Barbarian Queen II

Ok, I'll admit it. I'm a Lana Clarkson fan. Her torture scene in "Barbarian Queen" was one of the best mainstream "B" movie bondage scenes ever. Lana can moan and twitch with the best of them and make it look like fun. "Barbarian Queen II", supposedly the sequel to the first film, really doesn't have anything to do with the original. None of the characters from the first film are back and Lana is the only returning actor, and even her character's name has been changed. Like the first film, you can see most of it in fast-forward mode on your VCR and just hit play whenever you see Lana in a dungeon.

In this film, Lana is a noblewoman whose evil brother usurps the crown and gains rule over the land. Lana escapes into the woods and gains the friendship of a band of woman warriors by defeating their leader in a mud wrestling match (Lana gets topless at the end of it). They attack the castle in an attempt to restore Lana to her rightful rule. Unfortunately, the attack is defeated and Lana is captured. Those who have seen the first film will appreciate these scenes.

Lana is (again) bound to an upright rack, though initially clothed this time. The torturer makes a brief speech before removing her top. Just as he is about to begin the day's activities, a young girl enters the room stands in front of the rack and announces "I will enjoy this part when I am queen." Lana retorts and the torturer starts his demonstration of the new rack. This time, instead of a silver hand with a needle embedded in the finger pricking Lana's body, the rack itself is lowered onto a bed of sharpened spikes. This shot would've been much better if we could've seen a full-view of Lana tied to the table. Instead we have a profile of Lana's head and the other two actors bending over into the shot. Obviously, Lana is NOT tied to the table but is just leaning over, too. Such a waste of potential.

Anyway, while everyone is away at dinner, Lana manages to free her hands and escape. She's soon recaptured while trying to decide what to do with a magic sceptre (apparantly the source of power) and is sentenced to death by torture. Just as this movie is "Barbarian Queen II", so too we get to see "Lana On The Rack Twice" and I'm glad we do. I have to give Lana credit for these two movies and their torture scenes. She really does do a good job of playing the strong defiant torture victim, though I wish the second rack scene had been a bit longer with more build-up and drama. Same with a later scene where the young girl places a spider on Lana's arm as Lana is on her back on another rack (or perhaps the same rack rotated horizontally). It would've been a better scene if Lana's character had been conscious and could squirm as the spider is placed on her arm and crawls up her shoulder. It could've made the similar James Bond scene look like amateur film.

"Barbarian Queen" and "Barbarian Queen II" were made several years apart and in that time Lana Clarkson became more "womanly". Don't worry - they're real. And they're spectacular. I'm hoping that Lana can be convinced to do a "Barbarian Queen III" and give us 3 long rack scenes, if she's still got the body for it. Lana, if you see this, hit the gym and let's get one more film on that filmography, girl. Do it for your fans. We're counting on you.

Anyway, Lana is eventually freed by a knight and they go on to defeat the evil ruler and liberate the land. You can take her top, but you can't take her FREEDOM!

Actually this wasn't that bad. Lana Clarkson is lovely as usual and yes there are plenty of topless shots, but what set this b-grade sword and sorcery tale apart is the other actors. Rodger Cudney is a great villain as always and somehow manages to maintain his dignity no matter how awful the situation. Greg Wrangler does a nice job as the conflicted love interest and best of all is the young Cecilia Twerina as the evil little Tamis. Who the heck let a kid on this picture? Who cares? she's great.

The plot is simply, Athalia's father, the king, may be dead and the evil Ankaris wants the throne, but needs the magical scepter to hold it. For some reason, never really explained, Hofrax (Cudney) is helping him. Tamis is Ankaris's wicked daughter. OK, the budget is obviously low, but the film doesn't look that bad and the performers appear to be trying. Note the convenient barrel of water that spills off the back of the wagon so Althalia and a barbarian babe can mud wrestle!! the fights aren't too badly staged and the plotting is pretty decent. Chris Young tries hard to convey a sense of epic with the music.

