| hatchet for the honeymoon |
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| written by cammelltoe |
October 19, 2004 - 3:38 PM PDT |
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3 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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| Although HERCULES AND THE HAUNTED WORLD may at first seem a departure from Bava's better known slash-and spook stuff, rest assured, this is a gothic chiller scantily clad in a gladiater toga. Reg Park good-naturedly brings the son of Zeus to life. Guest star Christopher Lee plays a descendent of the Dracula he made famous with Hammer studios, the power-mad king Lykos. No matter what obstacle Lykos or the denezins of hades seem to place in his path, Hercules is able to defeat by picking up a big rock and throwing it. What really impresses here is Bava's realization of hades and, in the awesome climax, Lykos' haunted underground caves--- They are surreal dreamscapes conjured with light and shadow, sets and minatures that blow the mind, akin to the studio-bound surreality of some of the Shaw Brother's best, like THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN. Extra bonus: a strange class/sexual struggle seems to be boiling directly underneath the surface of the relationship between Hercules and his 2 buddies, the sidekick and the comic relief, in which Hercules gets his girl, but sidekick has to sacrifice his, but sidekick gets to bang comic relief's girlfriend...? Worth Your time! |
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