Despite its low budget and shoddy production values, there's no denying that THE CONQUEROR OF ATLANTIS is one of the most damned entertaining peplum films made at the time the genre was just about dead, and scriptwriters (were there any with these films?) searched far and wide for inspiration - that's why we get films with mythical heroes fighting Mongols, futuristic societies, time-travelling and fighting all sorts of weird vampires, Moon Men and fire monsters. Following in the footsteps of the very similar GIANT OF METROPOLIS, THE CONQUEROR OF ATLANTIS offers up that always-interesting idea that Atlantis is somehow rediscovered and populated by an evil society.
Luckily for the audience, only one man can stop the aforementioned evil society in their tracks, and that's Maciste, or Hercules, or Samson, or any other of the half-dozen names that the Italian hero was called after international dubbing and retitling. Here, the guy's name is Heracles for a change, and the actor playing him is none other than Kirk Morris (COLOSSUS VS. THE HEADHUNTERS), who may just be my favourite peplum star of all time (this has something to do with the fact he starred in my first and favourite peplum movie, MACISTE IN HELL - catch it if you can). Here, Morris' assured, tough, and undeniably wooden performance is one of the film's biggest strengths.
Heracles certainly has his work cut out in this movie, as the outlandish foes opposing him include not one but two rival bands of bloodthirsty Arabs (the film is set in the Sahara, you see); a team of deadly female archers; an evil wizard who desperately wants to be Ming the Merciless; a sultry 3000 year-old evil Queen; and finally, and best of all, an army of gold-skinned autons, who were once captured prisoners but who have now been turned into blue-suited robot-men with no will of their own. On top of this they're pretty tough, and an obvious favourite with Italian audiences as they returned (albeit in a different colour) in 1967's delirious superhero outing SUPERARGO AND THE FACELESS GIANTS.
What is most striking about THE CONQUEROR OF ATLANTIS is the use of extremely colourful costumes which stand out against the arid desert locations which act as a backdrop for the action. Although the city of Atlantis itself is somewhat underwhelming - achieved with a small model, which ends up being destroyed in the conclusion - the blue body-stockinged robot men are a visual delight, as well as the colourful death rays and the wizard Ramir's wacky wardrobe. The female outfits are designed to show off the ample curves of the willing actresses (and quite rightly so), and mention must go to Luciana Gilli who is indelible as the love interest - only behind Bella Cortez in terms of Italian beauty. Other nods must go to Helene Chanel, who enjoys her rather small role as the wicked Queen, and screen veteran Piero Lulli who really enjoys himself and goes beyond the call of duty as the cackling wizard Ramir. Keep an eye out for the second male lead whose resemblance to Steve Reeves is uncanny, and exemplified by his Reeves-style goatee.
The music is suitably entertaining and suits the film just fine, although I wish the opening theme (the same classical piece as used in MACISTE IN HELL) had been utilised a little more throughout the movie. Memorable incidents include a men being tortured by having the sun shone in his eyes (!); weird electronic noises which sound like they come from a space movie; an unexplained exploding mine, buried in the sand; the so-simplistic-it's-downright-normal creation of the gold-skinned humanoid robots; Heracles cheesily romancing the ladies; the "search" of the prison chamber, in which Heracles gets his pal to simply stand in front of the spy camera while he searches for secret passages; and lastly my favourite plot element, the robot-man I like to call the "Energiser Bunny" who contains to operate machinery at the film's conclusion even as the building smashes to pieces around him, and he is only forced to stop when the machinery itself is destroyed!
THE CONQUEROR OF ATLANTIS, as well as being a fast-paced and colourful film which utilises some fine location work in the desert (or at least an area of land purporting to be a desert), offers up a wealth of fine action, particularly the various fights between Kirk Morris and the gold robot-men, which are full of fun moves and plenty of solid punches to the face and gut to keep things moving merrily along. The scene at the beginning in which Morris wields a huge log against bandit forces is also a classic moment. Kudos to director Alfonso Brescia for creating such well-staged moments and a worthy successor to all those hugely entertaining American sci-fi serials of the '30s and '40s. Ignore the popular opinion that Brescia is one of the worst directors of all time - sure, some of his movies are worthless and dull, but others - like this - are undisputed genre classics. Any fan worth his or her salt would be wise to seek out THE CONQUEROR OF ATLANTIS, as it's one for the collection.
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