Hercules, Prisoner of Evil

¨Sword and Sandals¨ movie in which Ursus or Hercules lives in a far land that is being tormented by the bloody raids of a monstrous specie . As a monster marauds the country commanded by the stiff-upper-lipped Prince Regent called Zeretelli (Furio Meniconi) , who seized power several years ago through the assassination of the Great Khan . The villain regent fears that local hero Ursus (or Hércules) may wrest the throne from him . To solidify his power , he schemes to marry his cousin , Amiko (Mireille Granelli) , daughter of the Great Khan and to take firmly the throne , but Amiko loves the big he-man Hércules , the leader of the upright villagers . Then , the arrival of the shrewd Ido (Ettore Manni), the brother of Ursus , provokes a battle between the two communities . Ursus is trying to encounter and subdue the ominous monster , being badly injured . Zeretelli takes advantage of this situation through attacks , rampage , ravage and pillage , but Hercules is healed by his followers, recovers himself of the wounds ; he then defeats Zeretelli in combat who now reveals that Amiko is not the daughter of the Khan . The real daughter results to be Kato (María Teresa Orsini) , a young woman saved years ago and cared by Ursus and his townsfolk . The bouncing Ursus , helped by Ido , reunites an army of rebels to take on the enemy troops . But Ursus is captured , locked and a witch -who has enchanted various other men in the past- uses her extreme powers to turn him into a monster . As Ursus imprisoned , become a spelled monster and forced to carry out heinous activities as a terrifying being .

Italian production with dark scenarios , spectacular outdoors and functional production design , including a lot of caves , forests and grottos plenty of stalactite and stalagmite . This is a regular spaghetti , myth-opera with action , a love story , battles and lush landscapes . Breathtaking scenes when Ursus faces off a monster and overwhelming final battle with surprising and moving scenes , including a flood . Reg Park , in his fourth film , is passable as the mythical hero who encounters many dangerous situations while trying to save countrymen of numerous odds . Reg Park himself became something of a cult personality in the Italian epic genre . Reg was a personal fitness trainer in South Africa . His friend and protégé Arnold Schwarzenegger considered Park to be the best of the "peplum" heroes . Reg Park who played the mythic Maciste in a few movies was randomly assigned the identity of Hercules , Goliath , Ursus , Samson or Aron for U.S. viewing . Bouncing and strong Reg was the third American actor bodybuilder , after Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott , to be recruited by Italian producers to star in Peplum films . Reg Park played reserve team football for Leeds United before turning to body-building in 1946 . He finished Mr Universe runner-up to future film rival Steve Reeves in 1950 , then won the title outright in 1951, 1958 and 1965. After marrying South African-born Mareon Isaacs in Johannesburg in 1952, the Parks moved permanently to South Africa . Reg used the amount of money he made acting as hero and gladiator films in Italy to fitness . As the muscle-man Reg Park left allegedly the sword and sandals genre for the gymnasium in South Africa where Reg ran a chain of fitness studios . He was one along with Ed Fury , Dan Vadis , Brad Harris , Alan Steel , Rock Stevens , Gordon Scott whom to seek fortune acting absurdly as muscle mythological figures , but nobody topped Steve Reeves in popularity . Reg only starred 5 Peplum , such as : 1964 ¨Ursus , terror of the Kirguisos¨ , 1961 ¨Ercole Al Centro della terra¨ , 1961 ¨The conquest of the Atlántida¨ and ¨Maciste in King Solomon's Mines" which , handily for Park , was filmed on location in South Africa . Park's last film was ¨La Sfida Dei Giganti¨ until his death (2007) at age 79 .

¨Ursus, Il Terrore Dei Kirghisi¨ displays a colorful and glimmer cinematography by Gábor Pogány , filmed on location in El Lacio and other Roman exteriors . Pogany is a fine Italian cameraman including notorious titles as "The Last Judgment" , "The Magistrate" , "A Man Gets Killed" , Pink Floyd at Pompeii¨ , and ¨Pianos Mecanicos¨ . This oddball Peplum with brief touches of horror was regularly directed by Antonio Margheriti , and it has some flaws and gaps . Being helped as direction assistant by the famous Ruggero Dedodato , author of gore and cannibal films as ¨Body count¨ , ¨House of the edge of the park¨, ¨Jungle holocaust¨and ¨Cannibal holocaust¨ . Antonio M. Dawson was born in 1930 , Rome, and died in 2002 . He was a director and writer , and especially known for his works with miniatures , explosions and flood sequences . Antonio shoots with ordinary aplomb and being famous for Yor (1983), Virus (1980) and Horror castle (1963) . Italian writer-director of horror and exploitation films, a former university engineering student who began in films in 1956 . He was also an expert in special optical effects , FX , and model-making . Often used the pseudonym 'Anthony M. Dawson'. He directed all kind of genres such as Wartime : The last hunter , Tornado , Code Name : Wild Geese , Commando Leopard , Der Commander ; Sci-Fi : War of planets , Planet on the prowl , Criminali Della Galassia ; Action : Operazione Goldman , Indio , The Squeeze , Cyberflic ; Terror : The Virgin of Nuremberg , Virus or Cannibal Apocalypse , Alien from the Deep , Flesh for Frankestein and Spaghetti : Joko and Dynamite Joe .

