Hawk the Slayer (1980)

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

It briefly made the rounds of late night television in the mid-80's here in the U.S., and then I didn't see it until I recently bought the DVD.I admit I'm a "sword and sorcery" fan, and am usually rather forgiving when I watch one of these movies.But "Hawk--the Slayer" is in a class of bad all its own.First--the dumbest dialogue ever. It's as if someone filled a Rolodex with "standard lines from fantasy epics", and then used it to write the script. Thus we get such gems as "the prophecy is fulfilled!", "wolves now hunt where none were seen before", and "the wizards gather in the South".Jack Palance is supposed to be Hawk's brother. But he looks old enough to be his dad; and other than some similarities in their right ear-lobes, there is no resemblance whatsoever.The outside scenes all seem to have been filmed in the same tiny patch of forest. And what's with all those skulls and lizards that seem to be randomly scattered about? F/X largely is confined to stopping and reversing the camera, along with generous use of the smoke machine. In a supposedly haunted forest, our heroes are menaced by what appears to be a finger puppet.The music is a curious sub-sub genre that can be best termed "medieval disco".What WERE they thinking when making this film, anyway?

'Hawk the Slayer' deserves top marks. Not because it's that good, but simply because of the effort put into it. It is truly an awful film with few genuinely redeeming features, yet it's played 'straight' all the way through. Someone wrote online, 'If the 'Carry On...' team ever made a serious 'sword and sorcery' film then it would be this.Therefore, the only people who will ever get anything out of this film will be those who can appreciate those 'so bad they're good' films, or people (like me) who watched it as a child and still have nostalgic feelings towards it (for the record, me and my friends 'played' Hawk the Slayer in the playground in junior school).I will start by listing (at least some) of this movie's bad points (mainly because it – technically – doesn't have any good ones). All 'bad points' can also be looked at as good points because they're so laughably fun. The acting. Oh dear. On the one hand you have Jack Palance who does his best to hiss his way through every scene going and on the other, you have John Terry (no, not the footballer, although his acting may be at least on a par with our leading man's) who has a daft haircut which goes some way to take your mind off his acting abilities. He teams up with a giant (who isn't very tall), a dwarf (who isn't very short), a man with one hand (or rather his 'missing' hand wrapped in a bandage) and an elf (who acts like Mr Spock only with less light-heartedness). These famous five then take on Jack Palance's merry men in a variety of different places in the British woods.Then you have the special effects. They consist of people being killed by coloured ping pong balls and covered (to death) in silly string (no, seriously).The action scenes have to be seen to be believed. By repeatedly using fast-paced editing shots on someone firing a bow and arrow or crossbow, you get an almost 'machine gun-like' effect (the bad guys don't stand a chance!).It's fair to say that Hawk the Slayer is the best of the worst films ever made. It's so bad you have to see it to believe it. Then, if you still haven't had enough, I could also recommend Star Crash (which is so bad it's good, only in space instead of the British woods).

Hawk the Slayer is a basic story, revenge, magic, swords, assorted villains and one hero sort of the magnificent seven (if you include the sorceress). The acting with a few notable exceptions is wooden, the fight scenes are strained and the resolution unclear. But it works. Maybe it's the nostalgia factor, I was 6 when this was released. Maybe it's Jack Palance chewing the scenery for all he's worth. Maybe it's the amalgamation of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and the Magnificent Seven. It doesn't really matter. Hawk the Slayer has enough action, enough characters and enough raw concept to still make me smile and reach for the remote whenever it's on television. There have been rumors of sequels in planning for years which shows that the idea works and with some slick production and solid direction could easily fit into the sword and sorcery revival with the Hobbit, a new Conan and more. It does still stand up against the low budget fantasy DVD releases that you see at the supermarket each week and that is not bad for a TV movie over 30 years old. Ultimately it is a great piece of nostalgia, a movie where everyone is clearly committed to the cause and still a lot of fun.

I first saw this movie in 1981 at about 4 o'clock in the morning and I LOVED it. I had some friends staying over at my house for the weekend, we were 12 years old and lived to play D&D. About 2 minutes after the movie ended we all set about creating our own Mindswords and automatic crossbows for our characters. Yes, the acting is truly lame, but in a movie like this, who cares? I've always secretly hoped that there was a sequel made, as they totally left it open for one, but I guess that would be too much to ask for. I have always wanted to find the movie on DVD so I can show it to my nephews, who thanks to me, are also D&D players. The greatest cult fantasy movie ever!