Perseo l'invincibile (1963) User Reviews

Spanish/Italian Peplum based on legendary story about Perseo , Andromeda and Medusa

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 24 July 2011]

A towering sword and sandals star in a historical exciting production with dragons , monsters and nasty rulers . Juvenile adventure-fantasy about the valiant Perseo who undergoes a perilous journey to free Andromeda from evil kidnappers and monstrous Medusa . A passable cinematic adaptation from legendary history of Greece which jointed one of the Peplum's greatest heroes playing an exciting fantasy derived from Greek mythology about a valiant and handsome he man .This is an enjoyable myth-opera with struggles,love, tortures and with meticulously battle scenes that convey us a spectacular scenario. Richard Harrison is perfect as the mythical hero who encounters pretty risked situations while trying to save his lover . It deals with Acrisio (the notorious character actor Arturo Dominici) who governs tyrannically Argos , while Cefeo (Roberto Camardiel who played several S.W.) rules over Serifo . Cefeo sends his son Alceo against forces of Galeron (the usual secondary Leo Anchoriz who performed many baddie roles) , but he is defeated and converted in stone sculpture by Medusa . The Danae's (the veteran Elisa Cegani) son named Perseo (the hunk man Richard Harrison ) who holds three birth's marks falls in love with Andromeda (Ranalli). Galeron kills his stepmother Danae and Perseo flees . Later on , Perseo does battle against the monstrous Medusa ( made by Amando De Ossorio , creator of ¨Templar blind dead¨ series ), her army of stone warriors and a giant dragon (made by Carlo Rambaldi: ET). |

This is an enjoyable sword and sandals movie with mythological backstage, action, love, battles and spectacular scenarios. The film gets breathtaking scenes of combats and stunningly cheap special effects as the shots and closeups of a giant Medusa which is a rubber-suited man struggling against Perseo . Glamorous landscapes filmed in Madrid outskirts and colorful matte painting by Emilio Ruiz Del Rio. Atmospheric musical score by Manuel Parada and glimmer cinematography by Eloy Mella , very well remastering . The picture is well starred by Richard Harrison , he is top notch as the historic hero who finds many dangerous situations while attempting save the kingdom and his true love ,Andromeda , of several risks. Strong and robust Richard Harrison was a magnificent muscle-man . He was one along with Ed Fury, Brad Harris, Kirk Morris, Reg Park, Mark Forest, among others, whom to seek fortune acting absurdly muscle mythological figures, but anybody topped Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott in popularity. Harrison played in Hollywood some minor roles as ¨Kronos ¨ and ¨South Pacific¨ , while shooting another inferior character in ¨Master of world (1961)¨ produced by American International , he met producer James H. Nicholson's daughter and married her within six months. Frustrated at not being able to secure meatier roles in America , Harrison jumped at the chance when offered the first character in 1961 ,¨The Invincible Gladiator¨ , which was filming in Europe along with his greatest success ¨The seven Spartans¨. He wound up settling in Italy for the next two decades. His lead role, of course, immediately typed him as another Herculean type and, to avoid being penned in too much as a muscle man, he sought characters in routine spaghetti westerns as ¨Texas the red , Gringo, Reverendo Colt, Joe Dakota ¨ , Wartime genre as ¨Leopards of Churchill and 36 hours in hell¨ and spy intrigue as ¨Master stroke and 077 challenge to the killer's¨ . Once Italy closed down film production after the muscular craze had died down, he, like others, found himself unemployed. He did manage to scrape up work in Hong Kong, but a large portion of them were bottom-of-the-barrel Ninja movies.

Rating : Acceptable Peplum fodder and better than many Sword and Sandals movies , thanks to Richard Harrison and slick direction by Alberto De Martino who creates an imaginative spectacle based on mythological Greek legends being spectacularly realized , though in medium budget. Other adaptations about this known story are the following : ¨Clash of titans (1981)¨ by Desmond Davies with Harry Hamlin , Judi Bowker , Ursula Andress and Laurence Olivier and it's recently filmed a remake by Louis Leterrier with Sam Worthington , Alexa Davalos and Liam Neeson.

Better than Troy

[pumaye · 6/10 · 13 June 2004]

Yes, this old italian peplum is probably more fun and better acted than the major blockbuster Troy. At least the story is more plausible, even with a sort of medieval tournament for the hand of the princess and a medieval siege with catapults and boiling oil. Anyway, you have a couple of stop motion creatures (Medusa and a sort of aquatic dragon) made by Carlo Rambaldi, father of Spielberg's E.T., a lot of cinematic battle scenes without computer graphics, love, heroic adventures, swords and sandals. Exactly as Troy, but 40 years before and on a very low budget.

