Maciste, gladiatore di Sparta

Poseidon must battle a gladiator quartet in ancient Rome. If he wins, the son of Hercules will have his life and anything else he wants. Sure enough, he wins and asks that the life of a Christian girl be spared. But the girl refuses her liberty until all of her fellow believers are also released.

Mark Forest fights the most unconvincing looking gorilla in an unconvincing scene, faces a sword duel blindfolded (great scene), takes on three gladiators in one go, falls in love with a Christian girl and gets dragged by three horses around the stadium in this entertaining peplum. It has a Quo Vadis type storyline but without its enormous budget and scope. The "Nero" here doesn't warble songs and play the harp tunelessly, but is hungry all the time, eats a lot, chuckles at the most unfunniest thing, even when a person dies, however he isn't any less cruel and narcissistic. The beautiful Marilu Tolo plays a courtesan who is spurned by Forest when he falls for a Christian but still helps him by giving him an alibi while he's rescuing Christians from imprisonment. Mark Forest is excellent in his role, he's a better actor than most peplum stars and he's got the charisma.

The Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules is a thoughtful and action-packed peplum that moves briskly and with keen direction. Maybe it's a tad overlong, though.