Wizards of the Demon Sword

I don't know what it is about Fred Olen Ray. I hate his movies, but I always buy them thinking the next one will be a winner. He is notorious for the most annoying giant monster encounters ever. Hmmm, let me see if I can explain this... Man says "hey look at that monster over there!" camera cuts to giant monster then back to man "I wouldn't want to mess with him!". Giant monster in his movies never interact with normal sized men. I hate that! Why even put them in the movie?! If you must see a Fred Olen Ray picture, watch Phantom Empire.

Not much is expected from low-to-no-budget Sword & Sorcery film, and this one delivers a little bit more than not much.

First the airing of grievances: The dialog is stilted often difficult to listen to. The campy synthesizer background music is so bad that it can be distracting. The acting is somewhat better than average for the genre, which is to say it is usually poor but sometime okay. Lyle Wagner and Russ Tamblyn are good. Lawrence Tierney absolutely shines, but his screen time is much too short. The rest of the cast never really rises above the level of acceptable.

This film is not without merits, however. It delivers what one expects: sword fighting; a lovely woman in need of rescue; an evil wizard in need of vanquishing. The underlying story is quite good. It was well developed and internally consistent, and when everything is finally explained there aren't any major plot holes. Some parts of the story are kind of clever, and certainly better than what one usually gets from this type of movie.

If you are able to tolerate a sub-par movie for a better than average story, watch this. If you need crisp & snappy dialog or subtle & thoughtful acting, watch anything else.

A few years ago, I was shown a high school movie shot with a group of friends, a VHS camcorder, and no money. Same genre. This movie is on par with that. I'm actually impressed that every "actor" in this movie could deliver the ridiculously flourished lines from the script with straight faces. That's not to say that they had any talent either. I was either laughing or banging my head against the wall throughout. I particularly enjoyed watching the villain who reminded me more of a TV evangelist than a wizard. I half expected him to deliver a sermon before unleashing the ultimate evil upon the world. Of course, having past experience with Fred Olen Ray, I knew what to expect. So I can't really say I was disappointed. It's funny to see the exact same "Planet of Dinosaurs" stock footage that he used in a prior movie, "Phantom Empire".

This movie scrapes the bottom of the sword and sorcery barrel, but manages to be hilarious in it's ineptitude. Recommended for MiSTies.

Don't let the title fool you, it's much more attractive than the movie actually is! Still, the film wasn't bad. The acting was odd, the effects were from the Stone Age, but the humor, the adventure, and some fantasy elements make the movie worth watching...on a boring afternoon when you have nothing else to do. I paid 1 buck for it so I don't feel like it was a waste of time and money!

Thane is on a quest with Melina to save her father from the evil wizard, Lord Khoura in this hilariously awful low budget swords & sandals film. The last really watchable 'good' bad movie by Fred Olen Ray, this film can't even be described. Sure one can tell you the loose plot of the movie, but it can't even wish to convey the lunacy of the hilarious bad stilted dialog, the atrocious but belly laugh warranting 'special effects', or the (lack of) acting that will have you on the floor. Case in point there's one scene that has Thane punching Melina in the face. You're probably sitting here reading that thinking what the hell can be funny about that, but just the way it's directed and shot is extremely funny. This is NOT a film for anyone who wants to see any resemblance of a good movie. But for us select few who are real fans of Ray, this is a treasure.Not as great as Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers but definitely up there with Star Slammer.

My Grade: B

Eye Candy: Heidi Paine and an uncredited extra both get topless