Hercules vs. Moloch (, , also released as Conquest of Mycenae) 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.
Release.
"Hercules vs. the 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."
References.
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