Hawk the Slayer (1980) User Reviews

"I'd sooner eat cow dung." So bad it's almost good.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 22 December 2007]

Hawk the Slayer starts as the evil disfigured Voltan (Jack Palance) orders his father (Ferdy Mayne) to tell him the secret of his magical powers, he refuses & Voltan sticks him with his sword before his brother the all round good egg Hawk (John Terry) turns up & their father actually gives him the secret of his power the Elven Mindstone. Left somewhat bitter by the experience & the fact that the love of his life Eliane (Cartiona MacColl) chose to marry his brother Hawk over himself & made her feelings perfectly clear by sticking a flaming torch of fire into his face Voltan decides to get even, Voltan & his gang of men kidnap a Nun named Abbess (Annette Crosbie) & demands 2,000 pieces of gold as a ransom. Unable to pay the other Nun's send a one handed guy named Ranulf (William Gordon Sheppard) to find Hawk & convince him to help their cause & save Abbess...

This English production was co-written & directed by Terry Marcel & is one of those so bad it's good type sword & sorcery fantasy adventure films. The script by Marcel together with producer & music composer Harry Robertson takes itself extremely seriously & if chock full of simply hilarious dialogue which is so camp yet is delivered & edited in such a way that one gets the impression director Marcel thought it was Shakespeare. The story is weak using the typical fantasy adventure stereotypes like a giant, an elf & a dwarf as well as a clean cut gooder than good hero all with absolute minimal character development. The central story is odd as well, I mean Voltan kidnaps a Nun so Hawk & his gang steal the gold to pay the ransom which just seems strange really. While watching Hawk the Slayer which is set almost entirely within some very English looking woods featuring fights between men with bows & arrows, swords & crossbows & they ride around on horseback I couldn't help but sit there thinking that I was watching a fantasy version of Robin Hood! I mean Hawk is the Robin character, the giant, the elf, dwarf & one handed bloke are his band of merry men & Voltan is the Sheriff of Nottingham bad guy character while Eliane was the Maid Marian love interest. I don't know, maybe it's just me but that's the impression I got from the film as a whole. At least the film moves along at a nice enough pace, it certainly isn't boring with lots of fights & that hilarious dialogue means it's pretty funny even if it is unintentional.

Director Marcel must have been working on a low budget because there's never any villages or towns or anything to even suggest that it's set anywhere other than an English wood, just look at the scene with the blacksmith for instance when he has his equipment set up in the middle of a wood with no cover, house, workshop or anything. Besides the fact that being located in the middle of nowhere which would't be good for business what if it started to rain? He'd be buggered then wouldn't he? The film looks really cheap with the final fight containing what looks like glow in the dark tennis balls to stand in for magical orbs, the special effects are OK but not that great & there's no monsters in it either. For some reason part of the final showdown fight seems to take place in what looks like a snow storm inside a Church! There are also other fight scenes set in fog where you can barely make out whats happening. I'm not sure if this was made with an adult audience in mind, it's quite violent on occasion with various fights & quite a number of death's but there's no blood or gore & one feels that maybe the filmmakers were undecided about the tone they wanted.

Technically the film is alright, despite being almost entirely set within some woods somewhere in England it's reasonably well made. Some of the special effects are better than other's & I'm not having the whole 'giant' thing either, I mean he's not so much a giant as just a quite tall man! Hardly worthy of the title giant. Everyone plays this totally straight & I'm surprised they kept a straight face with some of the dialogue, there's a fair few recognisable British actor's here including Bernard Bresslaw, Harry Andrews, Annette Crosbie, Roy Kinnear, Warren Clarke & Patrick Magee. Also appearing in this is Catriona MacColl who is probably better know for her roles in the gore drenched Italian exploitation flicks City of the Living Dead (1980), The Beyond (1981) & The House by the Cemetery (1981) which I mention only because I'm a big fan of those films! John Terry makes for one of the most blandest of fantasy film hero's ever & for all English football fans it's not the same John Terry who is the current England & Chelsea defender!

