Hawk The Slayer

Surely any film that has Jack Palance as the main villain simply has to have at least something going for it! He was one of the screen’s baddies, so what on earth went wrong with this sword and sorcery romp? Well… a fair bit or so it would seem.

It might perhaps be a good idea to begin with the startlingly original plot – well, hardly! It’s only too obvious from the film’s sensational opening sequence as to what kind of man our villain is when the badly disfigured Voltan (Palance of course) kills his own father. So far so good! Unfortunately, despite murdering his old man, Voltan is unable to extract the vital information he needs in his search for ultimate power. No sooner has he departed disgruntled than his much younger and infinitely better looking brother Hawk (John Terry) arrives, alas too late to prevent the murder. Shortly before succumbing, dad gives him the very thing that the evil Voltan wanted: the ‘last elven mindstone’ – an all powerful magic sword.

In flashback we learn that the brothers once were both in love with the same woman, Eliane (Catriona MacColl). Obviously it is Hawk that she loves and marries. The couple rather hope that Voltan would accept the situation and congratulate them, but no chance. Voltan ties his brother to a post and decides to use him for archery practice. At the same time Eliane, with whom Voltan intends to run off with, manages to free herself from his grasp and sticks a burning torch in his face… and Jack gets his big moment. She then frees Hawk and the two make off in a boat – however, the wounded and much infuriated Volatan shots an arrow and kills Eliane – ah tragedy, this is war!

Back to the present, and Voltan is rampaging the country, killing innocents and anyone who stands in his way. One man, Ranulf (W. Morgan Sheppard) manages to escape and seek sanctuary in a nearby convent. Although the nuns manage to save the injured man’s life but they cannot save his hand. A short while later Voltan appears and kidnaps the Abbess (Anette Crosbie), demanding gold for her release. Ranulf is sent by the High Abbott to get help and free her, and with the aid of a mysterious sorceress (Patricia Quinn) he and Hawk are brought together and assemble a motley crew of eccentric characters (a giant, a dwarf and an elf), each somewhat more than a specialist in his own field. Is this enough to take on the mighty army of Hawk’s evil brother? Well, almost.

To return briefly to the beginning of the film, as soon as we hear composer Harry Robinson’s inappropriate electronic score we know that we are in for a bit of a bummer. In all fairness, some of the visuals are on the captivating side – in particular Hawk’s journey through a misty forest and his trippy encounter with sorceress Miss Quinn. We are treated to a couple of near spectacular scenes but not really enough to keep the magic in the air. As for the performances, John Terry – like Palance another American, is rather wooden as the slayer of the title. Bernard Bresslaw (best known for comic roles) doesn’t do much as Gort the giant acting-wise. As for Jack Palance – perhaps he can’t be altogether blamed for the fact that his performance is virtually on the same level throughout. Horror veteran and Beckett fave Patrick Magee features in a brief cameo as the nutty leader of a Brotherhood., 1980 clearly was the season of the witch for The Rocky Horror Show’s Patricia Quinn , not only appearing as the sorceress in this movie but as a 17th century witch in Hammer House Of Horror’s episode ‘The Witching Time’.

SPECIAL FEATURES of this Blu-ray release include:

• Original theatrical trailer (HD)
• Raw textless elements (HD)
• Clapperboard: Revenge by the Sword
• By the Sword Divided – candid on-location interviews
• Sharpening the Blade – behind the scenes
• Image gallery (HD)
• Original script PDF