MST3K 410 - Hercules Against the Moon Men

410 - Hercules Against the Moon Men
Air/Release Date	August 22, 1992
AKA	Maciste vs. the Stone Men
Movie Director	Giacomo Gentilomo
Year	1964
Cast	Sergio Ciani (billed here as Alan Steel), Jany Clair, Anna Maria Polani, Nando Tamberlani
Preceded by	409 - The Indestructible Man
Followed by	411 - The Magic Sword

The Movie

Synopsis

Hercules Against the Moon Men

After a meteor crashes into a mountain, Moon Men emerge and demand human sacrifices from the city below. This goes on for years until Claudis, adviser to Queen Samara (Clair), sends for the mighty Hercules to save them all. The evil Queen Samara however, is in league with the Moon Men, and does everything in her power to stop Hercules. The Moon Men need a final human sacrifice on the night of the convergence of the planets in order to bring their queen Selena back to life. The sacrifice turns out to be the princess Phyllis, and Hercules must rescue her and stop the Moon Men before it's too late. [1]

Information

Hercules Against the Moon Men

• While sword-and-sandal epics like this were primarily made in Italy and filmed in Italian, most of the lead actors were from other countries. Native Italians were usually relegated to supporting roles, but Alan managed to build a career. Alan, whose real name is Sergio Ciani, has appeared in twenty-three different Italian films. He has been credited under the names Alan Steel (as in this movie) and John Wyler. [2]

• Because American audiences were unfamiliar with the Italian film character Maciste, the title character’s name was changed to Hercules, similarly to The Magic Voyage of Sinbad.

The Episode

Host Segments

The Bots Booby Trap

Prologue: Believing the grass is always greener on the other side, Tom and Crow decide to run away to the other side of the ship. It doesn't last.

Segment One: While Joel and the bots have invented the Super Freak-Out Kit, the Mads' invention of DEEP HURTING is woven into the experiment itself.

Segment Two: Crow and Tom use Joel as the subject of their amazing BOOBY trap illusion, with innuendos abounding.

Segment Three: Joel gives the Bots new muscular arms and they all come up with their new tough guy names (the rules: a virile first name and a last name that is something hard, as in "Alan Steel"). Unfortunately Tom's suggestions aren't all that aggressively tough and his body rejects his new donor limbs.

Deep Hurting

Segment Four: Having finally had enough with all the toga/skirt action in these Hercules films, Joel and the Bots sing the stirring song Pants!

Closing (Segment Five): The SOL crew discuss the replacement of actors in sequels and TV series, but Tom is forced to read the letter alone after Crow breaks Gypsy's heart by mentioning Richard Basehart was just such a replacement and Joel has to dismember him. Dr. F is alarmed by Joel and the Bots' ability to survive a movie like this, but works out some of his anxiety by enacting a little DEEP HURTING on Frank.

Stinger: Old guy gets skewered on a booby trap.

Other Notes

Miscellanea

• Outside References: Crow's alter ego in segment three, "Drake Tungsten", was used as the name of one of the comic book lines in the video game Fallout 3.

Obscure References

• "...by Four Dead in Ohio Art! Tin soldiers and Nixon sold separately!"

A reference to both the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song "Ohio", and the toy company Ohio Art.

• "He's goin' up against the Unification Church..."

Followers of the Unification Church are often derisively referred to as "Moonies", after its founder, Sun Myung Moon.

• "NC Stu-Stu-Studio!"

Reference to Loreal's Studio Line hair care products, whose commercials began with the lyrics, "Stu-Stu-Studio. Studio Line from Loreal."

• "Behind the Green Door!"

Behind the Green Door was a pornographic film originally released in 1972.

• "Shop Red Owl."

Red Owl was a grocery store chain in Minnesota & the Upper Midwest.

• "Rob Reiner, NO!"

Rob Reiner is a bald, bearded, heavyset actor and director who is perhaps best known for the role of Michael Stivic ("Meathead") on the show All in the Family. The thug attacking Hercules does look something like Reiner in his later years.

