( 1984 / Indonesia )
( 1984 / Indonesia )
Review By-Paul Cooke Director: Ratno Timoer Starring: Barry Prima , Gudi Santara & Advent Bangun Source : Mondo Macabro / NTSC All Region DVD / Stereo Sound / Wide Screen 2:35:1 Presentation / 16:9 Enhanced Format / English Language Dubbed / Interview With Barry Prima / Barry Prima Filmography / Movie Previews / Trailer
Fancy an Indonesian main course of flaming fireballs , served up by a weirdly wacky waiter with a cotton wool dyed beard that soaks up the on screen sauce !?. This very welcome serving of ‘The Devil’s Sword’ has lashings of belly busting guffaw that even the Atkin’s Plan Regime will get a carbo high from.
Opening with a crack of lightening that whips across the screen like Indiana Jones’ bullwhip without the aid of Industrial Light And Magic , but a curtain raiser non the less for the appearance of a super bearded wizard that clearly is no relation to the late , great Victor Kiam !. Withstanding the elements atop a windswept mountain top this wayward master of the arts is forging the mighty Devil’s Sword , and looking like he just might have enough left to pull a cotton wool rabbit out from his sleeve for an encore.
His feverish shenanigans do not go unnoticed and up from the murky depths of the great ocean rises the Crocodile Queen and her menagerie of Gator people , kind of like a Village People entourage from Atlantis. Well in her navy she is the nubile nympho of the Nile and there’s nothing she likes more than a man with a big Croc. The phoenix from the watery ashes sequence surely must have been an inspiration for Sergio Martino when shooting his own must experience bizzaro ‘The Fishmen And Their Queen’. The sets are garish variations from the world of Mario Bava and the costume designs look like they may have been an inspiration for the thimble and thumb techniques of Laura Gemser.
The Crocodile Queen has her own pimp daddy bodyguard who looks like a pantomime version of Sonny Chiba , armed to the forehead with lethal bushy eyebrows that could easily throw a karate chop all of their own. The Queen expects offerings of human sacrifices from the local villagers to appease her appetite for flesh that feeds her lust for youth and beauty. The seasons task is to acquire the Devil’s Sword and her servant for this task is risen up from the fiery pit equivalent of Indonesian Hell in the form of a super two sword wielding , flying rock riding killer , to slice and dice his way to the mystical blade.
Enter Barry Prima , hero and star of the ‘Jaka Sembung’ Warrior Trilogy , to stand up for righteousness and go up against the evil Queen’s henchman , who was once a friend and one time fellow student of good but having turned to the decidedly dark side. Time for some old school Sixties TV Batman Biff , Bash , Ka-Pow and crazy Fu fighting as the pectorally pumped Prima takes on the swordsman and his magically resurrected gang of crocodile men. Delight in the scaly croc crew’s demise as Prima shed’s no crocodile tears as he cuts a swathe to his main opponent , thinking nothing of slicing off their snappy headgear at the throat. The gushes of blood are of the syrupy solution type with a watery texture , akin to a soda syphon concoction found on the cheap shelf at the local budget buy grocers.
When Prima’s master , the wizard and creator of the Devil’s Sword , is left for dead by the Crocodile Queen’s band of united Evil Warriors , this fantastical hybrid of multi cultural absurdity gets even crazier. The sight of Prima trudging through a living forest to seek out a rare mushroom with healing properties to save his master culminates in an hilarious exploding defensive strike by the fungus. Before your jaw has time to recover from mirth mode it may just drop at the sight of Prima resorting to slicing off his masters legs at the knee to stop the poison spreading. It’s a gushingly gory scene but ‘knees’ must and all that !.
The Quest for the Devil’s Sword is undertaken as Prima is palmed a map to the mountain region by his master , who’s beard now scrapes the floor thanks to the bedside manner of Doctor P. Along for the journey on a parallel path are the United Evil Warriors. The tireless trek is beset with danger in the good old ‘bad’ movie fashion with a true highlight being the raft expedition , where Prima and newfound bodacious babe companion are beset by gator men popping up from out of the water. The rickety craft is helmed by the requisite robed animated skeleton and the scene of attacking Crocodile Queen underlings brandishing humongous weapons with serrated blades is crowd pleasing stuff , particularly as its soon a case of later ‘Gator.
The battle for the sword truly begins outside the entrance to the magic mountain with the Evil Warriors squaring off against each other in battle royal that transcends beyond the boundaries of your wildest imagination. The frenzied free for all turns into a disembodied battle as all manner of wacky weirdness is employed , along with a unique array of weaponry that won’t be found in any K-Mart catalogue.
Inside the cavernous mountain lay a multitude of perilous traps and pitfalls for the fearless Prima and do keep an eye out for the Cyclops Monster , ‘cause it’s a blinking riot !. ‘Indonesian Jones And The Temple Of Doom’ would not look out of place emblazoned across the header of a Poster , displayed loud and proud in the lobby of ‘B’ Movie Multiplexes around the globe.
Such implausible silliness is hilariously infectious and come the final showdown you’ll not want it to end. Prima gatecrashes the Croc Cave of the Queen to be lured in by her ravenous seduction technique , only for her to discover that his mighty Devil’s Sword is a little too big to take. This is big fun and unlike a lot of other Crock out there this one needs to be seen sooner rather than ‘Gator.
Mondo Macabro deserve an award of a Barry Prima personally signed bendy sword in recognition of their bravado in bringing this wildly over the top insanity to the super shiny format of DVD. The movie may be grainy in parts and certainly is as creaky as a rickety old horror ‘B’ movie , but its lovingly restored to a glory likely not seen since its initial release.
Both picture and sound quality are welcomingly good and far better than any previous video source availability. The true formatted 2:35:1 wide-screen viewing source is a true delight to behold , and the addition of a 16:9 enhancement for equipped television screens is extremely welcome. The stereo soundtrack may not be perfect but in actuality it could not be better , as the quirky dubbing is amusingly enhanced by that almost retro Seventies styled voice over that triggered many a guffaw from the theatre audience back then. Cleaning up a movies sound should only go so far , and Mondo Macabro here have tweaked with dedicated diligence rather than lobotomise to the degree of losing an inherent charm.
The Extras , although not overflowing , are informative and welcome. The most bizarre of the additional material on this disc without question is the filmed interview with star Barry Prima. The assistance of an interpreter only adds to the surreal engagement between those interviewing and the iconic Indonesian star. Held in a hotel relaxation suite , around a table with exotic drinks to quench the thirst , the spasmodic responses from Barry Prima are like Cheeta interviewing Tarzan. Imagine a real life character based upon Johnny Weiss Mueller , crossed with Bruce Lee , with subtitles and an out of synch lip movement. Entertainment of the most wild variety !.
Well done Mondo Macabro for bringing another fantastical obscurity to the eager clutches of film fans far flung from the Indonesian shores. This is classic late night weekend viewing , buffed to brilliance never before seen , all thanks to the shiny format and the ever emergent magnificence of Mondo Macabro.
Purchase this at X-Ploited Cinema
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© 2006 cinema-nocturna.com
