Very best movie i ever watch

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Not being a big fan of other Hercules films from the '60s I had seen, I wasn't excited to watch this one. But I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The reasons for why it is good can be attributed to director Mario Bava, who takes a flimsy story and brings it to life with rich visuals and an otherworldly atmosphere. Reg Park has muscles on top of muscles, which is pretty much all that's required of him for the part of Hercules. As others have pointed out, Christopher Lee is dubbed and that is pretty much criminal. However, Lee still has enough screen presence to do more with a look than lesser mortals could with two hours of dialogue. It's quite easily the best Hercules movie I've ever seen. I do like the camp value of the Ferrigno movies from the '80s but I don't think they are good for anything other than laughs. This film is a stylish and fun piece of entertainment for people who enjoy escapist fantasy movies. If your rear is sans stick, you should be able to find something to like about this.

In order to save his beloved "Princess Deianira" (Leonora Ruffo) from a delusional trance "Hercules" (Reg Park) must venture through the land of the Hesperides and into Hades itself in order to retrieve a sacred stone which will revive her sanity. On the way he and his two friends "Thesus" (George Ardisson) and "Telemachus" (Franco Giacobini) must battle all sorts of evil creatures in order to accomplish their mission and return to Icalia. And even then they must also endure the wrath of Pluto for the abduction by Thesus of his favorite daughter "Persephone" (Ida Galli). Anyway, as far as the merits of this particular Hercules film is concerned it had some good points and some bad points as well. First, I thought some of the dark and gloomy sets featuring plenty of smoke and good lighting effects were a very nice touch. Additionally, having two beautiful actresses like Leonora Ruffo and Ida Galli certainly didn't hurt either. On the other hand, some of the special effects during the action scenes were almost laughable. Likewise the acting wasn't exactly top-notch either. Still, it was a fun movie all the same and I give it an average rating.

HAUNTED WORLD is, hands down, the best of the hundreds of Hercules films churned out in Italy in the 1960's (if you think Hollywood today is an assembly line -- look at all the Hercules/ James Bond flicks done in Italy in the 60's -- there are more than stars in the sky, literally.) HAUNTED WORLD is all about Bava ... Bava ... Bava. He's the difference between this and any of the other hundreds of Hercules films -- some very good, some decent, some appalling -- and it's a prime example of why Mario Bava was, arguably, the greatest pulp director, ever. Reg Park is a terrible actor -- but it doesn't matter. Christopher Lee is dubbed -- but it doesn't matter. The producer had about twenty bucks and change for visual effects -- doesn't matter. What counts here is BAVA. He, through sheer force of visual genius (and I'm not kidding -- watch a bunch of other cut-rate fantasy/sci-fi films and you'll go back to Bava every time) -- well, he elevates this into something like psychedelic poetry, dammit. The scenes of Hercules going to the masked Oracle are probably my favorite ... the way she moves her arms, and the lights flicker ... it's the Grateful Dead at the Fillmore West, it's early Pink Floyd at the UFO Club. It's pure, unadulaterated movie magic for Chrissakes. This ranks with DANGER: DIABOLIK and the sadly unavailable ERIK THE CONQUEROR as pure Bava escapism. Dive in.

In terms of story and plot, this HERCULES film is arguably every bit as good as(and quite often better than)many others. The main flaw being the common solution Hercules uses for every problem he faces.Still this movie is great fun to watch in either language(as the dub isn't too bad--only its too bad Christopher Lee didn't do his own) and features lots of terrific haunting color visuals from a master-Mario Bava. Any Gothic Horror fan will find much to enjoy here.