Athalia refuses to divulge the secret, in case her Father is still alive, and gets tortured by Hofrax and Tamis!! All together for the rack sequence and spider bite-ewww! Orian (Wrangler) rescues Athalia nd together they unite, literally and then the King's warrior's return and it's off to strike for justice! I won't reveal the fate of Ankaris and Tamis, but it is rather moving.

All in all this is a good b-movie with attractive performers and plenty of fun for all.

This was never going to be a truly good movie, let alone a great one -- just a direct-to-video sequel to a low-budget drive-in action flick. Despite that, I find it an improvement over the first Barbarian Queen. And no, I don't mean in the acting, editing, sets or costumes; in those departments, it's just another of the Deathstalker series of sword-and-sorcery skin-a-thons. But once accepted for that, it's still passable in the way that works best for these movies: a bit tongue-in-cheek (OK, a lot tongue-in-cheek), with a fair share of skin thrown in for eye candy.

Walking tall throughout is the amazonic Lana Clarkson, who manages to deliver her hack dialog with surprisingly real conviction. Greg Wrangler, too, pulls off his Prince Nice Guy role fairly convincingly. Add in some girl-power plot, and we have ... well, a film of very minor interest, and a lot of technical issues. Whole scenes appear to have been cut (if ever filmed) and Corman was never one to ix-nay a story for getting ludicrous (and then to insist adding one more gratuitous shot of a bare-breasted actress).

What makes it all work is the strength and conviction brought by Lana Clarkson to her role. To that end, the story's theme of female empowerment is realized in her performances, even as she made films like these. Objectified she might be, but not herself made an object. As silly as the plots might get, Clarkson has us believing that *she* believes them -- or at least herself -- for long enough to film her scenes. That doesn't bring this up to Citizen Kane, but it isn't far behind Conan the Barbarian's friend Red Sonja, and on a tenth of the budget. For the Deathstalker series, that's par: cheap costumes and sets, but fairly brisk editing, and at least the sound is clear and the shots are focused. If Lana hadn't been murdered by her boyfriend, she would have gone on to greater things. As it stands, we'll have to take her in films like this.

Remembering having seen the 1985 movie "Barbarian Queen", though not being overly impressed with it, I opted to sit down and watch the 1989 sequel titled "Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back", as I happened to find it by random chance here in 2023.

Now, the good news here is that if you enjoyed the 1985 first movie then you will definitely also enjoy this 1989 sequel. Why? Well, because it has the same amount of dubious swordfighting, scantily clad women, questionable storyline and all the cheese of the 1985 movie.

I found "Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back" to be on the same level as the 1985 movie, so I wasn't particularly impressed with Joe Finley's sequel. Sure, it was watchable for the cheesy adventure fantasy that it was, and that cheese is thick 1980s cheese with an appeal to the adolescent audience. Writers Howard R. Cohen and Lance Smith just didn't bring anything magical to the screen here.

And while I did manage to sit through all 80 minutes of it, this is hardly a movie that I will return to watch a second time. Truth be told, then "Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back" just didn't do much to appeal to my life-long admiration for all things fantasy.

The acting performances in "Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back" were as you would expect for a movie such as this. It wasn't exactly bad acting performances, I will say that much. But nor were there any particularly outstanding or memorable acting performances on the screen.

The swordfights in the movie were rigid and poorly executed on the screen. It looked campy and cheesy, all in that glorious 1980s feel.

My rating of "Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back" lands on a four out of ten stars.

Z-movie of almost no-budget level, with the late Lana Clarkson as the beautiful heir to a kingdom that is forced to fight against an evil usurper and his spoiled child. Echoes of Robin Hood in female form for most of the movie - even if the subtitle parodies the second Star Wars movies. If you are in this movie for Clarkson's breast your are in for good surprises, as the actress shows her best asset several times - they are real, boys, no silicone in them! It is really a poor movie, with a modest plot, terrible acting, terrible stunts, cheap to say the least special effects, horrible fight scenes, but it is better than the first episode of this duology - in name only, as the two Barbarian Queen movies share only the lead actress and no other part.