Review of Hundra

Hundra (1983)
5/10
Bow to the bull.
6 May 2013
Beautiful blonde warrior woman Hundra (Laurene Landon) would rather have a good horse between her legs than a man, but after a savage attack on her tribe by a horde of hairy barbarians she is forced to seek out a mate to ensure the continuation of her people.

Matt Cimber's Hundra supposedly turns the tables on the male-dominated fantasy genre with a barbarian woman who is more than a match for any man; it soon becomes apparent, however, that the feminist angle is just for show, the film exploiting its female star's physical appeal—and that of the other women in the film—just as much as any other B-movie trash. Bad news for the women's liberation movement, but good news for fans of sexy ladies in small loincloths.

Landon's wooden delivery of her lines makes it abundantly clear that she was not hired for her acting ability, but rather for her sex appeal and athleticism. Hundra might swing her sword as skillfully as any Cimmerian, but she does so in a skimpy outfit that frequently gives glimpses of her shapely behind; when she's not fighting, she likes to go for a naked ride through the surf on her horse.

Cheap titillation aside, Cimber's movie is at its most entertaining whenever there is fighting, the blood flowing freely as Hundra hacks and stabs at her opponents; however, there is a prolonged absence of action once our heroine enters a city where the local high priest, whose temple doubles as a knocking shop for barbarians, vows to add her to his stock of subservient women. While avoiding capture, Hundra falls in love, gets pregnant, gives birth to a daughter, and teaches a slave girl how to fight, all of which is fairly dull to watch.

Things eventually pick up for a rousing finalé (aided immensely by Ennio Morricone's epic score) in which Hundra rallies the women to revolt against their captors, but despite more bloodletting and the hilarious demise of the high priest (a woman suffocates him by straddling his face), Hundra remains a fairly mediocre affair overall.
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