Deja Vu All Over Again by Dave Goode

To people who aren't fans of the sinew & sandal film genre the movies all seem to look alike. I've even known people who couldn't tell Steve Reeves from Reg Park. But even as a fan I have to say there are a few of these flicks that make me think didn't I see this all before? And not just because I had seen it before. For instance there's THE FURY OF HERCULES starring Brad Harris as Hercules. It's one of my favorites. Harris is in top form and performs a number of feats of strength. And then there's SAMSON also starring Harris in the title role. I should mention this Samson is not the biblical strong-man from the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. Harris wears the same costumes that he did in THE FURY OF HERCULES. The sets are the same and the cast more or less remains the same.But they're playing different roles. For instance Alan Steel plays a villain in THE FURY OF HERCULES. But in SAMSON he plays a strength hero named Millstone who teams up with Samson to battle oppression.

And then there's THE MAGNIFICENT GLADIATOR starring Mark Forest and Marilu Tolo. I saw it written up in an article about peplum movies that said it was THE TERROR OF ROME VS. THE SON OF HERCULES. So wanting to upgrade my copy I sent away for it. I was disappointed to find they weren't the same movie at all. But I was happy to add another Mark Forest film to my collection of "movies about gladiators".  Again the two movies have the same sets. And again the casts are the same. But the actors are playing different roles. The biggest difference is that THE TERROR OF ROME VS. THE SON OF HERCULES features a battle between the gladiator-hero and a gorilla(one of the cheesiest ape-suits ever). And THE MAGNIFICENT GLADIATOR doesn't.

The most confusing of all sinew & sandal

flicks. And the one to give you the

greatest feeling of deja vu may just be HERCULES THE AVENGER starring Reg Park. I first saw this picture when I was about nine or so.I had just read a book on Greek mythology. And I thought the story about Hercules battle with Antaeus,the Earth giant was pretty cool. And watching it in a movie was even cooler. What I didn't know was that about 75% of HERCULES THE AVENGER was made up of footage from HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD and HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN. For years whenever I watched either of those movies I'd wait for Hercules to battle Antaeus in the films climax and walk away disappointed.Until I found that the flick I was looking for was made through creative editing. Now I own copies of all three movies and can enjoy them on their own.

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