The Italian film industry has been setting trends since Edison first released his wonderful moving picture cameras. Names like Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, and Lamberto Bava delivered what would be known as Spaghetti Nightmares. These are the films that gave birth to the American splatter craze that began in the 1970's. Then there was Sergio Leone and his Spaghetti Westerns that propelled Clint Eastwood to instant stardom with his Man With No Name films. Most film fans know these filmmakers and the history that spawned. What is less known is that decades before these trends Italian filmmakers were created, a genre often called sword and sandal films that featured a lot of ancient buff guys with swords saving cities, and of course beautiful damsels in distress. While many were low-budget affairs, they soon evolved into epic spectacles while still on somewhat limited funds. Among these films the Greek semi-god Hercules would become one of the more famous and successful. Hey, Greek mythology is in public domain, so you can develop a franchise that has high name recognition without having to pay royalties. Writers were a dime a dozen and could be paid with a six-pack and a TV dinner. In Europe at the time there were no unions to make sure everyone shared in the wealth. Before long the craze like the other Italian films caught on in the states. They were dubbed in English and given names often far more spectacular than the film, and they became staples of the drive-in teen audience. Now The Film Detective has remastered one of these sword and sandal delights with a new 4K restoration. You wouldn't believe it, but this one was originally shot with some 70mm elements. And so here we present Hercules And The Captive Women, originally titled Hercules Captures Atlantis.

The film starts with panic among the elites of Greece. There is a rumor that Atlantis is developing supermen to eventually attack and claim the world. King of Thebes, Androclo (Manni) pleads with his friend Hercules, played by Reg Park, to join him in an expedition to get to the truth and stop the plan. It's a very small crew, with the King, a short but feisty loyal servant Timoteo (Furnari), and Hercules' son, who has stowed away without his father's permission. The ship wrecks, and by the power of cinematic coincidence they are washed on the shores of Atlantis but separated. Hercules finds a maiden being sacrificed to a god. Ismene (Efrikian) is the daughter to Atlantis Queen Antinea (Spain) and has been set to die to appease the gods who threaten to destroy Atlantis. Hercules isn't going to make friends or influence people by saving her life. Yet as mad as the queen might be, she kind of falls for the big lunk. That is before he interferes in her plans. Androclo is there, but he appears to have been brainwashed and fights with his strong friend. After yet another rescue of the princess and discovery that his son is also there, Hercules finds a pit where thousands of slaves are kept. The Queen has discovered a strange rock that gives them the powers of a superman but also places them under her control. Of course, she pleads with Herc to join her and rule by her side, but the big guy isn't having any of it. That's too bad for the Queen and too bad for Atlantis, because they all fall down and go boom. And that's why you'll never see a unicorn to this very day ... forget that. That's another story ... sorry.

"There is a doorway in the universe. Beyond it is the promise of truth. It demands we question everything we have ever been taught. The evidence is all around us. We are not alone. We have never been alone."

Ever since Eric von Daniken released his speculative book and its subsequent 1970 film Chariots of the Gods, there has been an entire field of study created around something commonly called Ancient Astronaut Theory, the idea is that extraterrestrials have visited many of our ancient civilizations. The theory continues that these visitors had a hand in shaping our development, whether it be through technology or even manipulation of our very DNA. These believers point to a world of evidence to support their claims. There are tons of images from earlier civilizations that could certainly be interpreted as depicting modern devices, concepts, or even spacemen. There is plenty of speculation that some of the knowledge and accomplishments of these peoples could not have been possible without some outside interference. There are even those who believe that aliens best explain our religious beliefs and that God himself was/is an extraterrestrial being. Whatever your own beliefs on the subject, there are certainly some fascinating points to be made. There is no question that the speculations and observations bring up some interesting queries that deserve our attention. This series attempts to document much of this evidence and the beliefs these findings have inspired.