Hawk the Slayer is a silly, often unintentionally hilarious fantasy adventure that at least isn't boring & if your in the right frame of mind it will provide 90 odd minutes of light hearted fun, it ain't brilliant but it ain't too bad.

I greatly enjoyed this film, even after multiple viewings.

[nystulc · 6/10 · 8 April 2000]

I am aware that this film has been badly received by most reviewers, but I cannot get myself to agree. It may be corny, cheesy, gimmicky, but for me, all the gimmicks worked. I loved the matte paintings, which most sfx connoisseurs scoff at. I loved the stiff acting, and melodramatic cornball dialogue, and the shallow Tolkienesque ambiance. I adored Jack Palance's ham acting as the villain. I loved the Elf, and the Dwarf, and the Giant, and the Witch. I loved the music (and did not notice anything particularly "70s" about it, but perhaps that was because I grew up in that era). What I loved most about it was an aspect that another commentator complained about: its incompleteness. That other commentator (from IMDb) complained that he felt like he was watching part 2 of a three-act play. Well, that's a good thing, isn't it? What is the point of immersing oneself in a fantasy world if it is going to be so small it can contain itself in a single film. The implication that I was watching a small part of a much greater story was what gave this film its charm. The cryptic references to things beyond its borders made the world created seem far vaster than it was, and helped the matte paintings seem to come to life.

-- NystulC

Cheesy but Fun/Possibly Some Spoilers

[louiepatti · 5/10 · 24 February 2005]

This film is like junk food for the brain, a guilty pleasure, and a movie not to admit liking in front of fans of true cinema. Hawk the Slayer was produced as a knockoff of the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings fantasy genre. Somehow the producer mixed those elements up with the budget of Dr. Who. The resulting mutation is rife with cheesy effects and unintentional hilarity.

First, the casting. Jack Palance gives ham a whole new dimension as the necessarily evil elder sibling Voltan. He's too old to be credible and his acting is so overdone it hurts to watch. John Terry as the heroic lead character is flat and wooden, with little vocal inflection; he almost seems to sleepwalk through the movie. The minor characters and supporting roles are far better: Gort the giant was fun, as was the dwarf Balin and the strangely alien elf Crow. The nasty hunchback was great, as was the woman who played the part of the Mother Superior who's kidnapped. Even the villains and lowlifes were more interesting than the leads, but, then again, Mr. Terry could make anyone in a scene with him appear superior by default.

Next, the plot. Good versus evil, it could be surmised, but more like twisted jealous older brother versus supremely indifferent younger one. The viewer is supposed to believe that Hawk is a loner because he lost someone precious to him at Voltan's hands. That's hard to buy when the lead character doesn't convey any serious emotions of any type. It's possible that the subplots of battling brothers and the church against Voltan were echoing each other, but the whole thing seems banal and contrived.

Finally, the effects. Dr. Who and then some. It's been years, maybe even decades, since we'd seen such horrifically cheap stuff. The scene when the witch helping Hawk sneaks in and douses a bad guy with Silly String had us rolling. The repetitious camera shots of the elf firing arrows, the obvious backwardly rolled footage of him leaping "into" a tree, and the freaky little plastic things in the supposedly terrifying forest were all pathetic.

So, why do we watch this thing? It's a great flick to hit mute on and toss in alternate dialog, a la MST3000. Our kids come up with great comedic material from viewing this thing. Treat it as a serious movie and it's a groaner. Have some fun with it, and it's great. Just don't admit to lovers of cinema that you watch this type of cheesy flick.

Great B movie

[crow1701 · 21 June 2003]

As you watch this film, you will more than likely sit back and say, "This is so silly." Remember this is an 80's film. I remember first watching this film as a teenager and saying it was so cool. Well many moons later, I can see the aweful special effects, and the obvious mistakes made. The interesting things about "B" movies is that if actors know they are in one; it comes through in their acting. With this film, they try to act as seriously as possible, which makes it more believable. For people with a poor budget, they did quite well. The score is still some of the coolest music ever. It sets the tone for the film, and encompasses Hawk's mysterious nature.

As a regular film, it is aweful. As a "B" film, it does quite well. Cult classic.

