Erotic Adventures Of Hercules, The (Bijou) Review

Distributor: Bijou Video Edition Details: Standard Streaming and Download Movie Specs: Genres: Classic (1970s Shot on Film), Feature Film, Gay, Fantasy Run Time: 56 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1971 Director: Rik Taziner (as Ric Tasiner) Written by: Rik Taziner (as Ric Tasiner) Director of Photography: uncredited Cast: uncredited Release Specs: Audio: English Mono Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: Streaming/Download Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): N/A Number of discs: N/A

Before The Erotic Adventures of Hercules was a fake film starring Troy McClure in The Simpsons, it was a real adult film. Sadly, The Simpsons incarnation of The Erotic Adventures of Hercules is far more amusing than this early effort from Rik Taziner.

Interestingly enough, Taziner made two different versions of The Erotic Adventures of Hercules, one gay and one straight. They both have essentially the same story. The male cast in the straight version is the same in both. The gay version has an all male cast and the straight one has half of the roles performed by women.

In this Hercules story, ancient scrolls have been discovered that tell the story of how Hercules is a man. Casmar, the ruler of the Serasins and the Coastal region, has been trying to ruin the power of Hercules, but is constantly defeated by the hero every time. Casmar has enslaved everyone within his region to do his sexual bidding. Casmar tells the Prince of Sedina to if he can gain Hercules's confidence he will free him, his family, and bestow upon them treasure.

The story is minimal here and some is told through narration. The gay version has more of the storyline intact than the straight version but it still isn't enough to hold interest and doesn't always make sense either, especially since at the end of the film Hercules is referred to as a god. The sets are cheap and hastily thrown together and Taziner apparently had some beach footage that he was really proud of since he used it repeatedly throughout the film. There are some attempts to make the film look like it took place in ancient times. However there are some glaring errors that stare through at you and most of it comes across as just looking cheap.

As a straight male, the sex scenes are hard to gauge. If the gay versions are as titillating as the straight versions, then the scenes are fair at best. The film is mostly driven by the always climactic music that is heard throughout most of the film.

Greek and Roman mythology lends itself to the adult realm. If you read the original myths, they are filled with sex and debauchery. Somehow Taziner has managed to mess all of that up in his The Erotic Adventures of Hercules that was shoestring budgeted. Some viewers may want to check this out once but it won't hold up to repeat viewing; most viewers will probably want to skip The Erotic Adventures of Hercules.

Rik Taziner made two versions of The Erotic Adventures of Hercules, one gay and one straight, and this release contains only the gay version of The Erotic Adventures of Hercules. As of the time of writing, Bijou's release of The Erotic Adventures of Hercules is only available through Hot Movies for streaming and download. The straight version of The Erotic Adventures of Hercules is currently available on DVD on Vinegar Syndrome's All Night at the Po-No (Storefront Theatre Collection Volume 1: Po-No).

The Erotic Adventures of Hercules is presented in the academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The print contains grain, heavier in some places than others, print damage, and artifacts. The transfer appears to have come from a video master because there are glitches in the video. The colors are heavily washed out at times and the film often appears to be too bright. This isn't a stunning transfer but it is watchable. Since this is a streaming/download film, picture quality may vary based on internet connections.

The Erotic Adventures of Hercules is presented with an English audio track. There are some issues with the track, there are pops, crackles, hiss, jumps and some distortion. The audio was clearly damaged at some point in time. There are times where the dialog is hard to properly discern.

Rik Taziner made two different versions of The Erotic Adventures of Hercules. One is a straight version and the other is a gay version Bijou has released only the gay version. The Erotic Adventures of Hercules was quickly made, not well written, and fails to keep the viewers attention. Bijou's release of The Erotic Adventures of Hercules has come from a beat up print with audio issues that appears to have been most recently sourced from a video master.

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