not as good as all the hype

Crappy film

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Riccardo Freda's Mucleman great success is compellingly directed with startling visual content . Martha Gunt (Vira Silenti) is accused of witchery by a nasty judge (Andrea Bosic) and Maciste (Kirk Morris) attempts to free her and demonstrate her innocence . As Maciste travels to Hell to find a witch and make her undo a curse she put on the surface world . After the fires of Hades and frenzied attacks by ferocious beasts , there remained only the venom of 'The Witch's Curse' .This classic Sword and Sandals movie gets an atmospheric and stunning direction from genre master Riccardo Freda . This is one of the many muscle men of Peplum who dominated Italian sword-and-sandal epics in the early 60s, it results to be a crossover of Greek Mythology , Peplum , witchery and necromancy , ordinary bare-chested bondage scenes , epic with adventures , struggles , bizarre scenarios and being quite entertaining . Here appears several mythological characters such as Prometheus , Cyclope , Sysifo , a demoniac serpent and several others . ¨Maciste all'inferno¨(1962) resulted in this film being one of the few in which the hero's name, Maciste, was used in the English dubbed version . for other films involving Maciste, when the English language track was recorded in the US, his name would usually be changed to a more familiar name such as "Goliath" or "Samson" . This movie , also known as "Maciste all'Inferno" or "The Witch's Curse" inspired a wave of Italian Peplum films blending mythological/fantastic/horror elements . The film belongs to sub-genre blending fantastic , horror and Peplum , like are : ¨Hercules in the core of earth¨ (Mario Bava) , ¨The conquest of Atlántida¨ (Vittorio Cottafavi , 1961) and ¨Maciste against the vampire¨ (Giacomo Gentilomo,1961) . Once the genre had lost its audience in the mid-60s, producers and filmmakers maintained for a few more years in war stories and westerns . The picture was well starred by Kirk Morris , he often dyed his pompadour-styled hair blond and he had a slight, sulky resemblance to Elvis Presley. Italian Kirk Morris -born Adriano Bellini- was born in the late 1930s and plucked from the canals of Venice for his go at moviedom . A gondolier when discovered by an Italian movie producer, he was deemed a perfect speciman to showcase their spectacles and a fitting hero to help offset the silly special effects and ridiculously dubbed dialogue and he was one of the very few Italian bodybuilders to achieve stardom in the sword and sandal/mythological . This also made him one of the few leading performers who was able to speak the Italian dialog from the script. Morris eventually migrated to the United States where he went into the advertising field . Years later he returned to Italy and the movies , this time as a producer . If one must try to distinguish Kirk from the rest of the mythical bodybuilders such as Steve Reeves, Gordon Scott , Alan Steel or Sergio Ciani , Richard Harrison , Dan Vadis, Reg Park , Rock Stevens , Brad Harris , among others . Other than that his stoic posing of Hercules, Samson, Maciste and the others were no better or worse . Besides , appearing famous Eurotrash babes such as Helene Chanel and Vira Silenti and notorious Italian secondary as Andrea Bosic . Colorful cinematography in Mario Bava-Style by cameraman Ricardo Pallottini in gaudy colours and groundbreaking atmospheres . Being shot in the marvelous caves of Castellana Grotte, Bari, Apulia . Appropriate and eerie music score by Carlo Franci , including creepy chores . The motion picture was well directed by Riccardo Freda who used a number of aliases during his career, including Robert Hampton or George Lincoln and as screenwriter Riccardo Fedra . Riccardo Freda (¨Secret of Dr. Hitchcock¨ , ¨The ghost¨) along with Mario Bava (¨Planet of vampires¨, ¨House of exorcism¨) are the fundamental creators of Giallio genre . Freda worked in many popular genres, including viking films, Peplum, spaghetti westerns, action, and even Softcore, but it is his horror films and Giallo mystery films which stand out and for which he is best remembered . His artistic spirit led him to a strong belief in the importance of visual composition in filmmaking . Freda along with Vittorio Cottafavi continued to realize films in the historical-spectacular style , at which he developed a considerable skill and mastery . From the mid-50s Freda's liking make for atmospheric and colorful scenes of shock began to itself apparent , especially in such Musclemen epics as ¨Teodora¨ , ¨Spartacus¨ , ¨Giants of Thessaly¨ , ¨The seventh sword¨ , ¨Maciste all's inferno ¨, the latter a gripping/horror Peplum and of course ¨Maciste in the court of the Great Khan¨, one of his best films . In the early 60s , he was a pioneer in Italy of horror-fantasy films frightening audiences the world over , especially with ¨I Vampiri¨ and ¨L'Orrible Segreto del Doctor Hitchcock¨ as he combined with that wide-staring of actress , the British-born Barbara Steele . He also made adventures as ¨Black Eagle¨ , ¨The son of Black Eagle¨ , ¨White devil¨ , ¨Son of D'Artagnan¨ , and uncredited ¨Daughter of D'Artagnan¨ ¨. From there he went to melodrama and spy films as ¨¨Mexican Slayride¨and ¨Coplan FX18¨ and even made some western as ¨No killing without dollars¨ with Mark Damon and signed under pseudonym as George Lincoln . Freda's movies had popular appeal , and were usually commercial hits . Several were French/Spanish/Italian or other European co-productions . He has been called a filmmaker "who brings some style to exploitation pictures", and has something of a cult following . Rating : 6.5/10 , better than average Muscleman movie .