THE MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES (Alberto De Martino, 1963) **

[Bunuel1976 · 4/10 · 16 April 2008]

Passable low-brow mythological hokum: Richard Harrison is Perseus – who, rather than the offspring of Zeus, here is the adopted son of Hercules (and an unwitting deposed monarch to boot!). The film provides two villains in Arturo Dominici, an ambitious man who usurps the throne by killing the current ruler and marrying his wife (the scriptwriters must have read "Hamlet"), and Leo Anchoriz as his equally despicable son – who also acts as a rival to Harrison for the heroine's hand; the latter, then, is the usual lovely sovereign of a rival harassed empire (but who, at least, demonstrates a prowess with bow and arrow).

In this outing, Perseus fights a couple of monsters: a man-eating dragon residing in a lake(!) and the titular paralyzing creature (which, instead of sporting writhing snakes in its hair-do, is a vine-like Cyclops that would better fit the atmosphere of a science-fiction movie, in the vein of the shapeless one-eyed alien seen in IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE [1953], than a sword-and-sandal flick); nevertheless, the latter confrontation anticipates the Ray Harryhausen opus CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981). With respect to the human end of the scale, the ongoing dispute is resolved over a long-running duel between Harrison and Anchoriz taking place at the heart of a tournament organized by Dominici.

Director De Martino made a few peplums before going on to other "Euro-Cult" genres (Spaghetti Western, war, horror, giallo, etc). Eugenio Bava – father of cult film-maker Mario – served as technical adviser here, presumably contributing the matte work involved in the creation of the special effects. The film's score is highlighted by a catchy but corny title tune heard over the opening and closing credits.

Perseus saves the day

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 8 July 2018]

American actor/bodybuilder Richard Harrison stars in this peplum epic about the legend of Perseus who wins princess Andromeda and her kingdom by slaying all kinds of foes, human and monster. Since he's the illegitimate son of Zeus it's only fitting as he has the heroic lineage.

This story was remade much better with a name cast and special effects by master Ray Harryhausen in 1981 as Clash Of The Titans. Perseus is also the son of a queen who married and a real son who grew up to be as nasty a piece of work as his old man. Andromeda is princess in the next kingdom over and her bit of real estate is in the grip of the bad king and his Snidely Whiplash like son. And we always know what Snidely Whiplash villains have uppermost in their minds.

Anyway the bad guys have both the Medusa and a lake dragon, cousin of the Loch Ness monster working for them. I wonder how the dragon knows only to eat the enemies of the bad king?

It's his mission to get the bad monsters and as for Medusa there's a bit of license taken from Greek mythology.

Harrison is a bit of a sculpted Greek God himself. But the acting and the dubbing is real bad in this Italian peplum epic.

I'd see Clash Of The Titans first.

Swords and sandals and silly monsters.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 28 July 2017]

The peaceful people of Serifo are unable to use their trade route due to attacks by the soldiers of Argos, led by the king's wicked son Galenore (Leo Anchóriz), and the existence of both a dragon and the hideous Medusa along the way. Help comes in the form of Perseus, the rightful heir to the throne of Argos, who defeats the dragon and the gorgon, and commands an army to defend Serifo from an attack by the Argos army.

As much as I admire the work of stop-motion genius Ray Harryhausen, I was never that impressed with his final film, Clash of the Titans, which saw Greek hero Perseus defeat the gorgon Medusa and rescue the beautiful Andromeda from the Kraken. In some ways, this cheapo '60s Italian fantasy peplum adventure, in which Perseus (played by Richard Harrison) also battles Medusa, is marginally more enjoyable than the star-studded Clash.

While Perseus Against the Monsters' special effects are undeniably far cruder than those in Clash of the Titans, they are arguably more memorable, the dragon an impressive life-size mechanical model that is wheeled out (literally) whenever someone gets too close to the edge of its lake, and Medusa a tree-like cyclops with snake branches who moves along on writhing tentacles. Both are clumsy looking creatures, cobbled together out of odds and ends by effects man Carlo Rambaldi (of E.T. fame), but they're imaginative and surprisingly effective, Medusa in particular managing to be be quite unsettling despite the fact that 'she' looks like she might topple over at any moment.