So bad it's good

[xaphod · 5/10 · 10 March 2005]

I voted a 5 for this movie simply because depending on your mood or the company it can be viewed as really really terrible or really really hilariously brilliantly rubbish. There's the cast, including the Giant - or as we call him "Slightly Taller Than Everyone Else Guy" and Slightly Shorter Than Everyone Else Guy - the Dwarf. And who can forget the amazing acting talents of the robot-elf? The writing is as clichéd as the characters, the fighting direction is laughable and the whole thing seems to have been made up as it goes along. I'm not saying that's such a bad thing. What's particularly funny is that they obviously left it open for a sequel.. Don't expect anything approaching Lord of the Rings.. This is not that kind of a film.. it doesn't have a budget or anything like that. No.. just expect something to laugh at.. and you won't be disappointed.

Lackluster Sword & Sorcery from the 80's

[gpeevers · 5/10 · 10 June 2009]

Well intentioned sword and sorcery adventure has a few things going for it but there are far too many shortcomings to overcome.

Our hero Hawk (John Terry) has inherited the "Mind Sword" from his father after he is murdered by his other son the evil Voltan (Jack Palance). Voltan has an army behind him while his brother gathers the stereotypical small band of hero's to help him defeat his brother. The small band includes a giant a dwarf and an elf and each gets a suitably stilted introduction.

John Terry is ineffective and seems out of his depth at times, the fact he had some subsequent success seems to indicate either; poor casting, the obviously poor dialogue he was saddled with or a lack of direction. The largely British supporting cast is somewhat subdued and while they don't stand out they also don't embarrass themselves, they include; Annette Crosbie, Harry Andrews, Bernard Bresslaw (Carry On films), Roy Kinnear, W. Morgan Sheppard and Cheryl Campbell. Jack Palance as the villain of the piece is way over the top.

The film sticks with many fantasy archetypes but strangely flips other on their heads. The result being that when these variations on the fantasy staples occur they are glaringly incongruous.

The story is absurdly straight forward and simple as is the structure of the film, perhaps given a better budget it could have achieved more. The special effects are straight out of the era in which the film was made, and having a limited budget means they are somewhat embarrassing especially when they are poorly executed. We get big puffs of smoke to hide things, fairly cheap matte paintings for all the buildings, sped up film and spliced cuts to give the impression of speed.

The films score is a very odd mix of orchestral and disco and while it may be appreciated my some it was far too strident and obtrusive to my ear.

Despite the problems a true aficionado of fantasy might enjoy the film if they aren't too discerning.

I agree!

[Reaver80808 · 1/10 · 13 October 2006]

Suffice to say the other review here is spot on. This is possibly one of the funniest films ever made. (for all the wrong reasons) I am in fact, at time of writing, watching Hawk the Slayer on BBC1! Nice to know we pay the ever rising license fee for a good reason.

Sorry however to the the other reviewer but I have to correct you about the repeating crossbow. It did actually exist (another side affect of the BBC....bloody learning zone)

Other than that, very accurate. A collection of wooden sets and gold sprayed tin foil. Also this film wins the award for the most polystyrene looking hammer....ever! I seriously recommend this movie purely because you will laugh/cringe so much, even though you most likely won't last all the way through.

P.s. does anyone else think the sound track is like a porno/western?

Funny Funny Funny - but not meant to be

[BregeladEnt · 7/10 · 22 October 2006]

Please - I beg of you - do not watch this film unless you are willing to laugh. The acting is wooden, the dialogue so poorly contrived that it might have been written by a ten-year-old, the backdrops sometimes like a school pantomime, and it is all fantastic! This is one of those wonderful films that is so very bad, it is good.

I have seen it six or seven times, and I marvel each time as to how it was ever released. It takes "The Lord of the Rings", "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves", "The Princess Bride" and " Willow" and rolls them all into one, with dreadful special effects, unmitigatedly awful stop-go cinematography, and poor editing. It is a classic, whose whole is most definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Watch it and laugh.

