Conquest (1983)

A young man, armed with a magical bow and arrows, embarks on a mystical journey through a mystical land to rid it of all evil and joins forces with an outlaw to take down an evil witch bent on claiming the magic bow for evil.

Director:

Lucio Fulci

Writers:

Giovanni Di Clemente (story), Gino Capone (screenplay)

Stars:

Jorge Rivero, Andrea Occhipinti, Conrado San Martín

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jorge Rivero	...	Mace (as George Rivero)
Andrea Occhipinti	...	Ilias
Conrado San Martín	...	Zora
Violeta Cela	...	Sacrificial Victim
José Gras	...	Fado (as Josè Gras Palau)
Gioia Scola	...	Girl Ilias Saves from Snake (as Maria Escola)
Sabrina Siani	...	Ocron (as Sabrina Sellers)

Storyline

Italian sword and sorcery epic from splatter director Lucio Fulci loosely inspired from the Hercules mythos about two warriors on a quest and a vengeful demon who throws all kinds of nasty creatures along the way to fill scenes of gory violence.

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Plot Keywords:

bound to x shaped cross | face paint | violence | creature | magic | 

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Taglines:

He is a hunter from a future world trapped in prehistoric times.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy Spain Mexico

Language:

Italian Spanish

Release Date:

6 April 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Conquest - Jumalten nuolet

Filming Locations:

Sardinia, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Clemi Cinematografica, Clesi Cinematografica, Conquest Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alejandro Ulloa, the film's cinematographer, used a fog machine and a soft-focus lens with special filters to give the film an ethereal ambiance.

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Quotes

Mace: When a man meets a man, you never know which one will die. But when an animal meets a man, it's always the animal that dies. I'm on the animals' side.
Ilias: Isn't this an animal you're eating?
Mace: [shrugs] I didn't kill him.
Ilias: That's a pretty strange law.
Mace: Not when you're hungry.

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Connections

Referenced in Katarina's Kat Scratch Cinema: Ator the Fighting Eagle (2012)

User Reviews

Don't ask... just dive in

"Conquest" is a typical case of a "love it or hate it" movie. The crossover which Fulci tried was: take some of the barbarian hero stuff popular in the 80s (Conan, Beastmaster), combine it with the splatter horror the director is well known for, and give this a psychedelic edge with blurred, constantly foggy visuals and haunting synthesizer music. Surely not everybody's taste, not even for many fans of Fulci's other works. However, if you are in the right mood, "Conquest" is an experience that compares to no other fantasy horror movie...except maybe Bava's "Ercole al centro della terra"! The story can be given in a few lines: Ilias, a young man from a comparatively civilized country, travels to a barbarian land of many terrors. He meets the warrior Mace, and together they fight an evil sorceress who claims to be responsible for the rising of the sun, and is worshiped like a goddess by everyone who believes her (surprisingly many).

Fulci doesn't give any explanations, but lets us dive in head first. Don't ask "why do those zombies exist in the swamp?", "why does Zora appear out of thin air?" or "how can Sabrina Siani be beamed from the mountain top into the cave without Scotty around?". This is not the point. What Fulci shows us is a dream where everything is possible. Meet the creatures that lurk in your nightmares, and when there are no more arrows for the bow, it shoots lightning beams. A dream does not require logic. Even death is not certain here. I perfectly understand when people don't like this movie, because it is opposed to what one normally expects from a movie. However, I don't see this as a dumb or sloppy script - to me it appears to be a purposeful experiment that did not succeed entirely, but is unusual and challenging. As I said at the beginning: love it or hate it.