Despite the title, which might lead you to think this is a peplum squarely in the heroic gladiator/demigod vein, its closest kin among the peplums I've seen is that masterpiece of weird sci-fi, GIANT OF THE METROPOLIS. The setting is only nominally the ancient world; we're really in a complete fantasy land where a hidden world lurks behind a giant waterfall, ruled by a depraved queen who practices mind-control and must force her slave population to continually turn a waterwheel lest their world come to an end. (The fact that there is always a hapless slave chained to the waterwheel, being repeatedly dunked, seems to be a bit of gratuitous sadism; Bush and Cheney's much-favored waterboarding inevitably comes to mind.) There's also a score that veers between light jazz and weird ambient music that sounds like broken plumbing (gurgling, clanging pipes).
Unfortunately, this film is nowhere in a class with GIANT OF METROPOLIS. Sets, cinematography and music are all inferior. It's weird, just not nearly weird enough. But the fact that this film offers one of the very rare chances to see star Iloosh Khoshabe (the muscleman of many names) elevates it a star or two. (Mario Novelli as the chunkier younger Maciste is pleasant but completely forgettable.)