Carry On Slaying

[j30bell · 1/10 · 22 December 2004]

There are crusty old cynics out there who dare to suggest that Legolas, in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings, shoots his bow a tad too quickly to be truly realistic. Oh my god, they've seen nothing; nothing to compare to the hilarious nonsense that is Hawk the Slayer.

John Terry plays our hero Hawk – no, not the central defender for Chelsea Football Club although, were this true, it would be the least of the casting disasters. Terry was later to appear in Of Mice and Men and Full Metal Jacket – I can only assume his acting had improved on this, his third, film in which he could have single-handedly re-populated the Amazon Rainforest.

But ohmygod, there's more. Bernard Bresslaw – yes the big guy from the Carry On films – as a giant. The corpse of Jack Pallance re-animated for one week only to play – of all things – Hawk's evil brother! Ray Charleson as (pause) Crooow, the amphetamined up elfin type. And let's not forget William Morgan Sheppard – the only man in the middle ages to have a crossbow complete with an AK47-style magazine cartridge – "When you absolutely have to kill every MF in the goddamn room, except no substitutes!" What were they thinking? What could they have been thinking?! You also have to wonder what the cast and crew thought when they sat down to watch the post-production cut of this movie. The comedy fantasy names, the dry ice, the tree-lined, side-of-the-motorway set, the disco soundtrack, Jack Pallance looking like nothing so much as John Wayne holding his mighty weapon. They had unleashed a monster. Would any of them survive it? Terry Marcel clearly didn't; a year later he was making the British TV series Bergerac – the directorial equivalent of being sent to the Russian Front.

He's my suggestion for this film. Buy it – nothing could ever provide you with more entertainment. Keep it under your bed like it was a porn flick and get it out (so to speak) when your mates come around for a kitsch early 80s revival night. Drink lots of beer (you'll need it when you see the size of Pallance's weapon), slide into a pair of fake leather trousers and press play.

Ah, if only they had meant it – it would have been pure genius. 1/10.

The peace of the dead

[pulikd · 6/10 · 22 October 2021]

This movie has primitive special effects and the action scenes are best left uncommented. The plot is simple and can be viewed as primitive and even dumb. See? It is so easy to label "Hawk the Slayer" bad. But how about this?

Two details stand out and require a comment. First, a little crucifix with a retractable blade. Can you picture a thing like that thrown by a human hand to easily cut through a very thick rope hanging in the air? What, you can't? Right, because it should not be possible, it is absolutely implausible, and the movie has no magic to account for this little plot element. A plot element able to put some of the craziest Steven Seagal knife or sword tricks to shame. At least, it is backed up dramatically. So, cannot say this was a hundred percent bad. The movie did pave the way for this crazy move and the craziness of it is somewhat weakened. Detail number two is more interesting. There is a fight going on. One of the good guys sees that a comrade is in danger and shouts to warn them. Obviously, dropping their own guard for a moment. A moment that proves enough to get a lethal stab in the back from one of the enemies. Someone else does something similar and suffers the same fate immediately. Then a third one gets similarly distracted but, luckily for them, is wanted alive by the enemy, and only gets knocked out. Why bring this up, you ask? Because this shows the audience that, fantasy or not, the danger is real, death is real.

The music was nice, the cinematography was beautiful, simple, but precise and efficient. There may not be much to look at in the movie, of course, but all of this material is presented in a good way. It is comfortable to observe. The plot is, again, simple, but it is methodical and precise. The motivations are clear. The heroes are heroic. The main baddy means business and the actors were good, in general. Speaking of the villain, though, his metal helmet reminds me of Darth Vader, of course. And because of how the new masked bad guy was treated in the Disney Star Wars trilogy, I now have even more respect for Voltan than way back as a kid.

unintentionally hilarious rubbish

[alexeberlin · 1/10 · 26 February 2009]

Hawk The Slayer is one of those movies that looks better through the rose tinted glow of nostalgia than it really is. In fact its a cheap, badly acted, stupid movie with rubbish effects that must have been written, directed and edited by a 5 year old.Jack Palance has some kind of eye patch and tries to make up for the wooden acting of everyone else by overacting to a degree that even the most over the top panto performer would be embarrassed by. Bernard Breslaw plays the giant without any kind of fx to make him look taller, clobbering the baddies with his plastic hammer like a kind of sword and sorcery Timmy Mallett. Wacaday!