Ursus, il terrore dei kirghisi is the proper name of the film and it is pretty unusual mishmash of peplum, horror, geography and ethnicities. Suspiciously Mediterranean looking Kirghiz somehow manage to oppress unusually Nordic looking Cirkassians who seem to be living just across the hill from each other (it's like horse riding from Canada to Mexico!!!). The main hero - Ursus (not Hercules! Though all names have been altered for american edit) is played by Muscle man Reg Park was a mentor and inspiration for Arnold Schwarzenegger both in terms of over-exaggerated physique (of cartoon superhero/"bullied kids dream variety" and nowhere near as objectively beautiful like that of Steve Reeves) but also in wooden acting department (again making Reeves look almost method actor in comparison). Most other characters (in original Italian version) seem to have Georgian names for some reason - Ilo, Kato, Aniko (who became Amico in american version because...?) and finally Prince Zereteli - who would be happy to know that there is a street and a Metro station named after him in downtown Tbilisi, Georgia :)))

It's set in what is now Kyrgyzstan where the Prince Regent Zereteli of the Kirghiz (Furio Meniconi) has seized the throne of Sura following the murder of the Grand Khan and plans to wipe out the rival Cherkes tribe. To add to their worries, their caravans are being attacked by a mysterious monster that haunts the countryside.

Zereteli's cousin, Princess Aniko (Mireille Granelli), will be coming of age in a few months meaning that he'll have to abdicate to make way for her. He wants to marry her so he can become Queen- she's not keen ...

Complicating matters even further, she's in love with Ursus (Reg Park), now the leader of the Cherkes. Ursus tries to track down the monster with his brother Ilo (Ettore Manni). But Aniko is not all that she seems and the grotesque creature, created by a mysterious serum, might be closer to home than Ursus realises...

Hercules, the prisoner of evil is an unusual blend of "monster on the loose" (almost hammer horror-style) and the usual sword and sandal romp, a feud between two parties; a power play - the bad guy thinks the Jekyll and Hyde type of creature is really Ursus' doing, but the suspect is sort of obvious. The plot is sharp, brisk and engaging - there's sufficient suspense and an ominous atmosphere, though they could have emphasised the latter more.

The creature isn't very scary, in which where lies the problem- maybe a bloodsucking vampire would've been more creepy, but the negative aside this is a good film that takes a different path from the usual peplum. And Reg Park is the main lead, but everyone plays a part- he's not the only hero, and the villains are just in the centre.

Pity it gets bad reviews as this is a quite entertaining with a spooky cave with an entrance, beautiful women, some good fights. It's got its flaws, but which film doesn't.

URSUS, THE TERROR OF THE KIRGHIZ (aka: HERCULES, PRISONER OF EVIL) stars Reg Park as Ursus / Hercules.

After a caravan is decimated by a werewolf (aka: a hairy man in a cape, shrieking like a hyena that's being electrocuted), Ursuscules jumps right in to help get to the bottom of things.

Meanwhile, the sinister Prince Zereteli uses the incident as an excuse to kill his enemies, and to get Hersuscules out of the way.

The werewolf continues its rampage, while Urcules goes shirtless, eventually getting his chance to toss the Prince's soldiers around like ping pong balls!

A later entry in the muscleman epic craze, the addition of the "monster" is novel, though not that effective. Still, Park does his best with the material...

Ancient peplum hero Ursus is now doing his thing in Eastern Europe where the Mongol conquerors are running things but with arrangements with the locals. Not anyone in the cast looks remotely Asian however, especially one who as it turns out is the lost princess daughter of the Great Khan who was murdered in a palace coup.

Anyway the usurper and his partner who is a sorceress have the common serfs under control, but for Ursus who leads one of the tribes. The sorceress gets the big guy under her control and turn him into some kind of ravenous beast.

Good thing the good guys have someone skilled in the black arts who brings Ursus around.

Just like Hulk Hogan going over to the dark side.