The Loves of Hercules features a generously photographed (and heavily pregnant) Jayne Mansfield in two roles as Queen Deianira and Hippolyta. She ropes in her real life husband, muscle man, Mickey Hargitay to play Hercules. This 'power-couple' was extremely popular and famous back in the late fifties and early sixties... which is a testament to the Hollywood publicity machine rather than any ability these stars had as performers.
The 1960 flick is absolutely horrible and should have been a perfect vehicle for some witty riffing from the crew of The Satellite Of Love. But on this occasion, they fail to deliver. The puns are wordy and weak, the references are over-the-top obscure. There are also a lot of noticeably missed opportunities for some good gags.
This eighth entry of the MST3K reboot is the laziest one so far. (I'm watching them in sequence.) When the subject matter is this bad, the gags need to be a bit meaner so we can get on board with the torture that Jonah and the robots are going through. Instead, the crew seems genuinely happy to just roll out the riffs and take their lumps. I almost certainly won't be watching this one (numerous times) in the future!
I have learned from previous episodes to skip past the silly invention exchanges and head straight for the movie. I also stop watching when the movie ends. This means I can't comment on the antics of the peripheral MST3K characters. I've been disappointed in the ones I have seen and there's no reason to think that this or future episodes will get better.
A swing and a big miss boys, sorry.
Best gag: (sings) "I miss my dead wife!"
