Join your favorite muscle-bound heroes as they fight mythological creatures and rescue beautiful maidens from dastardly villains. These Italian sword and sandal spectaculars were a staple of Saturday afternoon matinees during the 1960s, and now some of the best (and campiest) are available on video!

HERCULES (1959) Steve Reeves, Sylva Koscina. This is the grand-daddy of Italian muscleman movies. Based on the Greek tale of Jason and the Argonauts. SS31

HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN (1964) Alan Steel, Jany Clair. Hercules battles magical moon men trying to conquer the world. SS18

HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961) Reg Park, Fay Spain. Hercules finds himself in Atlantis fighting dragons, an army of identical men, and an evil queen. From a Technicolor 35mm print. Letterboxed in the scope format. SS02

GIANT OF MARATHON (1960) With Steve Reeves, Mylene Demonget, Alan Steel. Directed by Jacques Tourner, with cinema-tography by Mario Bava. Reeves plays a cour-ageous Greek hero whose musclebound feats are a source of great frustration for the invading Persians. Plenty of action and adventure! SS49

ESTHER AND THE KING (1961) With Joan Collins, Richard Egan. Directed by Raoul Walsh, with cinematography by Mario Bava. Lots of action and court intrigue in this spectacle about the King of Persia's romance with a Jewish maiden. SS73

MACISTE AGAINST HERCULES IN THE VALE OF WOE (1964) With Kirk Morris, Frank Gordon, Rimondo Vianello, Liana Orfei, Franco & Ciccio. Two wrestling promoters (Franco & Ciccio) use a time machine to travel back 7000 years to the land of Hercules (Frank Gordon), where they also tangle with Maciste (Kirk Morris). A rare sword & sandals (intentional) comedy! 6055

HERCULES AND THE PRINCESS OF TROY (1965) With Gordon Scott, Paul Stevens, Diana Hyland. Directed by Albert Band. This is the unsold pilot to a proposed Hercules TV series; never shown theatrically, it was syndicated to television as a short feature. Hercules (Scott) saves a virgin princess from being sacrificed to a sea monster. An action-packed adventure. Shot in English, not Italian, so everyone gets to use their own voices! SS42

COLOSSUS AND THE AMAZON QUEEN (1964) With Rod Taylor, Ed Fury, Dorian Grey, Gianna Maria Canale. Glaucous (Fury) and his con artist pal (Rod Taylor) encounter an Amazon Queen, in whose civilization gender roles are reversed. A silly and very strange sword & sandal entry. 5401

DAVID AND GOLIATH (1961) With Orson Welles, Ivo Dayer, Eleonora Rossi-Drago, Kronos. Classic retelling of the age-old fable about young shepherd David (Dayer) and the giant Goliath (Kronos). Welles plays King Saul. SS75

GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON (1960) With Mark Forest, Broderick Crawford. Goliath battles a giant bat, a three-headed dog, a wind goddess, a dragon, and other nasty creatures to save his wife and kingdom from an evil ruler (Crawford). SS34

COLOSSUS AND THE HEADHUNTERS (1960) With Kirk Morris, Laura Brown. The mighty Colossus flees to an island after escaping a deadly earthquake. There, he finds himself battling a ferocious tribe of headhunters as he tries to save a dethroned queen. SS70

DUEL OF CHAMPIONS (1961) With Alan Ladd, Jacques Sernas, Robert Keith. A Roman general is caught by the marauding Albans. His troops slaughtered, he escapes and returns to Rome, only to find disgrace. SS72

MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES (aka Perseus the Invincible, 1962) With Richard Harrison, Anna Ranalli. Perseus (Harrison) is pitted against Medusa and her horrible stone menÑalso a monstrous dragon! SS22

HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD (1961) Reg Park, Christopher Lee. Directed by Mario Bava. A well done adventure film. Hercules goes to hell, literally, as he searches through Hades for a magic stone that will cure an ailing princess. The climax has Hercules fighting for his life against an unbeatable number of monstrosities. CL03

HERCULES UNCHAINED (1960) Steve Reeves, Sylva Koscina. Sequel to Hercules; the legendary hero's memory is erased by a wicked queen. He battles tigers, a giant, and demolishes a heathen temple in this action-packed spectacle. SS32

SINS OF ROME (1954) Massimo Girotti, Ludmilla Cherina. Directed by Ricardo Freda. Well made version of the story of the rebel slave Spartacus and his revolt against Rome. SS19

TERROR OF ROME AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES (1963) With Mark Forest. Poseidon (aka Maciste) finds himself fighting for his life against a weird ape man. Probably the best entry in this series. SS16

BEAST OF BABYLON AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES (aka Goliath, King of the Slaves, 1964) With Gordon Scott, Geneveive Grad, Michael Lane. Balthasar, the tyrant of Babylon, rules Assyria with an iron fist, sacrificing his people to the goddess Istar. Scott, the rightful heir to the throne, attempts to overthrow the evil ruler. SS77

GLADIATORS OF ROME (aka Battles of the Gladiators, 1962) With Gordon Scott, Wandisa Guida, Roberto Rissi. Scott plays a muscular hero who protects a slave girl (secretly a princess) from marauding Roman warriors. SS64

