RETRO ACTIVE: Hercules in the Haunted World (1961)
RETRO ACTIVE: Hercules in the Haunted World (1961) by Nick Schager What's new is always old, and in this recurring column, I'll be taking a look at the classic genre movies that have influenced today’s new releases. In honor of the swords-and-sandals epic Immortals , this week it's Mario Bava's nightmarish 1961 Hercules in the Haunted World . Mario Bava 's cinema immerses one in the otherworldly, so it's fitting that Hercules in the Haunted World , the legendary horror maestro's contribution to the '60s-'70s Greek mythology subgenre , opens with a credit sequence boasting a blood-red spiral into which the viewer seemingly plummets. His maiden effort in color, and produced a year after his iconic Black Sunday , Bava's 1961 film is narratively goofy but aesthetically rapturous, delivering myriad magnificent spectacles and an enveloping supernatural atmosphere that speak to Bava's preoccupation with the untrustworthiness of sensory experience and the tenuousness of reality. Shot with a minimal budget that Bava maximized through clever re-use of sets and props (as elucidated by Tim Lucas' excellent liner notes to the 2002 Fantoma DVD release), the director's saga is a thing of misty monstrousness and blood-red beauty. Awash in lurid hues and a smoky haze that lend ominous splendor to its action, his tale is one of loyalty, sacrifice and the dangerous allure of illusions, themes addressed through the efforts of Hercules (two-time Mr. Olympia Reg Park ) to travel to Hades to recover the magical Stone of Forgetfulness in order to revive his entranced love Deianira ( Leonora Ruffo ), who has fallen under the spell of her uncle, newly self-crowned King Lico ( Christopher Lee ).Hercules Legendary Set Used - News
Accompanied by his ladies-man comrade Theseus (George Ardisson) and insufferable buffoon Telemachus (Franco Giacobini), Hercules sets about his task after consulting a masked oracle sitting cross-legged in a dark, empty room whom Bava shoots from
Aside from writing and producing the "Battlestar Galactica" reboot as well as the spinoff series, "Caprica" and the upcoming "Blood and Chrome," Eick has also produced "The Bionic Woman" remake as well as "American Gothic" and "Hercules: The Legendary
tradition: The episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys where Hercules fights Dracula. Seriously: Hercules is called to the kingdom of his old friend Vlad the Impaler, only to discover that it's a trap set because Vlad wants to drink his blood.
She dated Hercules for a while in the 70s, so. Kick: Right. Well, our script today is from David Hayter, who wrote the first two X-Men movies. It's dated 2005, so before the big Marvel cinematic universe came about. And basically, it was supposed to be
During the peak of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys back in 1997, the actor suffered an aneurysm that led to not only several strokes, but also dizziness, having difficulty walking, and losing ten percent of his vision. After three months in rehab,
Kevin Sorbo: from Hercules to mere mortal. - Anytime Health
, Kevin Sorbo portrayed an invincible demigod. He relished living the part—putting in 14-hour days on set, doing his own stunts, and relentlessly working out at the gym. Until one day it all came to an abrupt end.
Now, for the first time, Sorbo shares what viewers didn’t know: he suffered three strokes from an aneurysm in his shoulder that had been radiating blood clots throughout his body, likely for months. He was left partially blind and entirely incapacitated at just thirty-eight years old.
Appearances are everything in Hollywood, so Sorbo and the production studio hid the full details of his condition from the media. After all, how could the strongest man in the world be... Fragile? To continue filming Hercules , the number-one worldwide syndicated TV series at the time, they frantically reworked scripts and revamped production to allow for the star’s severely limited involvement. But as the effects of the strokes persisted—with painful, mysterious, debilitating symptoms—and physicians could offer few answers, Sorbo grew increasingly despondent.
What happens when your entire identity vanishes? Kevin's book True Strength:My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal—and How Nearly Dying Saved My Life is the story of how one man faced the unimaginable and ultimately found the real measure of success. With tongue-in-cheek humor and an unfailingly candid voice, Sorbo reflects on his childhood in Minnesota, his early modeling and acting days, and his hard-charging charmed life in television. He recounts the onset of his stroke symptoms, the frightening hospitalizations, his battle with depression, and fighting for a recovery that defied medical expectations. And how through it all, love conspired to save him from missing out on what matters.
With this refreshingly honest account of celebrity, personal tragedy, and the power of letting go, Sorbo aims to blaze a trail for anyone who may have suffered a serious setback in life and is struggling to find their way forward.