Most of the cast and the director never did any thing else memorable.

Awful movie with a ridiculous soundtrack.

Legendary

[mattcoulshed · 8/10 · 27 July 2005]

Some would say this film is one of the poorest ever made. They would be correct. However it is also one of the most amusing. Such classic moments as 'a bit falls off the set really obviously' and 'the baddies lair is a skanky old tent', and of course the cheesy sound effect/soundtrack make this a great movie, especially when drunk. To assist this, the Hawk the Slayer Unofficial Drinking Game is as follows: Drink when: Anyone says 'Hawk'; Anyone says 'Voltan'; Every time they show a picture for the backdrop instead of a real set; Every time they use the ridiculous electronic sound effect (first used at the start with the sword); Every time someone dies (can be limited to 3 drinks for a fight scene as its hard to keep count); Every time the crazy disco soundtrack starts up; Every time there are poor special effects; Every time there is a cheesy flashback Every time the top of the set is visible.

Enjoy!

Pretty bad, but not as bad as it should be...

[harquin · 6/10 · 22 December 2004]

I watched it again a few months ago and have to say was rather impressed. It's pretty bad, but has many of the request elements for a decent D&D movie in the correct order. Mysterious hero with tragic past, evil overlord with mysterious connection to the hero and similarly troubled past but also with an idiot son who envies his dad's immense power. Then there's the "Seven Samurai"/"Lord of the Rings" questing party thing, some cute nuns, lots of eating roast legs of various meats, a dwarf befriending before tragically dying, a magic sword and a generally happy though quite depressing end where everything's sort of okay but that doesn't save Hawk's old girlfriend who was murdered by Jack Palance even before the damn movie started! You kind of end up thinking, "that script must've been pretty good... what a shame it was made in the '80's..." And it's got both Bernard Bresslaw and Roy Kinnear!

The Music Is Memorable ...

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 1 August 2004]

... But not in a good way .

I saw HAWK THE SLAYER many years ago and couldn`t remember much about it except for the bizarre funky soundtrack . After seeing it again tonight I have to confess it`s a very poor sword and sorcery film but aren`t they all unless Peter Jackson is the director ? In which case I shouldn`t be too cruel

But there`s no getting away from the fact that this movie is a yawn inducing experience . There`s no character development because there`s no characters just a bunch of one dimensional cyphers like a giant who is ver big , a dwarf who is very greedy and a elf who ... well what does the elf do ? You see the cyphers are terribly underwritten so I`ll be kind when I say the actors do their best with non existent material though by a cruel irony we see Jack Palance ( An actor at his very best when saying nothing ) getting far too much in the way of ludicurous lines

There is one aspect to the film that does deserve serious criticism and that`s the editing . Look at the fight scene where the elf is leaping around firing arrows at the bad guys . It looks like he`s jumping in the air four or five times while doing so . Only thing is that it is supposed to a single leap . Got the idea ? I could give several other examples of this inept editing

As for the music , disco was popular when this movie was made in 1980 so I guess that`s why it was composed to go with this movie . Am I the only person who was glad that a rap band didn`t do the music for FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING ? Am I the only person glad that a nu metal band didn`t do the music for THE TWO TOWERS ? Am I the only person glad that Simon Cowell didn`t find a a pretty boy singer to do the music for RETURN OF THE KING ?

" I`m sorry Hawk but looking all homo erotic while riding a horse through a forest against a disco soundtrack just doesn`t do it for me . What does Paula think ? "

Fantastic Movie!

[wdrr · 24 April 2004]

This is one of those rare early 80's movies that I love. Everything about it is terrible and yet something about it is great!

It has the feel of a Saturday "matinee" and is certainly an entertaining piece of work (although far from a masterpiece). Essentially, this movie is a guilty pleasure. If had to choose between it or "The Beastmaster", I would certainly take Hawk the Slayer.

I recommend this movie as a must see! Although I am not blind and can certainly see all of the faults, I still love this movie.

