Der Herr der Krokodile - Devil's Sword

Fans of bizarre foreign trash, oddball martial arts movies, low-budget gore-fests and crazy ninja flicks should find plenty to enjoy in this bonkers Indonesian fantasy film featuring loads of frantic fight action, spurting blood and bad special effects.

A tasty nymphomaniac crocodile queen abducts men from nearby villages, and keeps them trapped in her sub-aqua palace where she uses them to satisfy her sexual urges. When the evil queen sends one of her top fighters to kidnap a man about to be married, the ever-so-miffed wife-to-be teams up with good warrior Mandala (Barry Prima) to search for a magic sword which can help them defeat their enemies.

I enjoy bad films almost as much as I enjoy good ones and, if you feel the same way, then it is highly likely that you will find much to enjoy about this totally weird 80s effort from director Ratno Timoer. With its dreadfully executed, but very bloody, gore effects and non-stop fights, it is hard not to enjoy a movie which scores so high on the silly-ometer.

Invite a few friends round, have a few beers and sit back and enjoy watching endless hordes of crocodile men getting sliced by Barry, vicious killers battling each other for possession of the magical sword, a creature that is a serious contender for 'worst movie monster of all time', and bargain basement visuals that need to be seen to be believed.

The Devil's Sword might not be a great film, but it is definitely unmissable if you dig strange cinematic offerings from all corners of the globe. I give it 6 out of 10 (although it almost got a 7 for its excessive use of dry ice).

This is quite simply one of the most fun movies I've ever seen. A riot of colorful craziness from start to finish. And Barry Prima is one of the best action heroes of the 80's - bar none.

If you like films with more than a touch of the wild, the weird and the wonderful, then this one is for you.

The newly released DVD is a real revelation for those who've only seen this film in cut full screen VHS versions. Anamorphic widescreen, with colors that leap off the screen. It's a beaut.

The extras include a rare interview (the only one I've ever seen) with the afore mentioned Mr Prima, who comes across as just about as crazy as the films he starred in.

You owe it to yourself to check this one out. You won't be sorry.

There exist only two types of conditions and circumstances under which I'm willing to watch a movie like "The Devil's Sword", and that's either together with a group of friends completely intoxicated by alcohol or other (slightly more illegal) drugs OR at a special type of themed festival in a ramshackle theater surrounded by a crowed of equally over-enthusiast genre fanatics! In this case, it was option number two, as the Belgian Off-Screen festival scheduled a crazy Indonesian 80s double-feature with "Lady Terminator" and this "The Devil's Sword". Now I already knew that the former was guaranteed entertainment; a completely bonkers and shameless "The Terminator" rip-off starring an unknown beauty (Barbara Anne Constable) as the reincarnation of a mythical Indonesian sea-queen on a relentless killing spree. I didn't know anything about "The Devil's Sword" yet, but the plot description and still looked equally amusing. Like "Lady Terminator", the film is also based on national heritage (legends, comic books…) but still grabs every possible opportunity to blatantly imitate the biggest Hollywood blockbusters. They really must have worshiped Arnold Swarzenegger in Indonesia back then because here the main inspiration comes from the Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery classic "Conan the Barbarian". The story is senseless and I won't bother too much to summarize, just keep in mind the following key words: atrocious acting, laughable dubbing, silly crocodile costumes, flying rocks, badly choreographed swashbuckling and chopped off heads. However, in sheer contrast to "Lady Terminator", which is truly a masterpiece in its own and very secluded league, "The Devil's Sword" quickly gets dull, repetitive and uninteresting. Around halfway through the film, I really had difficulties staying awake and even the cheerful crowd had tempered down. The long and tedious samurai/swashbuckling fights are supposed to cover up that the plot is weak and substantially void, but that naturally only works for about half an hour. Therefore the first 30 minutes are hilarious, with a crazily yelling freaks flying down a mountain on a piece of rock, only to interrupt a small town's wedding, claim that the husband is property of the subterranean Crocodile Queen and then subsequently slaughter the entire community. The only person that fights back more or less decently is the bride, whereas the broom cowardly hides behind his father-in-law. 5/10. Half of the points because I was entertained for about half of the film.

The most interesting part of the night was actually the introduction. For these two screenings, the festival's organization had invited one of the founders of the Mondo Macabro DVD-label that specializes in fancily releasing this type of globally neglected cinematic trash. This person, and I sadly forgot his name, shared a couple of lovely trivia facts with the audience. For example, Barbara Anne Constable was furious when she discovered via her 14- year-old daughter that "Lady Terminator" was released by the DVD label, because she hoped that the movie would never be shown outside of Indonesia. Another story was about the lead star of "The Devil's Sword", Barry Prima, who was quite a big star in Indonesia during the 1980s, but allegedly hated acting and particularly loathed the films he starred in. During an interview with the label, he stated that he only came to the interview to see the idiots that want to put the rubbish that were his films on DVD.

... ever! (I always wanted to write that:) Many years ago (in 1993 as I recall it) one of my former classmates persuaded me to watch what he called "a epic masterpiece". To this day it stands out to me as the worst movie I have ever seen. The acting, the story, the effects - everything is bad. Unless you are one of these people who just loves to appreciate trash, you should pass on this. However chances are that since you are reading this, you've already seen it.

Out of almost 500 movies this is the only non-short I've given a 1/10.

I haven't seen any other low-budget Asian warrior flicks, so I guess there's even worse things out there! Scary...

:P

Berry Prima. Witches and warlocks. Monsters. Lush jungle locales. In-camera special effects. Pastel parasols that kill people. "The story of THE DEVIL'S SWORD makes absolutely no sense, the acting is often appalling and the special effects a re a no-budget riot." Pete Tombs, Mondo Macabro. No argument there, pal, but this film aside from MYSTICS IN BALI is what I love about Indo films in the first place. Nonstop, colorful nonsense that recalls Italian muscleman peplum at its most indulgent. A one-eyed Cyclops whose eye is a very obvious car headlight is just one of the many bizarre delights offered. The dismal musical score that sounds like the backdrop of an outdated video game just adds to the appeal.

Production note: Why are we treated to a male swimmer's anus in one shot?

Bottom line: "Movies are so rarely fine art, that unless we cultivate an appreciation for great trash, there really is no reason in going." -- Pauline Kael