Perseus Against the Monsters (1963)

A warrior does battle against the evil Medusa, her army of stone warriors and a monstrous dragon.

Director:

Alberto De Martino

Writers:

Mario Guerra (story), Luciano Martino (story)

Stars:

Richard Harrison, Anna Ranalli, Arturo Dominici

Cast

Cast overview:
Richard Harrison	...	Perseo
Anna Ranalli	...	Andromeda
Arturo Dominici	...	Acrisio
Leo Anchóriz	...	Galenore
Antonio Molino Rojo	...	Tarpete (as Molino Rojo)
Roberto Camardiel	...	Cefeo
Ángel Jordán	...	Alceo (as Armand Jordan)
Fernando Liger	...	(as Fernando Lijer)
Bruno Scipioni
Elisa Cegani	...	Danae

Storyline

A warrior does battle against the evil Medusa, her army of stone warriors and a monstrous dragon.

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Plot Keywords:

warrior | battle | dragon | cult film | sequel | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy

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Details

Country:

Italy Spain

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

22 May 1964 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Medusa Against the Son of Hercules

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cineproduzione Emo Bistolfi, Copercines, Cooperativa Cinematográfica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

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

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.