Land Of Doom (1985)

Rating: *
Review Date: 6/29/19
Cast: Deborah Rennard, Garrick Dowhen

Spectacularly awful. After the fall of civilization, a roving band of violent warriors led by a masked madman named Slater loot, rape, murder, and pillage everything they come across. Slater is especially interested in finding a man named Anderson (Garrick Dowhen), who previously defied him and disfigured his face. A fierce woman named Harmony (Deborah Rennard) manages to escape from one of Slater's raids and ends up running into Anderson, who is injured and hiding in a cave. They form an uneasy alliance to hunt for food and water, and Anderson tells Harmony about a rumored paradise where people live free and have no worries. Unfortunately, they run out of gas before they get very far and become Slater's prisoners. Miraculously, they get rescued by some weirdo with a flamethrower, who has befriended some Jawas that just happen to secretly live in Slater's castle. Seriously, what was THAT all about? The film ends abruptly with no resolution, and breaks into a mind-blowing theme song called "Harmony's Land Of Doom."

The cinematography is decent and the Turkish locations are beautiful, but the overall execution is horribly inept. The dialog is appallingly bad, the action scenes are terrible, the vehicles are laughably pathetic, and the villain is totally ridiculous. The actor who plays Slater also plays another bad guy, which just adds to the confusion. "Here's a wig and some makeup. No one will ever know the difference!" The editing and continuity are poor and the disco-inspired soundtrack is hilariously inappropriate. Deborah Rennard is an attractive and capable actress, but the other performers are typical B-movie quality. Apart from Rennard's charm and beauty, the only other thing the film has going for it is a handful of nice explosions. Even so, the film is nearly unwatchable, and it was a constant struggle to not reach for the remote and put myself out of my misery.