This was part of the “Sons of Hercules” series that played on TV in the ‘60s. Avco Embassy Pictures imported a bunch of Italian musclemen movies for distribution, many of which featured the character of Maciste. Since most American viewers had no idea who that was, he was rechristened the Son of Hercules. These films were also given a cool “Sons of Hercules” theme song too as sort of a half-assed linking device, but they were all unrelated.
For The Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules, Maciste has been renamed Poseidon, but he’s not the god you remember from high school mythology class. Poseidon (Mark Forest) is a tough gladiator who has the favor of the tyrannical Caesar. He falls in love with a pretty Christian chick and when Caesar threatens to execute her people, Poseidon steps in to defy the emperor.
The Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules may not be the greatest toga tale in the world (it’s much more down to Earth than your average real-deal Hercules picture), but it’s certainly watchable for fans of the genre. I liked that they kept coming up with excuses for Poseidon to get thrown back into the arena, so the fight scenes were at the very least plentiful. Along the way, Poseidon is forced to compete in gladiator pit duels, a blindfolded knife fight, and in one scene, he even battles a gorilla! Once he earns his freedom, he’s able to lead prison escapes and join warriors into battle against the evil Caesar. Heck, he even gets to break some prison bars, lift heavy gates, and hurl giant stones at his enemies, just like his old man.
It might’ve been nice if Hercules… er… Maciste… er… Poseidon had a villain worthy of the title. Instead of the Terror of Rome, the bad guy is just an effeminate, overweight tyrant. Not exactly terrifying if you ask me.
All this is fun up to a point. As a casual fan of the genre, I was mostly entertained. It probably won’t be enough to make a believer out of non-fans of Italian muscleman cinema, but it was definitely one of the better Sons of Hercules films I’ve seen.
AKA: Maciste, Gladiator of Sparta.
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