HERCULES
AGAINST THE MOON MEN (1965)/THE WITCH'S CURSE
(1963)Directors: Giacomo Gentilomo, Riccardo Freda
Something Weird Video/Image Entertainment
HERCULES
AGAINST THE MOON MEN (1965)/THE WITCH'S CURSE
(1963)SWV has outdone and undone themselves with this long awaited double feature. You will find a plot synopsis that I did on HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN just a few entries before this one. This version of MOON MEN does not have any extra scenes that Retromedia's fullscreen version doesn't (except the opening credits are uncut). What it does have however is widescreen 2:35:1 aspect ratio, IF you have a 16:9 setup! On a 4:1 set, it is stretched a bit, more like 1:85:1, so things are pulled thin. The only way that I have been able to watch this properly is on my computer, using Microsoft Media player, which correctly translates the 16:9 enhancement. My year old JVC DVD player does not, nor does PC based WINDVD. It is doubtful that SWV or Image is going to offer to replace these discs, but hopefully they will repress it at a later date with this malfunction corrected.
Having said that, when you are
viewing SWV's print of HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN, the colors are deep, with
only minor scratching. Picture quality is not as sharp as their GOLIATH AND
THE DRAGON DVD print, but is fantastic none the less. The audio soundtrack is
amazing, both 
dialogue
and music queues are clear as a bell. But I noticed something peculiar…The
scene where the lead moon guy raises his arms to the moon, which starts its
decent towards Earth is tinted, where every other full screen print I have ever
seen, this scene is in color. Also the first time we see the pulsating rock
balloon on top of the statue in the Moon Men's lair is tinted, where all other
full screen prints show this in color.
The extra feature, THE WITCH'S
CURSE was a treat for me, as I have not seen it before. I put off buying it
hoping it would arrive on DVD, and now that it has, I was not disappointed in
the movie itself. The full screen Medallion TV print is about what you would
expect, grainy with scratchy audio, but it doesn't completely 
distract
from the movie. It seems that it is missing a few minutes too, based on some
entries I read on a message board, but nothing that takes anything away from
the film.
The movie has a strong opening: The townspeople of Loch Laird witness the burning of a witch named Martha Galt (?), who apparently rebuffed the advances of the town's Mayor when they were both younger. As the fire engulfs her, she puts a curse on the village and the Mayor Paris, telling him that he will meet her in Hell.
One hundred years later, we are
witness to the townspeople of Loch Laird rushing to a tree, that has grown in
the place where the witch was burned. The young women of the village are driven
by the witch to hang themselves on the tree. The current mayor believes that
the only way to stop it is to burn the young women as witches. The town doctor
disagrees, and tries to stop the slaughter of innocent lives.
A honeymooning couple happens upon the town, where it is discovered the brides name is Martha Galt! The townsfolk assemble a lynch mob, and decide to hang her that very night. Out of the dark, wearing nothing but sandals and gladiator skirt is Maciste! He immediately goes to the dungeon where Martha is to be hung, throws around the angry mob, bends some bars and rescues her.
The only way to keep the mayor from burning Martha as a witch is to stop the curse. So Maciste is taken to the tree that blooms when young women succumb to the curse. Maciste tears it out by its roots and jumps in the hole that leads him directly to Hell! There he witnesses the damned being tortured and must face a deadly lion, a towering door of flame (one of the cooler moments in the movie) and interference by the witch and the now dead Paris. One of my favorite scenes however is when Maciste happens upon a shackled soul named Prometheus, who with a magic pool of water, shows Maciste his past struggles via film clips from ATLAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS and SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD, to get him back on track. Apparently, there was another clip, from a Mark Forest film, but it is missing from this print
While WITCH'S CURSE is full screen, and apparently cut, it is very watchable. More action packed than most peplums; hopefully we will see it uncut and widescreen someday.
Other
extras include a handful of sword 'n sandal trailers. Including one for THE
MIGHTY URSUS which is an amazing little piece of art. A camera basically scans
an illustration (most likely the poster art) from the film while a narrator
talks about how this "mighty giant of a man" conquered and pillaged.
You sure could get away with a lot in the 1960's.
SWV carved up two SON OF HERCULES features, TERROR OF ROME and MOLE MEN into digest versions, much like "Fire Monsters" in the "Goliath and the Dragon" disc. To its credit, the TERROR OF ROME digest features the most exciting sequence in that film, Poseidon's gladiatorial battle with the same mangy gorilla whose appearances include SON OF HERCULES AGAINST THE MOLE MEN, THE FURY OF HERCULES and a few other peplums that I cant remember just right now. THE MOLE MEN digest too, makes the film a lot better, since it too can be snooze inducing to all but the heartiest of fans.
Easter Egg hunters will find a nifty trailer to the 1973 Kung Fu film, CHINESE HERCULES and a piece from what looks like a 1930's newsreel of a man throwing his son "Baby Hercules" around while on top of a building.
I highly recommend this release of Hercules against the MOON MEN/THE WITCH'S CURSE, despite its technical problems that most should be able to overcome. 2002 has been a banner year for widescreen sword 'n sandal GIANT OF METROPOLIS, HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD, AND NOW MOON MEN. Lets keep it going out there! HINT HINT -- GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES -- HINT HINT!! (Mark Suggs)