Vulcan, Son of Giove (1962)

Two muscle men: Gordon Mitchell is Pluto this time and Rod Flash is Vulcan! Monsters are terrorizing the people of the land and Vulcan must save them before Mt. Olympus falls to ruin.This one does have enough cheese to make the bread taste good. It's dumb enough to be entertaining, yet bad enough that most people will not watch.This one could have been a good movie if was done right. I'm not advocating a remake but if the film makers would have done this one properly it could have been almost as good as Clash of the Titans 1981. Sadly this one didn't have the money pumped into it to create a film as good as "Clash"... it had the potential though.4/10

Trouble develops in Olympus when "Venus, the Goddess of Love" (Annie Gorassini) is scolded by her father, "Jupiter, the God of Lightning" (Furio Meniconi) for her promiscuous ways. To remedy this continual problem, Jupiter announces his intention to marry her off to either "Mars, the God of War" (Roger Browne) or "Vulcan, the God of Fire and Blacksmithing" (Iloosh Khoshabe). Yet rather than wait a month or so for Jupiter's decision, Venus decides to take matters into her own hands and joins with Mars and "Pluto, the God of Darkness" (Gordon Mitchell) in an attempted revolt. And since both Mars and Vulcan have been cast to earth pending Jupiter's determination, that's where Mars begins his disloyal operation. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this was an okay "Sword & Sandal" film for the most part. Unfortunately, it suffered greatly from being rather incoherent and confusing at times due to a lack of sufficient character development. It's also quite possible that the fact that this movie was originally produced in Italian and dubbed into English may not have helped either. Likewise, a few of the costumes could have used some improvement as well. On the plus side, I thought that both Annie Gorassini and Bella Cortez (as the sea nymph, "Aetna") were rather striking which certainly didn't hurt matters. Even so, neither of them were able to overcome the disjointed script or plot and as a result I rate this movie as slightly below average.

I swear, for divine beings sometimes these Greek gods act like they just stepped off the set of the Jerry Springer show.Well, they were always a rowdy bunch and in this movie the reason du jour for all the hullabaloo is competition between Vulcan the god of fire and blacksmiths, and Mars, the god of War, for the favors of the goddess of Love (and apparently Floozies), Venus.Venus, as played by Annie Gorassini looks like a model for a 70's toothpaste ad and vamps around like the bimbos on any of the VH1 reality shows. She plays men like an Aeolian harp and wrecks homes as casually as popping the top on a can of soda. There's one scene where an overseer is whipping some slaves and she and Mars look on, giggling and making out. Yeah, the chick's got issues.When Jupiter, King of the Gods, declares he will decide who marries Venus, she and Mars escape to Earth, not only to protect their love, but also to plot a revolt against Jupiter. They encounter a crazy warlord with a grudge against Jupes and convince him to build a siege tower that would reach to the top of Mount Olympus, with which they will overthrow Jupiter.Vulcan in the meantime has been hurled down to Earth from the top of Olympus by Mars' ally, Pluto. He crash lands onto a beach where happen to lounge a gaggle of harem girls. One girl in particular, Etna, takes quite a shine to the disoriented god and you can see right away that they're destined for romance. (What a story they'll have to tell their kids) No sooner does Vulcan regain consciousness than the entire coterie is attacked by a band of genuinely loony looking lizard men known only as The Monsters. What with having crashed to Earth from a mountain peak only minutes earlier, Vulcan is understandably woozy enough to make easy pickings for the lizard men.Also imprisoned by the lizard men are a group of rebels of some sort and among their number is Classic Peplum Sidekick Mark IV, the Wiley Dwarf. His name is Kayo and the prisoners free him so he can get a message to Vulcan's friend Neptune, King of the Seas. Neptune is portrayed as a bit flaky, although he's got a good look going on and he sends a posse of his hardcore Special Forces dudes to wipe out the lizard men in a quick, brutal battle.Then there are some plot contrivances and Vulcan, his Main Squeeze Etna, and their band of rebels take on Venus, Mars, the warlord and their warriors in a Big Final Showdown.It's a great battle scene and features the rebels vs. the warriors, Vulcan vs. Mars and Venus vs. Etna in what is probably the first ever babe on babe bullwhip brouhaha. Yup, chicks with whips.Speaking of that scene, which also features hair pulling and skirt tugging, let me point out Bella Cortez, who plays Etna. WOW! Let me repeat that for emphasis. WOW! She put the "lure" in alluring. Bella is a beautiful Cuban actress who performs the Best Veil Dance Ever. Why she didn't become a huge star is beyond me.Gordon Mitchell doesn't have a lot to do, but he's still good as the villainous Pluto. He could teach Maniacal Cackling at USC film school. He always picks up a movie.Iloosh Khoshabe aka Rod Flash (awesome fake name) plays Vulcan as a bit of a Dudley Do-Right type. His chin is strong and his love is chaste. Beefy yet athletic, he's pretty convincing as a hero.Lacking in a Hercules or any of his Hercu-surrogates, this is another of director Emimmo Salvi non-traditional peplums, which also include Ali Baba and the Seven Saracens and The Seven Tasks of Ali Baba. It's great light, energetic fun. The personalities and looks for all the gods are distinct and unique, which you don't always find in a peplum. If you're a B-movie fan you'll get a big kick out of this movie.

This is one of those movies that is so bad it instantly becomes a classic fun film. This is a movie where so much happens you won't be bored, it just keeps moving onward throwing monsters, gods, and myths in every which way at such a rate that you have to keep watching because you simply can't believe whats been thrown into the stew. Watch the film, preferably on a rainy afternoon when its the perfect time for a movie.