I even sampled sound bites from this movie and created a dance mix! (Not for commercial purposes... just for fun). If interested, check out the messages boards as I have posted a link to the sound file there.

This movie has to be seen to be believed!

[zooeyhall · 2/10 · 8 January 2015]

It briefly made the rounds of late night television in the mid-80's here in the U.S., and then I didn't see it until I recently bought the DVD.

I admit I'm a "sword and sorcery" fan, and am usually rather forgiving when I watch one of these movies.

But "Hawk--the Slayer" is in a class of bad all its own.

First--the dumbest dialogue ever. It's as if someone filled a Rolodex with "standard lines from fantasy epics", and then used it to write the script. Thus we get such gems as "the prophecy is fulfilled!", "wolves now hunt where none were seen before", and "the wizards gather in the South".

Jack Palance is supposed to be Hawk's brother. But he looks old enough to be his dad; and other than some similarities in their right ear-lobes, there is no resemblance whatsoever.

The outside scenes all seem to have been filmed in the same tiny patch of forest. And what's with all those skulls and lizards that seem to be randomly scattered about? F/X largely is confined to stopping and reversing the camera, along with generous use of the smoke machine. In a supposedly haunted forest, our heroes are menaced by what appears to be a finger puppet.

The music is a curious sub-sub genre that can be best termed "medieval disco".

What WERE they thinking when making this film, anyway?

Hilariously inept piece of "sword and sorcery".

[barfly99 · 1/10 · 29 May 2000]

Sometimes you watch a movie and you wonder whether in the midst of shooting the film-makers have realised they are making something irredeemably terrible and decided, "What the hell? Let's make this even worse. Let's make this as dreadful as we possibly can." Such is the case with HAWK THE SLAYER. Everything about it is apparently calculated to elicit maximum ridicule - giving characters names like Voltan, Drogo, and Gort; the absurd editing to illustrate the elf's nifty technique with his bow and arrows; Hawk's grotesquely corny flashbacks of his late girlfriend...the list is endless. A cult classic for sure, and does anyone know where I can get hold of a copy of the stupendous theme tune - a glorious venture into what I can only describe as "medieval disco"?

What a treasure!

[nealklein · 4/10 · 19 October 2000]

Back when playing Dungeons & Dragons was all the rage in high school, many fantasy movies came out to cash in on the success of this craze. Remember "Krull", "Conan the Barbarian", "Dragonslayer", "Excalibur", "Ladyhawke", and "The Beastmaster" (and later "Willow")? Well, there's one film that was glossed over by many except the die hard D&Ders: "Hawk the Slayer".

I cannot say the film is great. It's not. The production values and acting are at television level, despite some good talent. The special effects are often jarringly laughable. The attempts at creating character dynamics are pathetic.

And HtS suffers from the tendency of fantasy films to get pretentious in the acting. That is, if the director wants to give a feel of other worldliness to the atmosphere, he tends to use archaic language or, in the case of HtS, have the characters behave one-dimensionally and stereotypically. The result just makes you shake your head.

The music is actually appropriate in its anachronism. This was the 80's, remember, so synthesized music was still cool. The idea was to give the whole movie a "cool" feeling. Of course, it dates the movie completely.

But I remember it fondly. At least *someone* was attempting to portray the D&D world up on the screen. Someone wanted to create the motley crew of multiracial adventurers and put them in an adventure kids could relate to. And truly, the director's heart was in making something halfway fun. That's probably why I remember it so well.

Great fun, my Fighting Fantasy books brought to life

[Joxerlives · 7/10 · 4 November 2012]

Watched this in 1980 aged 7 as the supporting feature for Saturn 5 and enjoyed it a great deal more. Minscule budget, laughable special effects, terrible acting and astoundingly bad dialogue but it still works and indeed it's brilliant, a great way to pass 90 minutes. Especially love British comedy legend Bernard Breslaw as the giant (a reasonably small giant but when you're accustomed to seeing him as Sid James foil it really is such a different role for him). One scene that really stands out though is the part where Crow, the last Elfin archer speaks to Hawk of his weariness of battle; Crow; "We have waited together like this many times, you and I. Sometimes I grow tired of the fighting and killing. At night I hear my people calling for me from beyond the mountains. One day I will join them and my race will be forgotten" Hawk; "You will never be forgotten" Feels like it comes from a much better film.