• "Father Murphy, NO!"

Father Murphy was a TV series from the early 1980s.

• "Pizza Pizza!"

The slogan of the Little Caesars chain of pizza parlors in the early 90's.

• "I'm a Grimwold warrior!!!"

From The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent. Said by the fey prince in a key scene.

• "'Porky's 2'!"

A reference to the infamous shower-peeking scene in the film Porky's.

• "I'm writing a spec script for Aristophanes."

Aristophanes was an Ancient Greek playwright; a "spec script" is one which is written in the hope that it can later be sold (as opposed to one paid for in advance).

• Dang Me, Dang Me, Trailer for Sale or Rent, etc.

For unknown reasons, Joel and the 'bots have the slaves operating the torture device singing the songs of Roger Miller (some know him best as the voice of Allan a Dale, the lute strumming rooster, in Disney's 1973 version of Robin Hood; his song "Whistle Stop" is heard repeatedly throughout the film).

• "You told me a fabricated story that wouldn't convince a child!"

Spoken by John Carradine's character in The Unearthly.

• "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!"

A quote from a 1970s margarine commercial.

• "I am the Mighty Pavog (sic)!"

The Mighty Favog was a character from the Muppet segments on the first season of Saturday Night Live.

• "It's the Inhumanoids!"

Inhumanoids was a toy line from the late 1980s. Technically the rock creatures from the line weren't considered Inhumanoids.

• "It's like a bad Antonioni movie!"

Michelangelo Antonioni (1912-2007) was an Italian filmmaker.

• "Gymkata!"

Gymkata is a 1985 Yugoslavian film. It's named after the martial arts style invented by its star, gymnast Kurt Thomas, incorporating ninjitsu and Olympic gymnastics.

• "Why don't ya kiss 'er instead of talkin' her to death?!"

Line from the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life.

• "It's the Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots! They're gonna knock my block off!"

Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots is a game where the players control robot-styled boxers. The game is decided when one player manages to punch off the head of the other's robot.

• "It's clobberin' time!"

Catch phrase used by "The Thing", member of Marvel Comics Fantastic Four superhero team. The Thing is a man covered in rock, hence the reference when the Moon Men's rocky minions are about.

• "Sounds kinda like Eraserhead."

The soundtrack to David Lynch's film Eraserhead is largely composed of ambient white noise.

• "Look into your heart!"

Quoting Bernie Bernbaum in Miller's Crossing, as he (twice) begs Tom not to kill him.

Video Release

• Commerically released on DVD by Rhino in April 2005 as part of The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 7, a 4-DVD set with Hercules Unchained, Prince of Space, and The Killer Shrews.

MST3K 410 Promo

preceded by: Season 3		MST3K Season 4					followed by: Season 5
		1992 - 1993
401	Space Travelers	1992-06-06	409	Indestructible Man	1992-08-15	417	Crash of Moons	1992-11-28
402	The Giant Gila Monster	1992-06-13	410	Hercules Against the Moon Men	1992-08-22	418	Attack of the the Eye Creatures	1992-12-05
403	City Limits	1992-06-20	411	The Magic Sword	1992-08-29	419	The Rebel Set	1992-12-12
404	Teenagers from Outer Space	1992-06-27	412	Hercules and the Captive Women	1992-09-12	420	The Human Duplicators	1992-12-26
405	Being from Another Planet	1992-07-04	413	Manhunt in Space	1992-09-19	421	Monster A-Go Go	1993-01-09
406	Attack of the Giant Leeches	1992-07-18	414	Tormented	1992-09-26	422	The Day the Earth Froze	1993-01-16
407	The Killer Shrews	1992-07-25	415	The Beatniks	1992-11-25	423	Bride of the Monster	1993-01-23
408	Hercules Unchained	1992-08-01	416	Fire Maidens of Outer Space	1992-11-26	424	Manos: The Hands of Fate	1993-01-30