With a name like Alan Steele, you're bound to become a Hercules. That's one of those names like Bart Savagewood or Rock Slabchest. Along with Kirk Morris, Steele (born Sergio Ciani) was one of the few Italian-born actors to find success as a leading man in the sword and sandal genre. Bodybuilding had yet to catch on Italy the way it had on America's West Coast, so homegrown stars were generally relegated to the ranks of second fiddle or "skinny little buddy." Steele was an exception, and that allowed him to work his way up the peplum food chain (high in whey protein). He began his career in 1959 with a small part in Hercules Unchained, and later appeared in Samson (1961), Fury of Hercules (1962), Samson and the Slave Queen (1963), and The Rebel Gladiators (1963) before hitting the big-time with a starring role in 1964’s Hercules Against Rome. That same year, Steele made what is probably his best-known sword and sandal film, the strange Hercules Against the Moon Men, which once again attempted to blend the worlds of ancient fantasy and science fiction by having Herc face off against a bunch of slow moving rock monsters from outer space.

It starts off pretty well, as a meteor lands on Samar Mountain, causing a volcano to erupt. Shortly thereafter, the residents are forced to offer their children once every third full moon to this "hungry mountain of death." Apparently this is under the orders of the Moon men. In one of the opening scenes, we see a door open up on the side of the mountain, while Roman soldiers push in the wailing sacrifices. The Moon men want to take over the world. If you lived on the moon, you'd consider relocating as well. Sure it looks cool and everything, but after you visit the Sea of Tranquility for the millionth time, you'd probably start dreaming about things like lakes, trees and waterslides. And since you'd have grown up there, the novelty of doing those astronaut leaps would have worn off after a while. So yeah, screw the moon.

The Moon men have organized these sacrifices of Earth virgins mostly just for shits and giggles, and being a man of righteousness, or at least a man in need of some asses to kick, Hercules won't stand for such injustice, especially from a bunch of out-of-towners. The Queen of Samar, however, is in cahoots with the moon people. Hercules tries to get the citizens of Samar to revolt against the queen, but the subjects are too cowardly to follow. After fighting some soldiers and throwing around some boulders, Hercules is invited to the Queen's chambers. Seems that she has a powder that "makes men look at her with eyes of love." She gives it to Hercules, and...he laughs at her as only Hercules can laugh. No pansy powder can control Hercules' emotions!

At the same time, the planets align in a red-tinted display of all hell breaking loose. Will Hercules defeat the Moon men and make Samar safe from extraterrestrial terrorism? Will the peasants and soldiers rise up against the evil queen? Well, hell yeah. In the meantime, we get lots of fights, lots of oiled chest close-ups, and Hercules strapped to a big spiky crusher thing. Not only does Hercules have to fight evil soldiers, he also gets trapped in a chamber full of rushing water and has to fight the Moon men, which are big slow-moving rock formations who encircle him and try to crush him. When he meets the head of the Moon men (who is decked out in a cool silver skull mask and cape), it takes one punch to knock him down. Guess that'll teach him a little something about gravity, huh?

Labels: Set: Warriors