Director Alberto De Martino also packs in more action than Clash, with none of that boring nonsense on Mount Olympus that really dragged the Harryhausen film down. There's a fun tournament that involves jousting and a duel on a wooden bridge, plenty of battles with clashing swords and deadly arrows, and a castle siege. There's even a jolly theme song over the opening and closing credits. It all adds up to a passable piece of peplum bolstered by some family friendly fantasy.

cheesy but entertaining action

[steve.schonberger · 5/10 · 24 July 2000]

This movie is not a literary dramatization of classical mythology. Instead it's a melodramatic action movie. The plot takes some long divergences away from the mythological sources, and has a few bits that don't quite make sense, but it does the job of carrying the characters from one action scene to another. The introduction tells us that Perseus is an honorary Son of Hercules, for no apparent reason except maybe to link it with the many Italian Hercules movies.

The acting is only occasionally good, but it's never terrible either. The costumes are pretty basic, but set the mood well. The sets are mostly simple too, but also get the idea across. There are plenty of extras in scenes that need them. The fights are sometimes well-choreographed and performed, but sometimes look dumb.

The lighting is almost always bright sunshine; even night scenes look sunlit, just slightly underexposed. The pan-and-scan was sloppy, and sometimes shows obvious losses, like people split vertically while they're talking. The cinematography probably looks better in widescreen versions.

The worst part was the monsters. The dragon looks decent, if low-budget, but doesn't move well in scenes it shares with actors. It's also a bit on the small side, but it's big enough to threaten a warrior in leather and bronze armor. It looked like a model of some sort, rather than a person in a dragon suit. In contrast to the dragon, Medusa is terrible, even though she's the title character in some of this movie's many titles. She looks like a leafless tree walking around on exposed roots, with a single glowing eye. Myths described her as a woman with snakes for hair, and looks so hideous her gaze turned people to stone.

The music sometimes took itself too seriously, but it kept the mood going pretty well. During the Medusa scenes, the score turned squeaky, as if the musicians were laughing at what they could see were dumbest scenes in the movie. Often it sounded better-suited to a Western than an ancient myth setting.

In parts where the movie is good, it's quite entertaining. When it's bad, it's still entertaining in a "so bad it's good" sense. As long as you don't set your expectations too high, you should be satisfactorily entertained.

The Medusa look

[ulicknormanowen · 5/10 · 14 November 2021]

Keeping from the Greek Myth only the proper nouns and a vague outline featuring elements of the legend .

Perseus shared with Oedipus a curse: he would kill his grand-father-which he accidentally did in the legend- who had his daughter Danaé imprisoned but did not prevent Zeus from getting her pregnant ; in the sword and sandal,it is represented by the prediction of the queenmom who tells her stepson he would see three spots (on Perseus ' shoulder) before being killed.

Andromeda was to be given to a sea monter (here represented by some kind of cardboard prehistoric saurian) ;the special effects are almost comic :Medusa's eye looks like a car light ,and according to the myth ,she was beheaded and Perseus would use her powers to defeat his enemy ; here the screenplay is not that much dumb: the stone warriors turn to flesh and presto!an army to come to Andromeda 's father .

Andromeda is not to be devoured by a Loch Ness monster ,but to marry vile King Acrisio's son :like father ,like son : the villain ,should one believe the screenwriters ,are always sinister-looking whereas the heroes are virtuous and handsome :here Richard Harrison ,more athletic than muscle-man .Like them ,when the sword and sandal craze fizzled out , he became a secret agent , a la James Bond.

Of course ,the special effects cannot hold a candle to those of more modern versions of the Perseus myth ; but at least , De Martino's (debut) film has a screenplay ,naive and predictable ,but so are those of the versions to come .

Too many togas, not enough t1ts.

[LeatherCajun · 4/10 · 6 December 2022]

There's a lot to like about this sword and muscles outing...especially the remastered versions. Great colors, costumes. Wild, terrible monsters. But there is effectively no uncovered beefcake and the cheesecake is very very covered. So, what could have been. There are way wackier, sexier, weirder peplums out there. This one is a little snoozey by comparison.

Richardson Harrison is overall one of the more beautiful men to don the sandals. A former physique pictorial star, his blond hairy muscled torso is featured in a number of adventure films. Unfortunately, this is not one.

His son homaged his dads beefcake appeal in one Spaghetti Western, often called White Apache.

You Must Die; I Alone Am Best!

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 14 June 2013]

A warrior (Richard Harrison) does battle against the evil Medusa (Angel Jordan), her army of stone warriors and a monstrous dragon.

Another reviewer mentioned that they love the Italian "sword and sandal" films because they feature monsters in rubber suits and bad dubbing. Certainly we have the former here, though I did not think the dubbing was all that bad. (One wonders if we will ever see these films released the "right" way, with subtitles and all that.)

