The Devil's Sword (Indonesia 1984)

Rating: **
Review Date: 8/9/15
Cast: Barry Prima, Advent Bangun, Enny Christina, Gudi Sintara

"Ah, crocodile men..."

The mystical and lustful Crocodile Queen (Gudi Sintara) demands sacrifices of attractive young men to satisfy her carnal desires and maintain her youth and beauty. When Enny Christina's husband is kidnapped by Crocodile Queen's evil warrior Banyu-jaga (Advent Bangun), she swears revenge and sets out to kill her. Along the way, she meets up with a good warrior named Mandala (Barry Prima) who happens to be a rival of Banyu-jaga, and together they set out to retrieve the Devil's Sword and make Crocodile Queen pay for her crimes. But can Mandala handle the sword and resist Crocodile Queen's magic charms?

Admittedly, I was disappointed by the film because it doesn't live up to the hype and isn't nearly as outrageous as I was led to believe. It's a fairly attractive and competently made film, but the pacing is sluggish and the action scenes are weak. Barry Prima is a charismatic actor and a good fighter, and his fight scenes are actually pretty entertaining. Unfortunately, all of the other fight scenes are overly soft and unconvincing. Enny Christina is a cute little spitfire with lots of attitude and conviction, but she tends to pull her punches and so do all of the stunt men that fight with her. The visual effects are pretty poor for the most part, but there are a handful of amusing decapitations and torso splits. It's not a bad way to pass the time if you're a fan of Asian film oddities, but there are much better options in the genre.