GLADIATORS SEVEN (1962) With Richard Harrison, Livio Lorenzon. A gladiator epic with a dash of humor thrown in for good measure. Story concerns a Spartan warrior who leads a group of gladiators, vowing to free Sparta from its tyrant ruler. Lots of swordplay and arena thrills. SS60

HERCULES OF THE DESERT (1964) With Kirk Morris, Helene Chanel. Hercules comes to the aid of a band of nomads who are being suppressed by an evil princess. SS67

LAST GLORY OF TROY (aka The Avenger, 1962) With Steve Reeves, Carla Marlier, Giacomo Stuart. Our hero gets involved with Etruscans, Trojans and a princess. A must for all Steve Reeves fans. SS12

THE SONS OF HERCULES IN THE LAND OF DARKNESS (1963) With Dan Vadis, Carl Brown. Argolis, son of Hercules, rescues serfs held in slavery by an evil queen. He loosens a sea of lava that destroys her ancient city. SS82

GIANT OF METROPOLIS (1961) With Gordon Mitchell, Bella Cortez. A combination of sci-fi and adventure. A scientific supercity is the setting for weird experiments, torture and intrigue. S064

THE INVINCIBLE GLADIATOR (1962) With Richard Harrison, Isabel Corey. A rebellious Roman warrior fights for the freedom of a group of oppressed people. Lots of death duels and arena scenes. SS11

THE QUEEN OF SHEBA (1953) With Eleanora Ruffo, Gino Cervi, Fino Leurini, Marina Berti. The Queen of Sheba breaks the laws of her Pagan gods and falls in love with the son of the King of Israel. The young prince, however, loves another, so the queen invades Israel. SS87

SAMSON AND THE SEA BEASTS (1960) With Kirk Morris, Margaret Lee, Daniele Vargas. Samson (Morris) saves a young woman (Lee) from a shipwreck, then goes off to Devil's Island to rescue her friends. 6071

SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD (1962) Gordon Scott, Yoko Tani. Samson fights against a murdering horde of Tartar warriors while trying to save the life of a beautiful Chinese princess. In a terrific climax, Samson causes an earthquake while digging his way out of a mountain he was buried alive in. Great fun. SS59

THE MONGOLS (1961) Jack Palance, Anita Ekberg. Palance plays the son of Genghis Khan; Ekberg is the lady he lusts for. A very elaborate spectacle piece. SS53

THE VAMPIRES (1964) Gordon Scott, Gianna Marie Canale. The mighty Goliath is pitted against an evil vampire who has at his beckon an army of faceless robots. One of Scott's best sword and sandal epics. SS65

THE WHITE WARRIOR (1961) With Steve Reeves, Giorgia Moll, Renato Baldini. Directed by Ricardo Freda. The setting is Russia during the 1800s. Reeves plays a courageous tribal chieftain who defies the Czar and leads his men against the monarch's advancing troops. SS86

KINDAR THE INVULNERABLE (1965) With Mark Forest, Mime Palmara, Dea Flowers. A muscular hero, who apparently has the power of invulnerability, fights against cruel adversaries out to destroy him. A must for all Mark Forest fans. SS93

THE LION OF THEBES (1964) With Mark Forest, Yvonne Furneaux. An exciting adventure dealing with the story of Helen of Troy. One of the best of Forest's muscleman films of the '60s. SS48

HERCULES AND THE TYRANTS OF BABYLON (1964) With Rock Stevens (aka Peter Lupus), Helga Line, Mario Petri. Hercules comes to the aid of a princess who is being held captive by a trio of Babylonian tyrants. Stevens/Lupus went on to star in the Mission Impossible television series. SS92

SPARTACUS AND THE TEN GLADIATORS (1963) With Dan Vadis, Helga Line, John Heston, Ursula Davis. Rebel slave Spartacus enlists help from the Ten Gladiators in his fight for freedom. According to film historian Stephen Flacassier, the "Ten Gladiators" movies were filled with a lot more goofy fun than usual, and this one is no exception. 5481

THE WITCH'S CURSE (1962) With Kirk Morris, Helen Chanel. Directed by Ricardo Freda. Maciste travels into Hell to find an ancient witch and make her undo a curse she has put on the surface world. (Print used for this rare title has faded color.) SS09

SAMSON AND HIS MIGHTY CHALLENGE (1964) With Alan Steel. This rare epic incorporates all the legends of Hercules, Samson, Maciste and Ursus. The climax features a battle royale. SS27

GIANTS OF THESSALY (1960) With Roland Carey, Ziva Rodann. Another retelling of the tale of Jason and the Golden Fleece. Monsters and evil women! SS01

DEVIL OF THE DESERT AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES (1962) With Kirk Morris, Michele Girardon. One of the rarer "Sons of Hercules" films, and a cut above the average. SS43

FABIOLA (1951) With Michele Morgan, Henri Vidal, Michel Simon. Long before Steve Reeves and the muscleman epics of the late '50s, there was Fabiola, the grand-daddy of all Italian spectacle films. Court intrigue abounds as the merciless Roman aristocrats plot the genocide of Christians before the arrival of Constantine. (This is the edited, English-language version of the film.) SS63

SAMSON AGAINST THE SHIEK (1962) Ed Fury. An unusual twist as Samson is thrown into the Middle Ages, not ancient Rome. SS14