Hercules, Prisoner of Evil

1964 film

Anthony Dawson
Ruggero Deodato^[1]

Screenplay byMarcello Sartarelli ^[1]Produced byAdelpho Ambrosiano^[1]Starring

Reg Park
Mireille Granelli
Ettore Manni
Furio Meniconi

CinematographyGabor Pogany^[1]Edited byOtello Clangeli^[1]Music byFranco Mannino^[1]

Production
companies

Ambrosiana Cinematografica
Adelphia Productions^[1]

Release date

31 July 1964 (1964-07-31) (Italy)

Running time

100 minutes^[1]CountryItaly^[1]LanguageItalian

Hercules, Prisoner of Evil (Italian: Ursus il terrore dei Kirghisi, lit. 'Ursus, Terror of the Kirghiz') is a 1964 Italian peplum film directed by Anthony Dawson and an uncredited Ruggero Deodato. Deodato, the official assistant director, replaced Margheriti as he was busy with the completion of the film The Fall of Rome. Deodato actually directed most of the film in actuality but Margheriti was credited as the director.^[2]^[3] The film is filled with a variety of horrific themes and elements, featuring a killer werewolf, and is as much a horror film as it is a peplum.^[4]

Plot

The mighty Ursus is given a potion to drink that transforms him on certain nights into a murderous werewolf. Ursus kills several innocent people in the forest before realizing that he himself is the creature the local villagers are seeking to destroy. Ursus is referred to as Hercules in the English-dubbed prints.

Cast

Reg Park as Ursus
Mireille Granelli as Aniko
Ettore Manni as Ido
Furio Meniconi as Zereteli
Maria Teresa Orsini as Kato
Lilly Mantovani as slave
Serafino Fuscagni as Mico
Ugo Carboni
Claudio Scarchilli
Gaetano Quartararo
Giulio Maculani

Release

Hercules, Prisoner of Evil was released in Italy on July 31, 1964.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 91.
^ Roberto Poppi; Mario Pecorari. Dizionario del cinema italiano. I film. Gremese Editore, 2007. ISBN 8884405033.
^ Harvey Fenton; Julian Grainger; Gian Luca Castoldi (1999). Cannibal holocaust: and the savage cinema of Ruggero Deodato. FAB Press, 1999. ISBN 0952926040.
^ Antonio Bruschini; Antonio Tentori (1997). Operazione paura: i registi del gotico italiano. PuntoZero, 1997. ISBN 888694506X.