British bodybuilder Reg Park stars as Hercules and he's gone visitng Pluto's aka Hades realm of the underworld. His mission to rsue his true love Princess Dainera where she's been sent to sample the waters of forgetfulness.

It's all part of a big plan to take Dainera away by King Ligos. And playing Ligos is the main reason you shoud see this particular peplum film, Christopher Lee.

Of course Lee brings the same brand of double dyed villainy to this part as he does to any of his famous Hammer horror roles. He plays the role of the evil king completely straight without a hint of spoof.

That and Park's pecs are reason enough to see this film.

Hercules (Reg Park) must journey in Hades itself to retrieve the magic stone that will free his love from the powers of darkness.

I was drawn to this film because it has Christopher Lee and is directed by Mario Bava. Netflix claims it is a "horror film" and a "vampire film". Both are a bit of a stretch.

Now, I am not saying the film is all bad. We get to watch Hercules hurl large rocks at things, and there is a petrified monster that makes wry comments while torturing people on the rack. The Netflix version has atrocious video quality, but if it was cleaned up this might be a fun family film.

This second film by Mario Bava is also known like ¨Hercules in the haunted world¨ or ¨Hercules vs. the vampires¨ . Here Hércules (a wooden Reg Park , the same of ¨The Conquest of Atlántida¨ by Vittorio Cottafavi) along with Teseo (Giorgo Ardisson) and Telémaco (Giacobini) travel to dead land located into center of earth . Hercules taking on king Lycos (Christopher Lee in similar acting his recent ¨Drácula¨ by Terence Fisher , though his voice was dubbed by another actor for the English-language version) has abducted his sweet-girl, Deianera (Leonora Ruffo) and she has lost her ordinary condition as well as senses . Hercules is accompanied by charming characters with mythological names as Teseo (from legend minotaur) , Telémaco (from Ulisses) , Perséfone (abducted by Hades) . As Hércules embarks on a risked quest for a stone , while he is unaware that Dianara's guardian , King Lycos , is the one responsible for her kidnapping . The trip is plenty of several dangers , a foggy sea , the garden of Hesperides plenty of apples , the encounter with Persefone or Proserpina , meeting with goddess Aretusa , the fighting against a monster of Stone , the bloody liana and trespassing a marshy lagoon with objective to achieve the magic rock . And the creepy final confrontation with Lycos and the eerie ghouls in some terrifying scenes .

The picture results to be a horror , sword and sandals epic with adventures , struggles , absurd humour , bizarre scenarios and being quite entertaining . The comic relief to be in charge of Telemaco's character was written by scriptwriter Duccio Tessari , who usually includes humorous touches , for example : ¨The Titans¨ and various Spaghetti Western . Besides , appearing famous Eurotrash babes as Rosalba Neri , Evelyn Stewart or Ida Galli , Leonora Ruffo and the habitual nasty , Raf Baldasarre . As usual , colorful cinematography by cameraman/filmmaker Mario Bava in gaudy colours and groundbreaking atmospheres . Appropriate music score by Armando Trovajoli . The motion picture was co-directed by Franco Prosperi , known director of shocking-documentary such as ¨Mondo Cane¨ and Conan rip-offs . The film belongs to sub-genre blending fantastic , horror and Peplum , like are : ¨Maciste in the inferno¨ (Riccardo Freda,1962) , ¨The conquest of Atlántida¨ (Vittorio Cottafavi , 1961) and ¨Maciste against the vampire¨ (Giacomo Gentilomo,1961) . The picture will appeal to Mario Bava fans.