Cinema

In 17th Century Scotland a woman is burned as a witch. Before she dies, she curses the village and its inhabitants. Suddenly it's 100 years later and the women of the village are going insane. A descendent of the witch has moved back to her ancestral home with her new husband. The villagers quickly jail the young woman and decide to burn the innocent at the stake. And then Maciste appears literally out of nowhere to save her. But the only way to save her is to journey into Hell to find the witch and force her to undo the curse.

 

Film Notes

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Mythology Scorned

As the Italian film factory churned out sword and sandal films by the dozens, the plots spun further and further from their classical, mythological and historical roots. It wasn't long before a gladiator loving film-goer might be sitting in a drive-in movie theater watching Greek gods and heroes muscling up to Biblical characters, vampires, Vikings and French bikini models washed up on a beach in Mexico to again save or destroy a civilization.

The unfairly underrated Maciste in Hell stands out in these tall tale cinematic side trips, as a loin-clothed and bare chested ancient Mediterranean hero arrives in 17th Century Scotland to save the Puritans from their Puritanical ways.

There is no explanation in the film as to why a Greek man/god should be there. And what possible explanation could there be?

It all goes beyond reason and reasoning as elements of Homer's Odyssey, the Book of Samuel and Dante's Divine Comedy wash up from the North Sea and march into the central lowlands of the British Isles for the fun of an old fashioned witch burning.

The sheer unmitigated senselessness and unapologeticness of it all is why Maciste in Hell is such a manic joy to guiltily behold.

Fredasistic – Gladiators, Vampires, Spies and Pushkin

Though, he has never had the rabid following of his certainly more talented fellow Italian director Mario Bava, Riccardo Freda never-the-less has his fans. And if you're willing to pay more attention than most sane people would dedicate to the task, you too would see Mr Freda deserves a second, third and fourth look. (He made a lot of films.)

Credited along with his cinematographer Bava with launching a brand new style of Italian horror films in 1956 with Vampiri, I, he is best known as a director in that genre with such films as The Horrible Secret of Dr. Hitchcock (1962, The Ghost (1963) and Murder Obesssion (1981).

But Freda also masterminded a number of sword and sandal films beyond Maciste in Hell. His efforts in this genre include The White Warrior (1959), Maciste in the Court of the Great Khan, and The Giants of Thessaly (1961).

Early on Freda directed well regarded costume epics such as Return of the Black Eagle based on a story of Alexander Pushkin.

Special Film Made Even More Special

Due to the efforts of Professor Edison J. Nello and legendary pan-continental director Ingmar Ozu-Bresson, somewhere a unique print of Maciste in Hell exists in all its sub-cinematic glory.

Working with secret post-production notes hidden for years in the catacombs of Rome, the Professor and Mr Ozu-Bresson teamed for an extraordinary cinematic archeological film reforestation proces.

The result is a version of Maciste in Hell never before seen. You will surely watch in wonder at how the stark black and white cinematography is combined with the patented "Cinecolore" film effects.

The experience is like taking film reels of Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, throwing them into a fireplace, and then sticking your head into the flames, as the black and white frames melt into your retinas in a hot burst of red, yellow and orange phantasmagoria.

 

Ancient Connections

 

And I Quote...

“Now I can continue with my struggle against evil witchcraft and a curse against all the unfortunate population of an entire village causing untold misery.”

“It’s time to say goodbye, Charlie."

“I tried to corrupt him with my witchcraft and charms, but he conquered everything, even me.”

 

-- Ed Schneider

 

Facts and Fancies from the Notebooks of Edison J. Nello

"Though his name was many times transformed into Samson, Ursus, Goliath and Hercules before his films reached cinemas throughout the world, in Italy he was known as Maciste.

And who was Maciste?

The son of Hercules? A Greco/Roman warrior? An Olympic athlete? A detective? A fantastic magical figure who appeared whenever and wherever needed to fight for justice and against tyranny?

Or was he both the predecessor and the second coming of Benito Mussolini ready to resurrect a Italy as a modern Roman Empire, where the trains would once again run on time and muscles would forever and ever flex and bulge?

In fact, he was all and everything mentioned as the leading character in 27 films in Silent Movie era and 26 sword and sandal epics in 1960s.

And it was Federico Fellini himself who credited the original 1926 Maciste all'inferno as the movie that made him decide to become a film director. But it is the 1962 version of Maciste all'inferno starring Venice gondolier Adriano Bellini turned actor Kirk Morris as Maciste in Hell, that makes life in the world of Alameda TV worth living."

-- Edison J. Nello

 

Kirk Morris Maciste
Hélène Chanel Fania
Vira Silenti Martha
Andrea Bosic Judge Parrish
Angelo Zanolli Charlie
Charles Fawcett Doctor
 
Directed by Riccardo Freda Director
Luigi Carpentieri, Ermanno Donati Producers
O. Biancoli, Ennio de Concini, Piero Pierotti Screenwriters
Riccardo Pallottini Cinematography
Ornella Micheli Editing
Andrea Crisanti Art Director
Carlo Franci Composer
 

 

Ancient Fantasies - Hercules in the Haunted World

For more information on

Riccardo Freda ...

Learn about ( and link to) Ingmar Ozu-Bresson's experimental film meditation on Hercules - Herculin/Feminin