by Anthony O'Connor
Worth: Discs: 3 + 2, The Film: 3.5/5, The Extras: 4/5, Overall: 7.5/10
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Marc Singer, Tanya Roberts, Rip Torn, John Amos, Lee Horsley, Richard Lynch, Richard Moll, Kathleen Beller, Emily Yancy
Intro:
… unclaimed treasures from epochs long gone.
The Films:
The sword and sorcery subgenre has pretty much died in the arse in recent years, but there was a time when it filled the shelves of video shops across the land. Conan the Barbarian, Deathstalker, Red Sonja, Conquest and today’s double act, The Beastmaster and The Sword and the Sorcerer, are all classic examples of flicks where near-nude heroes and heroines battled monsters, witches, dragons and, often, extremely limited budgets. These movies could range from kid friendly to extremely toey and gory, but they almost always abounded with themes of prophecy, good versus evil and a wistful longing for simpler times long gone.
So, how does the quintessentially ‘80s duo of The Beastmaster (1982) and The Sword and the Sorcerer (1983) stack up in this confounding year of 2026? Honestly, pretty well. There’s a lot of fun to be had here, and some genuinely striking visuals to enjoy. Plus, you know, ferrets!
The Beastmaster tells the story of Dar (Billy Jacoby/Marc Singer), a boy of royal birth, cruelly snatched from his mother’s womb and placed in a cow (!) by an evil witch working for the nefarious high priest, Maax (Rip Torn). Saved from being sacrificed by a passing farmer (Ben Hammer), Dar is raised in the simple village of Akur where he learns to fight and hones his strange ability to communicate with animals. He grows up hot, buff and strong and settles into village life well… that is until a marauding gang of psychotic barbarians known as Juns massacres every man, woman and child. Dar then embarks on an epic quest to get revenge on both Maax and the Duns, enlisting the help of Sharak the eagle, a black panther named Ruh and two adorable ferrets who go by Kodo and Podo. Although, to be honest, at the start at least, Dar is mainly interested in winning the affections of beautiful slave girl, Kiri (Tanya Roberts).
Skewed more for a younger audience (except for one scene with a slightly pervy bit of ferret-assisted nudity), The Beastmaster is actually a lot of fun. A big part of that comes down to superb direction from Don Coscarelli (Phantasm I-IV, Bubba Ho-Tep), a savvy genre pioneer who delivers a rip-roaring yarn with just the right amount of humour, horror and biffo. Props also to the cast, who are clearly having a good time. Marc Singer is a very reliable lead, buff and oiled up most of the time, but with enough of a sense of affable whimsy to make him a likable protagonist. Tanya Roberts is beautiful and capable and makes Kiri a genuinely cool character, and John Amos is fantastic as Seth, the stern bad arse who assists our heroes. However, the undeniable scene stealer of the film is Rip Torn as Maax, who delivers a campy turn replete with a huge fake nose (at his insistence, no less!) and weapons-grade eyebrows.
While The Beastmaster is tropey and a bit daft at times, it’s also well shot and acted, and has a genuinely solid script from Coscarelli and Paul Pepperman. The same cannot be said for The Sword and the Sorcerer, however, because hooly dooly, is this film a mess?!
The Sword and the Sorcerer takes place in a forgotten land of men, monsters and shockingly bad wigs. It is the story of evil bastard Titus Cromwell (Richard Lynch), who teams up with slimy sorcerer Xusia (Richard Moll) to flog the crown and kingdom off nice guy ruler King Richard (Christopher Cary). Ol’ mate Cromwell manages to win the day, slaughtering Dicko, Queen Malia (Nina Van Pallandt) and their kid, Henry. Their surviving child, Talon (James Jarnigan/Lee Horsley) manages to escape and flees the kingdom, promising to one day return. Eleven years later, he makes good on his promise, lobbing up with his triple bladed projectile sword (which has to be seen to be believed), however, he’s now a cocky mercenary and seems uninterested in reclaiming his kingdom. On the other hand, he’s very interested in revolutionary hottie Alana (Kathleen Beller) who agrees to root Talon if he helps save her fellow resistance members. It’s played for quirky laughs but, uh, that’s uncomfortably close to sexual coercion, Talon old son.
