rosalba Neri as Demetra, Queen of Mycenae
Arturo Dominici as Penthius, General of Mycenae
Michel Lemoine as Euneos
Jany Clair as Deianira
Nerio Bernardi as Asterion, the High Priest
Giovanni Pazzafini as Archepolos
Geneviève Grad as Pasifaë
Pietro Marascalchi as Moloch

Release

Hercules vs. Moloch was released in Italy on December 21, 1963. It was released in the United States by December 15, 1965.

Reception

From contemporary reviews, the Monthly Film Bulletin reviewed a 91 minute dubbed version. The film stated that the plot was "completely routine" and its ending was "over-extravagant", the "Herculean hero is at least credited with a distinct measure of intelligence" noting that "the question of sheer physical strength is related ambigulously There is no penny-pinching in the staging; hundreds of extras are used for the big battle scenes, which really do succeed in giving the effect of an army and not merely a platoon."