To me it's better than any slick CGI masterpiece of modern cinema

AndreiPavlov

It's one of those movies which are not easy to forget due to its unique entertaining atmosphere that sometimes really hits the ceiling.

This old and "outdated" horror/action flick has extremely well made special effects. Without modern technology, that is so polished in today's movies (take "Lord of the Rings" for example), the makers of this little flick achieved the heights of suspense, chaos, insanity, and lunacy of most weird characters. The characters are quite zany and badass. That's what we like about such movies.

There was a kind of a good guy who ran about and annoyed hordes of medieval knights, warders, crooks, etc.

There was a prince, who wielded a three-bladed sword, and the sword was shooting the blades like some gun.

There was a very dark character who fell down the hill (was it a sorcerer?), and the trivia says that the stuntman was killed while doing this stunt (nowadays the character would be CGI of course).

There was a bloody scene of the inmates breaking free with some guy pushing the bald warden's head against a circular saw... sorry, against the grindstone.

There was a surreal escape scene at the medieval "pub" where the hero got crucified but broke free (incredibly pushing the nailed hands off the wall) and kicked some butts.

There was some witch in ragged clothes that got served by the sorcerer and flew across the cavern like a crow. A little and maybe unimportant scene but it made a very hallucinogenic impression.

This film can hardly be called a moral tale for young boys and girls but for a grown-up with a strong stomach it is a good tale (free from CGI) that can carry very far away from the modern world. But it sure has some pompous speeches. The narrator's voice also gets a bit too far sometimes. It's a part of entertainment though.

Some would say that this kind of movies was common and there existed and exist a lot of such low-end products. Nonsense. Very few directors achieved such heights in this genre without computer effects, without big-name actors, and, suppose, with minimum cash at hand. A genuine treat.

There is also a groovy sci-fi flick titled "Cyborg" from the same director. Do not miss it either.

Hope, that's enough already to give this stuff a definite 10 out of 10 (excellent and yes, yes, it's crazy). Thanks for attention.

score 10/10

AndreiPavlov 24 January 2007

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1581429/