"We bring you the circus, pied piper whose magic tunes greet children of all ages, from six to 60, into a tinsel and spun-candy world of reckless beauty and mounting laughter and whirling thrills; of rhythm, excitement and grace; of blaring and daring and dance; of high-stepping horses and high-flying stars. But behind all this, the circus is a massive machine whose very life depends on discipline and motion and speed. A mechanized army on wheels that rolls over any obstacle in its path, that meets calamity again and again, but always comes up smiling. A place where disaster and tragedy stalk the big top, haunt the back yard, and ride the circus train. Where death is constantly watching for one frayed rope, one weak link, or one trace of fear. A fierce, primitive fighting force that smashes relentlessly forward against impossible odds. That is the circus. And this is the story of the biggest of the big tops, and of the men and women who fight to make it The Greatest Show on Earth." 

It was 1952 and four years before Cecil B. DeMille would deliver his Biblical epic release of The Ten Commandments. He would team with Charlton Heston for a bit of a dry run first in a film called The Greatest Show On Earth. It was released with the kind of fanfare that often precedes the arrival of the circus to town each year with its popcorn and elephants, clowns and lions and high flying trapeze artists. And while the circus is gone now, many of you are old enough to remember what a thrill it was to watch each time the big top opened up in our towns. For me it was Reading, Pennsylvania and the Rajah Theatre. Cecil B. DeMille was quite aware of the appeal of those usually annual visits. And so was born The Greatest Show On Earth.

"This bird you'll never change."

That seems to be the case with the Southern Rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Few bands have experienced the level of tragedy this one has. It's somewhat of a miracle that any version of the band would still be standing. But they are thriving and doing their best to keep their particular sound alive. And what better place to demonstrate that nearly 50 years after they were formed than back home in Jacksonville, Florida where the band's original members were formed. (No, they didn't come from Alabama.) I was never a huge fan of the band, but like most music lovers, I was drawn to hits like Free Bird. In my high school band we played Free Bird, Gimme Three Steps, and ... of course, Sweet Home Alabama. In later years another band of mine discovered the similarities with another iconic song, and we'd re-written some lyrics and would perform Werewolves Of Alabama. If you don't believe me, check it out for yourself.

Cute show, at least as far as I was concerned. My daughter is a bit of a different animal; then, of course, if it doesn’t show on Netflix or YouTube, she tends not to be all that interested. Unfortunately for my daughter, Victor & Valentino is a Cartoon Network show, so her interest in the series was nonexistent in the beginning. On the plus side, she was coming off a long punishment that included the loss of her TV privileges, so given an opportunity to watch any form of entertainment, she jumped at the chance. As I said, she wasn’t really about the show at first, but over the course of the 18 episodes, I think she started to enjoy it. Don’t let that number scare you. Each episode tends to run between 11 and 12 minutes, so you can watch the entire thing in the same span that it would take to watch a movie and a half. More on the subject: the series follows two half-brothers who are polar opposites; Victor “Vic” Calavera (who is voiced by show creator Diego Molano), an easily bored, hyperactive kid with a penchant for mischief and disregarding rules. This is perfectly displayed in the series opening episode when he ignores a warning from his grandmother not to play with an artifact due to it being the prison for a trickster spirit, but more on that in a second. Then there is Valentino or Val, Vic’s older, more cautious half-brother. His time is usually spent watching after his brother and trying to undo whatever mischief his brother has gotten them into. And believe me, there is a lot of mischief.

So our introduction into the series (the title of which is where this disc derives the Folk Art Foes name) includes the aforementioned trickster spirit. In a nutshell, Vic disregards his grandmother’s warning and unintentionally frees the trickster, which immediately begins to wreak havoc in their quiet town of Monte Macabre. At first, Vic finds the spirit’s antics entertaining until he begins to notice the trickster’s total disregard if his pranks hurt anyone whether it be physically or emotionally. It is at this point that the significance of the show becomes clear; each episode is a vehicle for delivering an important moral or life lesson. For me, this aspect of the show was what made the series worth watching.