Golok Setan

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.

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).

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

Fairly incompetent martial arts scenes unite with fantastical cheese sfx in what feels like an Indonesian version of Lucio Fulci's Conquest. The sinister synth score is easily the highlight of the picture, while not exactly fitting the milieu (save for perhaps the Crocodile Queen's sex lair). The Devil's Sword is worth a look for its trippier moments, although there's nothing here you won't find done better and wilder in Hong Kong psychotronic masterpieces like The Boxer's Omen and Five Element Ninjas, from the latter of which, you'll notice, the makers of this film blatantly lifted a detail or two.

There was a time back in the early 80's when sword and sorcery action flicks were all the rage. The Devil's Sword is part of that phenomenon. But, in truth, it is probably unlike most you may have seen. It's more similar to the Japanese series Monkey than Conan the Barbarian at times. This is partially due to the hokey special effects but just as much to its East Asian origins. Really, its Indonesian flavour is what makes it most interesting. It's exotic and bizarre in ways that are a result of the culture that produced it. For any fan of weird cinema from around the globe, this makes it quite fascinating.

It's about a nymphomaniac crocodile queen who lives in a cavern under the earth. She sends out her evil minions to capture men, whom she puts to use as sex slaves. The wife of one of these 'unfortunate' men teams up with a warrior and together they set out on a quest to find a magic sword that will help them defeat the forces of evil.

This film is quite simply insane. Its chock full of action, which consists of lots of fights and lots of gore. There are crocodile men, a Cyclops, a laughing man travelling on a flying rock and cannibal slaves. It features a couple of extended fights involving a trio of evil warriors. They all have their own individual skills and weaponry – one is a granny with a brush and another appears to have a helmet on a piece of rope. It's that kind of film. It's utterly delirious.