Hercules Against the Barbarians

Sword and sandal film with Mark Forest as Maciste

In the German dub of this film by Domenico Paolella he is called Marko, but Mark Forest (1933-2022) actually plays Maciste, who has been haunting the Italian peplum genre since the monumental film "Cabiria" (1913) and helps out wherever a a very strong man is needed.

This time Marko/Maciste supports the Poles against the superior power of the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan (Roldano Lupi). In particular, it's about Maciste's love interest Arminia (Jose Greci (1941-2017), who played Jesus' mother Mary in "Ben Hur"), who turns out to be the Polish crown princess. The positive thing about this rather poorly made film is that Maciste has opponents on equal terms. Ken Clark (1927-2009), who was soon to start as Agent 077 alias Dick Malloy, spreads fear and terror as the nasty muscle man Kubilai. Howard Ross/Renato Rossini, born in 1941, is in no way inferior as Gason. Maciste has to face a really nasty fight to the death with a dark-skinned slave (the former football player Harold Bradley (1929-2021), who still had a long acting career ahead of him). And then there is the mysterious Arias (Gloria Milland/Maria Fie), who also causes surprises...

A not-so-well-done sword and sandal film from the late phase of the genre, which is interesting simply because the main actor Mark Forest (who trained as an opera singer during his time in Rome!) has to deal with three equal powerhouses.