Stupid, but in a fun way

[Vartiainen · 4/10 · 17 February 2018]

So we have this bad guy named Voltan, and we have this hero named Hawk. And Hawk has a magic sword, with a metal hand for a pommel, which he can control with his mind. And we have a big dude. And a little dude. And an elf dude.

Yeah, this movie wasn't made with a lot of thought put into it. I would almost call it intentionally silly, but there are certain scenes, which force me to think that they probably tried to make a serious movie here. Well, as serious as 80s fantasy films can ever be.

The film is also made on a shoestring budget, with most of the locations being small and intimate. The costuming is actually fine, if a bit basic, and the score is okay, even if it doesn't fit the mood of the film particularly well. But it's the special effects where this movie absolutely drops the ball. They're silly. Just silly. Flashing lights and coloured filters for magic, jump cuts to imitate speed, neon-coloured backdrops, the whole gamut of just... why?

And yet this is a fun movie to sit through. It's the very epitome of so bad it's good. I laughed myself silly watching this movie just fail on every basic level. Well, okay, that's bit harsh. I mean, the actors are trying, the story is not the worst possible and the characters are humorously stereotypical.

Give it a watch with the right expectations and I guarantee you'll enjoy yourself.

The Abyssmal Abbess: Is she really worth saving?

[Morlock · 7/10 · 5 October 1998]

Where else are you going to find a medieval fantasy with musical interludes that sound as if disco had been invented in the middle ages? (It's very reminiscent of "Jeff Waynes' Musical Version of The War of the Worlds").

Like many B(ad)-films, "Hawk the Slayer" contains several elements that warrant a cult classic, in my humble opinion. To my knowledge, however, it has never achieved said status, and many people don't even know it exists, which is one 'cult criteria' in itself.

In its favor, HTS has a very straightforward story/plot (rescue the Abbess) that it unfolds in an unflinching, smooth manor. It's protagonist (Hawk), antagonist (Voltan), and their conflict are clearly defined. Its themes/subplots (triumph of good over evil; companionship over adversity) are classic, valid, and successfully executed.

Even the lack of a hefty budget (it was a TV movie) aids the film's style (setting, costumes, etc.) in that it helps the audience suspend belief regarding the time period, the location, and the fictional qualities utilized. Unfortunately, the music, the performances, and some of the props dispel that illusion.

One major annoyance for me was the lack of backstory. Granted, everything strictly related to the film's plot is presented (mostly in flashback), but many references to events that happened off-screen in the past (before or after the flashbacks?) are never dealt with. It feels very much like you're watching part two of a triology that has no part one or three.

Though the story has its quirky moments (most of which appear to be budget-based), I credit HTS with a number of inventive ideas and interesting action scenarios (not counting the slow motion, poorly choreographed final sword fight). Plus, it's one of the few (if not the only) fantasy films that actually utilizes a team comprised of various medieval classes of heroes.

If for no other reason, see this film for the clip-loading, rapid fire crossbow and the super fast, super accurate elf. I guarantee, however, that you'll be asking yourself, "Why didn't anyone challenge Voltan to a sword fight earlier?"

Pretty bad but not without its moments

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 30 March 2015]

I'm all for watching a fantasy/action film and there are some good actors here. Hawk the Slayer is pretty bad with so much wrong with it, but it is not without its moments. The costumes are decent, the interaction between Gort and Baldin is enjoyable, there are some entertaining moments(though perhaps not intentionally) like Voltan grovelling amidst a red background and a hilarious near-sacrifice and Bernard Bresslaw is enormous fun as Gort.

