tom_bombadillo-1

(2012-04-27 19:54:39)

One of the Greatest Fanties Ever Made

The themes of hell, Satan, and other demonic entities as a source ofentertainment have always been met with controversy. "Maciste in Hell"certainly has had its share after having met its audiences with imagesof scantly clad women, devils, demons, and even what I believe to beone of the first decapitions to be portrayed on film. Aside from allthe uproar however, this movie also excelled in its use of specialeffects. It featured animatronics, stop motion, and costume design. Outof all the movies that make one wonder as to how "they did it?", thisfilm is at the top of my list. I definitely recommend watching itwhether you like silent films or not. It's certainly worth a watch.

mrdonleone

(2012-04-27 05:29:45)

love is evil

I am going to try to convince you all that love is evil... at least inthis picture it is.because of the bad projection, I saw more corpses on the screen thanliving creatures, but maybe it's because this movie was strong horrorin its time. anyway, the story is a bit like the one we all know, theFaust dilemma.the situation of wanting to do everything for the one we love, canbring us torment and strong agony (this movie seems to say). if youforgive the wrongs of your love, you are cursed with your own pity...really? must we always believe in God and never follow our 'humble'Devil? are there demons among us and if so, are we one of them? infact, the simple story of this film leaves us with more questions thananswers (espacially the Spartacus-like ending). the message seems to bethat if we do what we believe is right for the one we love, we can beable to do terrible things, even without knowing it ourselves.so Star Wars is right: love is the devil. you will never forget thedevil in this picture. he's so clichГѓВ©, but like that, we all willremember him (and the demons on the screen or in the 'war', that looksa lot like the rape scene in Flaming Creatures).but nowadays, this picture is terrible old and the effects does notalways work very well. if you want to do yourself a favor, do not seethis picture.

jens pihl

(2012-04-26 22:28:35)

Imagine Benjamin Christensen (HAXAN) and F.W. Murnau (FAUST) mixed...

with the adventure hero genre and you got an idea of this surreal andvisually dazzling masterpiece. Fellini called it "one of the 10 best filmsever made" and convinced him as a kid to enter the film business.After saving a child from a Faust-like character big macho goodheartedMaciste goes to hell and fight hordes of vicious demonic creatures. It'spacked with violence, humor, nudity etc. Two scenes blew me away; at onepoint Maciste decapitates a demon but by some impressive reverse FX thecreature picks up his battered head and put it back on his shoulders, inhell there's a giant Godzilla-sized satan who eat humans like peanuts!?!Theset design is incredibly impressive, the use of color tinting is pureperfection, and the devil costumes are so detailed I've never seenanythinglike it. The Danish Film Institute had hired a classical piano player forthis ultra rare showing, and he knew what he was doin' to create thedifferent moods of this epic.One of greatest cinematic experiences I've ever had the pleasure ofwatchingin a theatre!Brignone's classic was just one of a dozen Maciste film made in Italy inthe1910s/20s, later Freda did a remake and Mario Bava was very inspired bythisfilm to make his "Hercules In The Haunted World"

MARIO GAUCI

(2012-04-26 15:15:15)

MACISTE IN HELL (Guido Brignone, 1925) **1/2

Since I was going through some of the low-brow Italian peplums of the50s and 60s over the Easter period, I decided to watch this Silent epic(also made in Italy) simultaneously. However, it turned out to notreally be a peplum after all – despite the muscular title character(protagonist of a long-running series of films and, here, somewhatincongruously sporting modern attire – including a suit and tie!) andthe fact that the Italians had actually pioneered the religious epicgenre during the Silent era! That said, I guess I should have knownsince I had already watched Riccardo Freda's colorful but disappointing1962 semi-remake (actually set against a 17th Century Puritan backdrop)but, there at least, Maciste is still somehow fitted with thetraditional loincloth… Anyway, to get to the movie itself: since I hadn't previously watchedany of the Silent Italian epics, I didn't quite know how well it wouldhave worn the passage of time but, surprisingly, I was left reasonablyimpressed by the visual splendor of the production which often evokedmedieval paintings – particularly in its hellish sequences. In fact, asI watched the film, I was most reminded – as had been another viewerwriting on the IMDb – of Benjamin Christensen's HAXAN (1922) and F.W.Murnau's FAUST (1926) which, I'm sure you'll agree, is high praiseindeed for a film of this kind! Besides, the human form taken by thedevil Barbariccia (literally "Curlybeard") and his minions evokesmemories of Scapinelli, the Mephistophelean figure of "The Student OfPrague" (a German folk-tale filmed twice, at least, during the Silentera)… The plot of the film proper – Maciste is apparently a do-gooder whoseactivities are giving Hell a bad name, so a devil is sent to Earth inorder to tempt him; somehow, the former ends up in the underworld and,giving in to the affections of some devilish sirens, is himself turnedinto a hellish creature…until saved by a child's prayer on ChristmasEve! – is quaint yet curiously effective, especially given the myriadunconvincing-looking demons Maciste has to face; at one point, there'seven a revolt (never fully explained, at least in the 66-minute print Iwatched) against Barbariccia's dominion in Hell – which is aninteresting way of saying that petty jealousies and machinations, thecause of so much evil on Earth, are present in the afterlife as well! I don't recall the 1962 film enough to make comparisons, except to saythat it was an unintentional laugh-riot, but also that the plot of thelater version is quite different – as it involves a reanimated witchwho had been burned at the stake (in fact, it was called THE WITCH'SCURSE in the U.S.); I know, however, that I enjoyed the 'original' agood deal and am certainly interested now in seeking out more Silentspectacles from Italy – L'INFERNO (1911), THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII(1913), CABIRIA (1914), etc.…