As far as the genre goes, that pretty must got invented by the Italians in the first place, this movie is actually not being the worst or silliest. But this doesn't mean that this movie is pretty bad and silly on its own though unfortunately.This is one of the many Maciste movies, that got made over the decades. The character was an heroic strong-man, like for instance the Hercules and Samson characters were in Italian movies. However the character never really got known internationally, so must of the movies featuring him got released under different titles and his character also got named differently.This time the main character is being played by the muscle man Kirk Morris, who actually played the character a whole bunch of times, as well as some other strong-man in many different Italian sword-and-sandal productions. Can't really say I was much impressed with him. Of course nothing wrong with his physics but he was really lacking the right charisma and definitely the right acting skills. To be honest, he looked quite silly with his boyish haircut and pearly white teeth.It's not really a remake of the 1925 movie with the same title, since the movie pretty much follows a totally different story. The only thing the two have in common is that it features the Maciste character who has to descent to hell itself.And in hell Maciste has to endure a whole bunch of silly ordeals. Watch Maciste dramatically opening a large door with his bare hands, lifts large phony looking rocks, or dance with a whole bunch of animals, such as a snake, a lion and a vulture. He's just holding and moving some puppets around, pretending that it are some real life animals attacking him. Really this is all that this movie is. But yes, there are actually far worse and far more silly genre examples to watch out there. This movie is actually pretty much alright for must part, which makes it all the more a shame that the story did not got worked out just a tiny bit better and also had some more exciting and original moments in it.It's a predictable, campy, sword-and-sandal, adventure movie, that you at times still can have some fun with but unfortunately is far from a great movie.4/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

I saw a version of MACISTE IN HELL under the boneheaded title of THE WITCH'S CURSE. That version was OK but nothing really remarkable. While watching the film, I realized it was cut down to pieces, that I wasn't watching the original version but even so I thought, meh. Lo and behold, I got a hold of the original uncut Italian version in beautiful crystal clear widescreen and the difference was WOW! MACISTE IN HELL is, suffice to say, a Peplum masterpiece. It's a stand-out S&S remake of the silent version, which, obviously doesn't look anything like this 1962 version. Aside from a few weak points and an ending that doesn't rise to the occasion, the rest is a visual masterpiece directed by maestro Riccardo Freda. 15 minutes were cut for the US version, THE WITCH'S CURSE, and those 15 minutes make a HUGE difference. What looked like amateur night suddenly looks like a super smooth atmospheric classic fantasy filled with at times jaw dropping visuals. By cutting those 15 minutes, the careful pacing and mood was destroyed/eliminated and what was left was a clunky simplistic adventure. The film is, first and foremost, an atmospheric film. There's almost no plot and the film follows a lone Mascite (played to uber beefcake perfection by Kirk Morris, aka Adriano Bellini) going from one feat to another. In other words, except for the intro, the dialogue is minimal. Even the Scottish scenes, which looked somehow out of place and silly in THE WITCH'S CURSE suddenly look just right in the uncut version. The contrast between the somber gray, colorless prison setting with the colorful, eye-filling world of Hell is remarkable. Having Maciste appear almost out of nowhere half-naked in Scotland suddenly makes sense with the expanded scenes that show Maciste as some sort of Hero who's not bound by time and space, thanks mainly to stock footage taken from ATLAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS, SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD and MACISTE IN THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS (SON OF SAMSON). This film looks so good in its original state that they should re-release it on the big-screen. It would be like seeing an all new film. Some might find some of the effects risible, like when Maciste fights with a giant, but I think they just add to the surreal aspects of an adventure that takes place in Hell. But there are several standout, beautifully realized effect scenes that would wow current moviegoers including a trail of flames following Maciste's footsteps, Maciste's walk through a landscape of damned people or Maciste holding a boulder over his head to protect him from a shower of flames. The latter is the film's highlight. It's also a very sensual film. It's not just a standard S&S action film but it's a film of the senses. The way Kirk Morris (and Helene Chanel) is shot, the cave settings, the music, all add up to a wonderful experience that often transcends its Peplum root. In essence, the story is about Maciste, who represents spiritual and physical purity and how primordial it is for his spirit and (his clearly exposed) body to remain pure amidst all the temptations or dangers around him, such as Fania or whatever attacks him and tries to kill him. This new angle to a familiar story is, for a film made in 1962, cool and somewhat daring. The uncut version of MACISTE IN HELL is a classic fantasy waiting to be re-discovered. It's a must see for fans of Peplum or any genre films.

In the 16th century, a witch is burned at Scotland, not forgetting to leave a curse behind. A hundred years later, the curse drives people mad - some kill themselves, some see ghosts in the shadows, some suffer from ridiculous overacting (don't miss the fat woman yelling „The witch is back again! It's the end for all of us!"). Suddenly Maciste rides into town, he looks like he came to the set of the wrong movie. It wasn't the only case of Maciste in the wrong millennium (see „Zorro Contro Maciste" by Umberto Lenzi), but if he is in Scotland, he should get a proper costume instead of the stone-age loincloth that was outdated in ancient Greece already. He tries to put an end to hysteria and terror by going down to hell and find the witch! „He can strangle the lion, but there's no man alive who can conquer the devil", they say, but where there's muscles, there's always a way. Director Freda knew what the public wanted, he made enough other movies including Maciste flicks - there even is a flashback to previous adventures -, so you get the fires, the beasts, the drama and all. My only regret is I had to watch this as a full screen copy with poor colors, because in the original wide screen format, it must be quite a show. (Edit 2017) Nine years after my review above, I got the opportunity to watch a restored version in original scope format, running 88 minutes instead of 75 minutes (among the scenes cut from the old American DVD were a fight against a snake, Maciste crossing the rain of fire, and a flashback showing him in Ancient Egypt). I was right, it's quite a show in proper quality.