What amuses me is that this was part of the "sons of Hercules" package. I understand that that term could be used very loosely, and even the intro says the men featured were chosen by Hercules because of their greatness and were not actual sons. But what is funny here is that Perseus was actually Hercules' grandfather -- so his grandfather is a "son"! (And technically, the name should be Heracles. Why we use the Roman name Hercules but keep the other characters Greek is beyond me.)

Medusa is nothing but a giant moving tree.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 9 October 2020]

An enjoyable but flat variation of the story of Perseus, this gladiator movie starring Richard Harrison as Perseus is enjoyable but filled with some very slow moments. The audience gets to see Medusa at the very beginning, and she certainly is a silly looking creature. She shuffles around like she was the murderous tree in "From Hell it Came", and really doesn't do anything at all like you'd expect this Greek gorgon to do. There's also a very silly looking dragon that nearly prevents Perseus from getting to the island where Medusa lives. It is the story of his lineage Elsa long lost son of the queen of Argos, briefly reunited with his mother and in order to reclaim his lineage must take care of both of gordon and the dragon.

Fans of "Clash of the Titans" will notice some definite changes in detail. The character of Danae is the stepmother to Princess Andromeda (Anna Ranalli) who falls in love with Perseus, unaware of his royal lineage. Of course he's handsome and heroic so why should a princess not fall in love with him?

There's plenty of action, sword fights, and a very sentimental scene where Harrison, going from brave and babbling becomes a repeat done when reunited with his mother. That is followed by a shocking twist that says his destiny in motion. It's easy to enjoy the film in spite of its flaws because it does look like some creativity was put into it, and certainly all of the Gladiator movies of this era, it's one of the few to touch on a mythological legend.

Watch this for Richard Harrison and the Medusa created by Carlo Rambaldi

[Maciste_Brother · 8/10 · 12 June 2007]

MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES is a pretty standard Sword & Sandal: though the story is simple enough, the direction (or lack thereof) makes the story look more convoluted than need be and it probably didn't make much sense to kids who saw this in theaters back in 1963. There are good guys and bad guys who fight for power. You know, the usual stuff. But there are some really good things in this meandering mini-epic: this first good thing is Richard Harrison. Harrison is one of the best actor to appear in S&S films. He's handsome, in good shape (but he's no Steve Reeves) and he can actually act. Every Peplum I've seen with Richard Harrison, he always stood out and gave believable performances even if the material was anything close to being believable.

The second and the most remarkable thing about MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES is the Medusa itself. The Medusa in this film is a tentacled monster instead of a woman with vipers for hair. When I saw it for the first time my jaw was on the floor. It's by far the coolest thing I've ever seen in a movie. A truly one of a kind creation. The Medusa, totally in black, looks like an evil tree and moves around with spidery roots and has a uber thick nest of tentacles for hair, and it freezes men into statues of stone with its single huge glowing white eye. We see it walk around in a misty landscape which is strewn with marbled soldiers. Some might find it cheesy but I thought the effect was amazing. The Medusa appears from head to toe, for several seconds, in full frame. No CGI here. Very evocative. Like a 1960s pulpy science fiction cover come to life. Carlo Rambaldi is a genius. I wish the (uninspired) direction was at the level of Rambaldi's imagination and it knew how to utilize the remarkable creation to the max.

There's also a full-sized dragon designed by Rambaldi which is also cool but it's pretty obvious it's mechanical after being on screen for a few minutes. It never leaves the beach and only the head moves. It doesn't compare to the Medusa though, which is, along with Richard Harrison, the main reason(s) to watch this film. Even with all its weaknesses, certainly with the weak script and workman-like direction, MEDUSA VS TE SON OF HERCULES is an overlooked fantasy film. It preceded almost every fantasy film of its type, including JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS. I give 5 stars for the film but a full 10 stars for the Medusa, so an average of 7 stars.

Ignore the low budget and you'll have a good time

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 27 August 2016]

This peplum adventure is for those who like their tales mythological in nature, concerning as it does all manner of monsters and evil creatures. While it's not as well made as the films which came before it, and the plot can hardly be called inspired, this is an entertaining little film which benefits from a wealth of action and not too much talk. The main flaw with this film is the plot, which seems all too convenient - perhaps contrived - in places, and offers up a by-the-numbers battle between Perseus, our hero, and an evil ruler from another kingdom who happens to be an egomaniac. The monster battles are just incidental along the way.

