The extremely obscure Kirk Morris vehicle MACISTE, AVENGER OF THE MAYANS (the English title although I've never managed to locate any English language print) is a very weird experience even as sword & sandal goes, since the film in fact consists mostly of footage from FIRE MONSTERS VS THE SON OF HERCULES (starring Reg Lewis) and COLOSSUS AGAINST THE HEADHUNTERS (starring Kirk Morris) with new linking material featuring Morris added. Poor Reg Lewis has been almost completely eliminated from the footage (but if you look closely it's still him who throws the spear at the water dragon). Cramming together the plots of two different films into one makes the scenery fairly crowded - after all FIRE MONSTERS introduced three different tribes - and now there's no less than five of them fighting each other in turns. Plus the director tosses in a cheesy cave-dwelling giant to tip the powerscale!
2 Reviews
Oodles of action
Leofwine_draca24 August 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Although no English language print is known to exist, the obscure strongman vehicle MACISTE, AVENGER OF THE MAYANS isn't a film difficult to understand. That's because the movie mainly consists of footage ripped out of both COLOSSUS AND THE HEAD HUNTERS and FIRE MONSTERS AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES (or MACISTE AND THE MONSTERS as the original title goes), about two thirds of it in fact. The third part is newly-filmed footage involving Kirk Morris and his run-ins and escapades with a tribe of Mayans - and his battle against a huge, evil (could it be otherwise?) cave-dwelling giant. Although the various footage is linked together with surprising skill, the sheer wealth of different groups of characters makes for a very confusing viewing experience, especially during the numerous battle sequences!
The previous two films have been reviewed elsewhere on this site, so little needs to be said about them, other than that the crisp, widescreen print I watched this film in (on Germany's Silwa Video - thanks, Henrik!) really brings the colourful battle sequences to life as never before. Anybody who has only ever seen a poorly duped print, possibly even in black and white, as available from bootleggers and broadcast on television in America, really needs to see a peplum film how it was originally envisaged - colourful costumes, plenty of violence in which the bright red blood splashes up on the screen during the outstanding battle sequences, and photographed with skill and excitement.
The new footage involves Kirk Morris (handy, really, as he also starred in COLOSSUS AND THE HEAD HUNTERS, making the editing easier to handle) and his romance with a Mayan princess - and the lumbering giant with the squashed nose who comes between them. What follows is a highly cheesy - not to mention entertaining - battle between Morris and the giant, in which many polystyrene rocks are chucked about. All great stuff. Kirk Morris excels again as the intrepid strongman Maciste, really selling himself to the camera as he struts around looking powerful, and there's ample beauty from the lady playing the aloof princess. In all, MACISTE, AVENGER OF THE MAYANS is a great film (if you get over the language barrier), with oodles of action and nary a moment of boredom.
The previous two films have been reviewed elsewhere on this site, so little needs to be said about them, other than that the crisp, widescreen print I watched this film in (on Germany's Silwa Video - thanks, Henrik!) really brings the colourful battle sequences to life as never before. Anybody who has only ever seen a poorly duped print, possibly even in black and white, as available from bootleggers and broadcast on television in America, really needs to see a peplum film how it was originally envisaged - colourful costumes, plenty of violence in which the bright red blood splashes up on the screen during the outstanding battle sequences, and photographed with skill and excitement.
The new footage involves Kirk Morris (handy, really, as he also starred in COLOSSUS AND THE HEAD HUNTERS, making the editing easier to handle) and his romance with a Mayan princess - and the lumbering giant with the squashed nose who comes between them. What follows is a highly cheesy - not to mention entertaining - battle between Morris and the giant, in which many polystyrene rocks are chucked about. All great stuff. Kirk Morris excels again as the intrepid strongman Maciste, really selling himself to the camera as he struts around looking powerful, and there's ample beauty from the lady playing the aloof princess. In all, MACISTE, AVENGER OF THE MAYANS is a great film (if you get over the language barrier), with oodles of action and nary a moment of boredom.
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