Hawk the Slayer

This movie is a rare exception. After reading a lot of the reviews, I would have to say I agree with most of them. Yes, it does have bad acting, bad special effects, and bad directing but there is something about it (I can't quite put my finger on it) that makes it great!

I watch this movie every time I know it is going to be on. I guess I like what it tried to do more than what it actually did. I would honestly like to see a sequel (although too late now) done to this. They hinted toward it at the end but I guess it never came to fruition.

In summary, I would recommend seeing this movie. A rare film that is both great and bad at the same time.

Similar to the reputation Showgirls has received in the "its so bad its good" category, upon repeated viewing of this film you can only just marvel on how crap this film is. The acting is diabolical, the story is terrible and the special effects were done by the local primary school.

It is because it suffers from almost every cinematic angel it becomes entertaining to watch.

Kids will love it and adults will laugh at the semi-serious attempt in making a fantasy film with elves, dwarfs, giants (or rather the very large man from the carry on films) and a witch whose special powers include fire balls that look remarkably like ping pong balls painted in luminous colours.

I am aware that this film has been badly received by most reviewers, but I cannot get myself to agree. It may be corny, cheesy, gimmicky, but for me, all the gimmicks worked. I loved the matte paintings, which most sfx connoisseurs scoff at. I loved the stiff acting, and melodramatic cornball dialogue, and the shallow Tolkienesque ambiance. I adored Jack Palance's ham acting as the villain. I loved the Elf, and the Dwarf, and the Giant, and the Witch. I loved the music (and did not notice anything particularly "70s" about it, but perhaps that was because I grew up in that era). What I loved most about it was an aspect that another commentator complained about: its incompleteness. That other commentator (from IMDb) complained that he felt like he was watching part 2 of a three-act play. Well, that's a good thing, isn't it? What is the point of immersing oneself in a fantasy world if it is going to be so small it can contain itself in a single film. The implication that I was watching a small part of a much greater story was what gave this film its charm. The cryptic references to things beyond its borders made the world created seem far vaster than it was, and helped the matte paintings seem to come to life.

-- NystulC

As you watch this film, you will more than likely sit back and say, "This is so silly." Remember this is an 80's film. I remember first watching this film as a teenager and saying it was so cool. Well many moons later, I can see the aweful special effects, and the obvious mistakes made. The interesting things about "B" movies is that if actors know they are in one; it comes through in their acting. With this film, they try to act as seriously as possible, which makes it more believable. For people with a poor budget, they did quite well. The score is still some of the coolest music ever. It sets the tone for the film, and encompasses Hawk's mysterious nature.

As a regular film, it is aweful. As a "B" film, it does quite well. Cult classic.

Mediaval romp about two brothers locked in deadly combat till the end of time . This is an atmospheric sliced chunk of swords , fights , sandals and witchery . It is set in a strange land of swirling fog , somewhere in the mists of time , there a misfit crew of rebels rides through orange-skied outdoors . There a good warrior , Hawk the Slayer (John Terry) , struggles against his malevolant brother (Jack Palance) , to possess a magic sword with incredible powers . After seeing both , his dad (Ferdy Mayne) and sweetheart (Catriona McColl) die at the hands of his ruthless sibling Voltan, then Hawk the Slayer sets out in pursuit him and the chance to live up to his title . As Hawk leads the battle against Voltan to free the land from the forces of evil and avenge his loved ones . The group is formed by an elf , a giant , a dwarf , an one-armed man with a machine-crossbow (Bernard Brasslaw) and a witch (Patricia Quinn) , who can turn an useful trick or to , all of them attempt to bring peace and order. These peculiar weird crew of reservists rides at the shoulder of the heroic warrior Hawk the Slayer . This valiant hero wielding a "mind-sword" has great opponents , the first : the big Brother , Jack Palance, along with his bunch of minions and guards under his stiff command. The object of the motley team , kill each other . As an Abbess (Annette Crosbie) is kidnapped and the brave outfit has to free her .

This is a comic-book fantasy with thrills , fierce fights , noisy action and necromancy .There is a vein of satire to all this and and references to legions of darkness . It is full of cardboard castles , painted backdrops , matte-painting , sorcery , and gauze-infested woods . It is all so incredibly tacky that it almost works . Here Palance makes a great villain , he steals the show , though giving overacting . A varied cast , it stars John Terry as Hawk the Slayer , tooling himself up with the magic sword and he sets out for vendetta , recruiting a motley band of warriors formed by an Elf interpreted by Ray Charleson , a dwarf played by Peter Farrell , a giant acted by Bernard Bresslaw , along with an Abbess perfomed by Annette Crosbie , and a nun performed by Cheryl Campbell , the wonder of it is that this cast can deliver their lines without cracking up , though packing unbelievably some anticlimatic , inappropriate and ridiculous scenes . And a notorious support cast formed by prestigious secondaries making brief appearances as Harry Andrews , Derrick O'Connor , Warren Clarke , Patrick McGee , Peter Benson , Roy Kinnear, Barry Stokes , Ferdy Mayne , Shane Briant and Graham Stark.

It delivers an unusual and inadequate musical score by synthesizer composed by Harry Robertson who also wrote and produced. Being well photographed in wonderful outdoors by Paul Beeson , Disney usual . Being shot on location in Buckinghamshire , Black Park , Mansfield , England and Pinewood Studios .The motion picture was original but regularly directed by Terry Marcel , a craftsman who has made some decent films such as : ¨Prisoner of the Lost Universe¨ , ¨Jane and the Lost City¨ , ¨The Last Seduction II¨ and several TV episodes of series as ¨Heartbeat¨ , ¨Trainer¨ ,¨Dark Night¨ , ¨Robin Hood¨ , among others .Rating 5.5/10 . Passable and acceptable in spite of some very silly scenes .