Amazons

Just in case your not hip to who Roger Corman is and your not familiar with the term "Amazons" than maybe you should find another film to view because as far as exploitation goes this delivers the goods. Story is about an evil wizard named Kalungo (Joseph Whipp) who along with his minions attack the Amazon city of Imbissi in which the female warriors are forced to retreat with the Spirit Stone. They head to the Emerald Queen (Anita Larronde) who informs them that they need to retrieve the Sword of Azundati which is the only thing that can combat Kalungo.

*****SPOILER ALERT***** A beautiful (of course) warrior named Dyala (Mindi Miller) is dispatched on the mission with Tashi (Penelope Reed) who is the daughter of her sworn rival Tshingi (Danitza Kingsley) who is also a spy for Kalungo. While on their journey they encounter thieves and snakes and hoards of other tribes that want to sacrifice them to supernatural trees.

This was made in Argentina and directed by Alejandro Sessa who is making his debut after being a producer on several Corman films and it appears that he learned very well on how to stretch a dollar with a small budget. Naked Amazon warriors. Yep! That's what everyone who hasn't seen this is wondering about so I can tell all of you that this indeed delivers an abundance of nudity and I had to chuckle when the two lead characters venture off to save the world and no sooner than you can say "Russ Meyer" they are skinny dipping in a lake! Not only does this work as far as exploitation but also on a "so bad it's good" level with horrible dubbing and editing. How about that top notch transformation scene where the lioness changes into the naked woman? Or the laughable attempt of actor Whipp trying so hard to be evil when he looks like a left wing pacifist. The story is somewhat all over the place with it's magic swords and feuding families but if your a connoisseur of films that have hot and frequently nude Amazon women or of just bad films altogether than you can be rest assured that this is exactly what it advertises.

Ok here is the plot:

The movie has boobs in it.

Really the cover art describes the film much better than I can.

Anything past boobs was clearly irrelevant to the people who made it and the people who watched it :)

The title suggests this is likely to be about women who fight with swords. That's certainly the case, but when we see that they do this wearing boots and bikinis (while their male allies and opponents of course dress far more modestly) it's fairly obvious what kind of movie this is. In fact it's a standard Conan-style fantasy. A powerful wizard-warrior is invading and two young Amazons are sent on a quest for a magic sword – the only thing which can defeat him. There's not a whole lot of originality in this theme, and not much elsewhere either, but there is a surprise or two, and the shape-shifting lioness is a nice touch.

The budget is very low, the special effects laughable, the acting poor across the board, the direction clumsy and the dialog always predictable. The fight scenes need a Cory Yuen makeover – even the martial arts trained (and splendidly named!) Windsor Taylor Randolph, who plays Dyala, the lead Amazon, is unconvincing as a swordswoman. But the story, though unoriginal, is good enough to maintain some interest and excitement.

This movie isn't about any of that though. It's about bare female skin, the bikini-clad Amazons, and various women they need to rescue, who keep ending up naked. There's even a brief sex scene. Some of the bodies on display, particularly the truly gorgeous Penelope Reed as Dyala's sidekick, are athletic rather than soft starlet types and, while the nudity is always gratuitous, it's definitely not unpleasant.

Anyone who enjoys a corny fantasy quest with tough women and isn't put off by the exploitation side, should have fun watching this.

I can almost see Beavis sitting back on the couch, licking the yellow Cheeze Puff dust off his fingers and saying "Yep, nothing like sitting down to a nice bag of Cheeze Puffs and a good old Barbarian Women movie." It's sometimes a fascinating if disreputable genre, who's modern form is traceable at least back to 1972's ATTACK OF THE BARBARIAN WOMEN by Alfonso Brescia, or possibly even PREHISTORIC WOMEN from 1967 era Hammer. There is one reason to watch them, and that is to observe hawt, half-naked chicks chop each other & anyone handy up with broadswords before relaxing in the saunas together. Gotta love the Bronze Age some days.

As others have stated this one isn't bad, right up there with BARBARIAN QUEEN as probably the best examples of the mid 80's Americanized version of the genre, which probably seemed like a good marketing bet in the wake of the success of CALIGULA and Lucio Fulci's CONQUEST, which this is basically a combination of. They are usually a good bet on the entertainment factor because firstly, the cast members playing the Barbarian Women will all have to be in peak physical shape to look good in their designer fur & leather bikini costumes. People who take care of their bodies usually enjoy showing them off, so the ladies won't be adversed to ideas like being oiled up for frontal shots of their abs & thighs. Couple that with a desire to make an impact and we are talking about actresses who will be delighted to appear on screen naked, do sex scenes, and maybe even a snake dance.

This one is curiously plot heavy, and the one thing that kept tweaking my funny bone were all the absurd names given to people, places, events and objects. "We must cross the forest of Anjoo and climb the sacred Nak-Nak tree to find the Sword of Nibblenoon", all said with perfectly straight faces and ample feminine curves. Even the old soothsaying 300 year old witch-lady is hot, and those with a taste for discipline may be amused by the completely subservient & impotent nature of the men in the film. The one guy who is supposedly the hero spends the film locked up in a cage until it's time to feed him to a lioness, and the only male character in the film that makes any kind of an impression is Joseph Whipp's at-times hilarious meanie sorcerer villain, who not only gets to sleep with the lead actress but gets some genuine laughs playing his role in a totally blasé, non-mystical manner. He's just an evil rotten dude endowed with some kind of magical force, basically wants to destroy the world, enslave humanity and conquer Hell. You have to admire someone who knows what they want, and has a scheme to achieve it.

The only thing I didn't really like about the film was the one problem I have with the whole Barbarian Women genre, which is that the plots lend themselves to scenes that will inevitably feature sexual violence against the scantily clad heroines -- Fortunately this one aborts it's gang rape before the fireworks start but it's still kind of disturbing to watch a couple of big-haired 80's Valley Girl types get roughed up by a bunch of scummy, sweaty, degenerate male extras who look like roadies for Meatloaf. I guess the fact that they all get killed off after wards is supposed to make it all even out, but notice how you don't see a lot of films like this being made anymore.

So get a bag of Nachos or whatever, spark up and enjoy the show. Beats the Global Warming movie genre at least.

6/10 for being so relaxingly stupid, and over quickly.

If you enjoy cheesy sword and sorcery movies (in the vein of Deathstalker) then you will probably enjoy this one. It's about a pair of female warriors who are sent on a quest to retrieve a magic sword, which is the only thing that can defeat an evil wizard. Along the way they make sure to get naked a few times, and of course encounter some other women who also get naked. There's even a gratuitous sex scene thrown in for good measure. Add to this some really bad acting and poorly choreographed fight scenes, and you have all the elements of an enjoyably bad movie. I give it 7 out of 10.