Maciste all'inferno (1962)

Maciste travels to Hell to find a witch and make her undo a curse she put on the surface world.

Director:

Riccardo Freda

Writers:

Oreste Biancoli, Ennio De Concini,

Stars:

Kirk Morris, Hélène Chanel, Vira Silenti

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kirk Morris	...	Maciste
Hélène Chanel	...	Fania
Vira Silenti	...	Young Martha Gunt
Angelo Zanolli	...	Charley Law
Andrea Bosic	...	Judge Parrish
Donatella Mauro
Gina Mascetti	...	Barmaid
Antonella Della Porta	...	Doris
John Karlsen	...	Burgomeister
Antonio Ciani
Pietro Ceccarelli	...	(as Puccio Ceccarelli)
Remo De Angelis	...	Prometheus
Evar Maran	...	Villager
Charles Fawcett	...	Doctor
John Francis Lane	...	Coachman (as Francis Lane)

Storyline

Maciste travels to Hell to find a witch and make her undo a curse she put on the surface world.

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Plot Keywords:

hell | curse | witch | family curse | witchcraft | 

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Taglines:

After the fires of Hades and frenzied attacks by ferocious beasts, there remained only the venom of 'The Witch's Curse'

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy | Horror

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Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

November 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

Maciste in Hell

Filming Locations:

Castellana Grotte, Bari, Apulia, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Panda Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The US distributor used the English language track that was recorded in Italy. This 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."

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Connections

Featured in Shiver & Shudder Show (2002)

User Reviews

Very good Hercules film -- weak transfer -- but still enjoyable as hell.

It's impossible not to compare the highly entertaining THE WITCH'S CURSE aka MACISTE IN HELL to the superior HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD. First, they're both Hercules (Maciste) movies in which our hero descends into the Underworld ... and second, it's a face off between arguably the two greatest Italian pulp directors of the 1960's, Riccardo Freda (HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK, THE GHOST) and the undisputed champion, Mario Bava (BLACK Sunday, KILL BABY KILL, LISA & THE DEVIL.) By any definition, THE WITCH'S CURSE is a very entertaining fantasy film: it opens with a prologue about witches in 18th century Scotland ... and then a bare- chested Hercules rides in. No explanation of how or why he's in Scotland -- WITH NO CLOTHES ON, and about twenty centuries late. That's what we really dig about mythological fantasy films -- they Never Have to Say They're Sorry. Or explain Anything. The Something Weird DVD is sadly not letter-boxed, and pretty fuzzy -- but still this comes across as one of the top 5 Hercules movies. Once Kirk Morris (juvenile, not a great Herc -- but who really cares?) gets into the Underworld, it's non-stop flaming brimstone nonsense. Even with a great transfer, this still wouldn't hold a candle to Bava's HAUNTED WORLD -- and in the end, that's the real difference between Freda and his pupil Bava, who far surpassed his master.