With a title like Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops, you expect some serious Cyclops fightin' action. Unfortunately, this movie open with a narrative text crawl that tells us it has been some time since the mighty Atlas -- well, make that the mighty Maciste -- has bested the Cyclops. Now really, if you call your movie Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops, then Atlas should be in the land of the Cyclops, fighting the Cyclops and other nefarious beasts of ancient myth. The movie shouldn't begin with, "Atlas, having just wrapped up the thrilling feats to which the title of this film refer, did set out to help some guys lift a heavy grain cart."

Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops isn't actually as boring as all that, but if you are looking for some serious monster fighting, you're better off spending ninety minutes with Goliath and the Dragon or one of the many utterly bizarre Kirk Morris fantasies. There is a Cyclops in the movie, and I suppose technically Atlas (Maciste, or just call him Gordon Mitchell, or call him Mitchell Gordon as the credits of this movie do) is indeed in the Cyclops' land. The Cyclops is a presence in the film, but he doesn't make a notable appearance until the end, when Maciste trots out the old technique that has defeated every Cyclops in the history of the world: throw a sword or a torch at his eye. It's his fault for having one gigantic eyeball. Seriously, you get the raw end of the deal if you're a Cyclops. Hydras get to grow two heads for every one head that gets cut off, which I guess is only cool up to a point. I imagine having eight-hundred heads would eventually get a tad cumbersome. Medusa got to turn people to stone, Pegasus got to fly, sirens got to lure men to their deaths, and Cyclops? He gets to have one eye and constantly has to deal with would-be heroes thrusting things at it.

So while the Cyclops is a presence in the film before making an appearance for the finale, the bulk of the running time is occupied by the good and noble Maciste combating an evil queen. Gordon Mitchell gets to perform various feats of strength, lift heavy grain carts, and play tug of war over a pit of spikes. He spends most of his time involved in battling an evil queen and trying to protect the rightful heir to the throne. Eventually, he gets to square off against a mangy Cyclops, but all he does is the usual, which is thrust something into the creature's gigantic, bulging, single unprotected eye. Someone should have at least given the Cyclops a tough, leathery eyelid to protect against every would-be hero sticking a spear or a torch into the thing.

All in all, a pretty good adventure even if it's not as fantasy-oriented as one might hope. Mitchell makes a good Maciste, and the evil queen is delightful. Some credits list the baby heir to the throne as Fabio, as in the Fabio of romance book cover fame. I don't know if this is true or not, but it's pretty funny if it is. The only drawback to this film is that the prints are all awful, boasting washed out colors that tint the whole film sepia. Recent DVD remastering of Hercules in the Haunted World and Goliath against the Dragon demonstrate that these movies were often far less cheap looking, and far more lavish and impressive (especially given their minuscule budgets) if only we could see them in their colorful, widescreen original formats.

Labels: Set: Warriors