While it may not be as well made as real classics like MACISTE AGAINST THE VAMPIRE, there is still much to enjoy with this incredibly rare movie. Not least the many battles and fight scenes which are scattered throughout, ranging from hand-to-hand to large scale at the end. The acting is another thing to this film's disadvantage, as aside from the lead, most of the actors and actresses appear stilted and unconvincing in their roles. The baddie just isn't bad enough, the romantic interest just isn't glamorous enough, and everybody else might as well be cardboard cut-outs. Only Richard Harrison (from a bit part in MASTER OF THE WORLD to this!) saves the day. Harrison may not be the most muscular of peplum heroes, but he has a certain quality about him - which Gordon Scott shared - which made him appealing to the camera, and likable as a heroic figure. Watching Harrison dodge arrows and getting whipped by an enemy, you're in for a good time.

Chiefly of interest to me were the two monsters this film has to offer; a dragon and the Medusa. Let's study the dragon first. I have to say that this is an EXTREMELY convincing model, only not so in later scenes where you see the entire, immobile body of it. I actually wondered when some kind of real reptile was used but no, it's just a very realistic looking model. The scenes of it eating people and Harrison battling it are great in an old-fashioned childhood fun sense, an example of the peplum genre at its finest. It's just a shame that due to poor editing, the death of the beast remains unseen.

The Medusa has its good points and bad points. On the bad side, if you're expecting something traditional you'll be mistaken. This Medusa looks more like a walking tree with bendy branches sticking out of it. A nice effort, but one that doesn't cut it. On the plus side, this creature actually reminded me of a Lovecraftian creature in a way, and by viewing it in this frame of mind, it's pretty darned good. I loved the valley of the Medusa's victims, a barren wasteland packed with statues of paralysed men - the visuals here are wonderful.

As this film is so hard to come by, I had to get an American copy. There's an amusing little ditty at the beginning of the film, an attempt to tie it into the 'Sons of Hercules' series, although as the original title (PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE) suggests, this had nothing to do with Hercules whatsoever. Unfortunately the tape I watched had terrible sound quality. For the first half, it's crackly and frequently drops out in scenes where the mock epic-sounding score places. In the second half, the voices of all the characters deepen suddenly, which is somewhat disconcerting! MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES is a fun adventure film, enjoyable to watch if you're not too critical. Just ignore the low budget and have a good time, like I did.

great medieval monster movie!

[goriddle · 8/10 · 16 January 2004]

This movie is action packed! Shortly into the beginning of the movie is a very tense battle scene. You get a great sense of the army of Seriphus being stuck between a rock and a hard place as they battle a fantastically frightening dragon on one side and are dowsed with fireballs and arrows by the army of Argos on the other. When the retreat, they find themselves face to face with the deadly Medusa! For a Sons of Hercules title this is a very respectable story. The monsters are great! Medusa appears as a one eyed serpent with tentacles and snakes for her hair and at the end of her tail. The dragon is a work of art. I believe he was used in another sons of hercules title and I somehow get the feeling that he is just one of those mini front end loaders hiding under a dragon suit. Dont get me wrong! whoever was driving it was a convincing actor. I definitely recommend this title to die hard fans of medieval fantasy and peplum movies. Also if you want an awesome deal on some hard to find Hercules movies, pick up the adventures of Hercules boxed set. Seven great Hercules movies (including this one) for a very low price.

This is why I love Hercules films

[dbborroughs · 8/10 · 7 February 2004]

Really strange rubber monsters attacking badly dubbed actors, what more could you want? Billed in English as on of the "Sons of Hercules" films this is really the story or Perseus and his run in with the hydra. The legend was the basis for Clash of the Titans and was some of the last work by Ray Harryhausen. Given the choice between watching that all star yawner and this film I'll take this one every time. No, its not great, but its straight forward and honest in trying to do nothing more than entertain. Knowing that any film with Hercules in the title is nothing more than mental popcorn helps get through the rough spot, which this film has mostly avoided.

"The Mighty Sons Of Hercules, Were Men As Men Should Beeee!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 8 July 2018]

Ah yes, Richard Harrison as Perseus (aka: one of the myriad sons of Hercules) must battle all manner of men and monsters in THE MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES. All while wearing some very stylish power-tunics! Can Perseus defeat the eeevil meanie-pants, king Acrisio (Arturo Dominici) and his jerk-weed son, Galenore (Leo Anchoriz), before they fulfill their plan for old-world domination?

EXTRA POINTS: For the "tournament of strength" (aka: macho man contest), where the contestants get to use micro-shields that couldn't cover a baby!

EXTRA EXTRA POINTS: For the lovely Andromeda (Anna Ranalli) with her flaming red hair and fabulous earring choices!

EXTRA X3 POINTS: For the well-realized title creature, as well as the lake monster! For the time, and obviously modest budget, the animatronics are downright impressive!

Worth many late-night viewings...