But Hawk the Slayer is one of those films, despite having some entertainment and having its heart in the place, where the cons far outweigh the pros. Visually the costumes are the only half-decent things. The sets while not too bad-looking are too limited with too many scenes shot in the same location- and lit in a drab way. The special effects are appallingly cheap, not just for an 80s fantasy film but they do have to be the worst special effects for any fantasy. The synthesised disco-like soundtrack would be reasonable on its own, but just felt ridiculously out of place here and constantly at odds with what was going on. The script takes silliness to a whole new level and goes overboard in its use of it, and doesn't even try to make sense, Jack Palance's line delivery sometimes has to be heard to be believed.

Story-wise, while extremely derivative, there were some decent ideas but handled very unimaginatively and in an underdeveloped way. Structurally, it's also very episodic and sometimes badly drags with the action slowing things down rather than moving the story forward, some moments entertain but eventually the unintentional hilarity does get tiresome. The action sequences are nothing to write home about, the action itself is choreographed very clumsily and almost all of it is edited far too rapidly and shot in an unnecessarily gimmicky way(which is true for a lot of the film). Think the final battle, which was too brief but shot in slow-motion to try and hide that. Terry Marcel's direction is very gimmicky and confused, almost like he wasn't sure how to direct or tell the story. And the acting is terrible, with Bresslaw giving the best and only good performance. I like Jack Palance, and he often does excel in villain roles, and while he does try hard a lot of time it's like he's trying too hard to the extent it feels hammy and over-compensated. Then there's John Terry, who spends the whole time looking stiff and uninterested and everybody else look and sound robotic. There are numerous cameos/short appearances from talented actors but they have very little to do so they don't really register.

All in all, not without its moments but pretty bad. 4/10 Bethany Cox

"Silence, Scum!"

[bilgeboybob · 10/10 · 23 October 2005]

I agree that this is one for the "so bad, it's good" shelf. the real fun with this movie though, is playing Spot The Actor. there are many respectable British TV character actors in this Fantasy Farce who probably leave this one off their C.V. (resume) I won't spoil it for you,but go back and have a look! Also, there was a rumour that the story was written up from a "Dungeons and Dragons" campaign. I don't know if it's true, but with dialogue like "Silence, Scum" and "I bring a message, the message of death!" I can believe it. And here's one for trivia buffs, one fight scene in this movie is actually quoted in a fight choreography book as being a good example of how to film sword combat!!!!

Worth 8/10 just for being so damned entertaining!

A classic

[raypdaley182 · 7/10 · 14 October 2006]

Take a Progressive Rock Soundtrack and a plot that steals from Star Wars and Superman.

And you have Hawk The Slayer. Actually the name is not well thought out as he roams the land devoted to peace but defending the weak, only fighting when necessary.

The back story is Hawk & Voltan are brothers. Voltan was away at a war, his woman fell for Hawk, he's bitter. She never loved Voltan and burns his face with a flaming torch. She tries to flee with Hawk and Voltan shoots her in the back.

Few goofs there already. She had ample opportunity to kill Voltan when he was on the floor before she freed Hawk, and Hawk could have easily killed Voltan here as well. Also if she'd just sat down in the boat, Voltan would have never killed her.

So we already destroyed the plot, what little there was of it.

Basically Voltan then goes on to kill his father and become a dark power over the land. It's starting to sound like Star Wars already. Couple that with the metal Darth Vader like helmet and the witch who cures him looking like Palpatine and it's so Star Wars it's unreal.

They stole the lighted spinning hoops from Superman, and Bernard Bresslaw basically will go on to play an almost identical role in the movie Krull 3 years later.

This film is a fantasy romp, slavers, bad men, nuns who betray hero's. Nice cameos by Roy Kinner and Annette Crosbie.

The film is really bad but very easy to watch, it left room for a second part but no-one would dare these days. Or would they?

The FUNNIEST movie you will ever see!

[A person who will always like films · 1/10 · 22 September 2001]

Yep, its hysterical. The acting! The plot! The music! Hilarious!

Please note that its value as the funniest movie of all time was probably about as intentional as the time I let a hamster that I was hamster-sitting roll off down the stairs in his rollerball:

THUMP THUMP THUMP!

CRASH!

BWAHAHAHAHA!

And that's Hawk the Slayer summed up. Enjoy!

A whole 1 star out of ten for making me fall to my knees in hysteria - it's THAT good...