The Sword and the Sorcerer actually has a pretty complicated plot, with warring kingdoms, betrayed sorcerers and prolific family trees. It’s a bit like George RR Martin after a head injury or Glen Cook, but all the intrigue is replaced with shaking sets, shonky fight choreography and sporadic, ropey gore. Director Albert Pyun (Cyborg, Nemesis) does his best with what is clearly a low budget, but the cracks are apparent pretty much from the jump. The cast are a mixed bag, with Richard Lynch great fun as always and Kathleen Beller both stunning and spunky. Our hero, however, is a bit of a dickhead. Lee Horsley can’t quite find the charm in the character and while he has his moments, usually ones involving him shooting projectile blades out of that goofy bloody sword, he’s more smug than rakish and your engagement may suffer as a result. That said, the flick frequently creeps into “so bad it’s good” territory and will likely make a solid second film in this double bill. Just make sure you’ve necked a couple of beers (or whatever) first.
Interestingly, The Beastmaster, despite being a much better film, was a bit of a whiff at the box office. It became a huge hit on VHS and went on to spawn two sequels and a TV show that lasted for three seasons! The Sword and the Sorcerer, on the other hand, was a mammoth hit at the cinema (clearing nearly AU$55 Million at the US box office alone) and a teaser at the end of the flick readied audiences for a sequel titled Tales of an Ancient Empire. In the end, however, said sequel didn’t appear until 2010 and it was a shocker. Starring Kevin Sorbo no less! Show business is weird, man.
Anyway, both films look gorgeous in their respective 4K prints, although The Beastmaster is a significantly better looking film. The experience of watching these two really brings back the smell of plastic video cases and the sheer, vain thrill that these films could possibly live up to their spectacular, garish covers.
The Extras:
Decent treasures in both boxes here. The Beastmaster comes with two audio commentaries, one with co-writer/director Don Coscarelli and co-writer/producer Paul Pepperman, moderated by filmmaker Joe Lynch; and an older, 2001 one with Don and Paul. There’s The Saga of the Beastmaster making-of documentary, Super 8mm home movies, shot by James Dodson with audio commentary by Don and Paul and an archival interview with actor Marc Singer, plus outtakes and bits and bobs.
The jewel in the crown (or ferret in the bag), however, is The Beastmaster Chronicles (2020), a feature-length documentary by director Elijah Drenner that covers the entire film from conception to release and beyond, and features interviews with the cast, crew and many modern genre directors on whom the film had such a huge impact. Some of the revelations are fascinating, including the fact that they couldn’t train a panther for the film, so they painted a tiger black, and the rather grim disclosure that Coscarelli essentially had the film taken away from him for the edit. The package also comes with a second version of the film that has a few dodgy VFX shots corrected but honestly, the dodginess is half the joy of these movies.
The Sword of the Sorcerer’s extras are numerous but less spectacular with two audio commentaries from director Albert Pyun, one moderated by film critic John Charles and another by film critic Chris Gore. Tales of the Ancient Empire, interview with director Albert Pyun, A Princess’ Tale, an interview with actress Kathleen Beller, Master of the Blade, an interview with editor Marshall Harvey and the highlight, Mightier than the Sword, an interview with co-writer/co-producer John Stuckmeyer, which gives a sense of how the whole caper came together. Other smaller featurettes with special effects people and stuntmen round out the package.
Both films come in gorgeous hardboxes with lenticular covers and include mini-posters with the discs housed in schmick-looking steelbooks. This is pure nerdbait and it’s annoying how effective it is.
Verdict:
The Beastmaster and The Sword and the Sorcerer feel like unclaimed treasures from epochs long gone. Although both films have their flaws, they’re also undeniably fun and make a fantastic double feature to relive those halcyon days when an entire genre was based around muscular people walloping one another in their smalls and fighting rubber monsters with great alacrity.
