Maciste in Hell
Maciste all'inferno
Italy
1925
95 Min
Black and White
Italian
Pure luscious camp avant la lettre. Plays delightful havoc with the ideas of strength & virtue. Starts off as a somewhat boring melodrama but once Maciste gets to hell, well all hell breaks loose. The scenes in hell are pretty amazing visually too & remind one of Fellini Satyricon (Fellini listed this as one of his favorites) It badly needs to be restored though.
Cabiria (1914) was the seminal Italian historical epic, adding to the gigantic sets and overplayed melodrama of predecessors like Nero and The