THE DEVIL'S SWORD

(A.k.a. GOLOK SETAN)

A meteor falls from the sky one night, and an old wizard rushes to carve a magical sword from its molten rock. The credits come at an appropriate time to tell us that this is, indeed, what will come to be known as the devil's sword ...

The story then centres around a Crocodile Queen (Gudhi Sintara) who is worshipped across the land by small villages who sacrifice men to her regularly, to sate her unquenchable thirst for sex.

When one village stops offering up sacrifices, the Queen sends her top warrior Banyu-Jaga (Advent Bangun) to stop a wedding in the village and abduct the groom for the purposes of Her Majesty's lusts. But the villagers will not hand over their man quietly, and an all-out fight develops. Watching from afar is the nomadic Mandala (Barry Prima, PRIMITIF). He witnesses his once-friend Banyu-Jaga slay the whole town, save for the groom and his furious new wife.

Mandala intervenes at this point, telling Banyu-Jaga he should not be using his special fighting powers for the benefits of evil-doing. Their master, who trained the pair of them, would not approve. But the bad guy shrugs, and more fighting commences. Incapable of a fair scrap, Banyu-Jaga summons up several "Crocodile men" from the ground for added weight. They restrain Mandala while Banyu-Jaga makes his escape with the hapless groom over his shoulder.

Mandala gives chase, but is called spiritually by his old master, begging him to come to his aide. The master, it transpires, was attacked by Banyu-Jaga and his gang of evil warriors the day before. Mandala saves the master from a poison infection by hacking off his legs, then listens intently as the master passes on a map which shows the secret location of the one thing the Queen and her evil warriors are desperate to track down - the devil's sword. After all, it is said that whoever holds the sword will become the most powerful person in the world.

Mandala promises to retrieve the sword from its secret location and keep it safe. He takes the new bride (Enny Christina) along with him for the ride - vowing to rescue her husband once he has completed his mission. But the Queen, like all witches, has the power to see Mandala on his travels, and sends her evil warriors in pursuit ...

THE DEVIL'S SWORD is insane. It roars along at 100 mph, throwing in everything from gory beheadings, one-eyed monsters and men in crocodile suits, to floating wizards, laser-throwing warriors and an impromptu dance routine/orgy that must be seen to be guffawed at.

Surprisingly well-shot, well-lit and framed, THE DEVIL'S SWORD is driven by manic energy, go-for-broke action sequences and costume designs that outshine its obvious low budget. The intermittent sex scenes are oddly tame (there's no nudity, as everyone stays fully clothed) and this fits in with the film's feel of being an all-round good old-fashioned boy's own adventure. With lashings of cheap gore.

The performances are hilarious - hideous facial overacting prevails throughout. The dialogue is similarly preposterous, hampered further by well-synched but staggeringly inept dubbing. But all of these things work in THE DEVIL'S SWORD's favour. It's trash, pure and simple. And very enjoyable trash at that.

Difficult to put across in mere words, the best way I can think of summing up this delightful Indonesian atrocity is to call it a cross between the old TV series MONKEY, and SHOGUN ASSASSIN.

Mondo Macabro have done a sterling job with a new transfer from an original negative. Presented in it's original 2.35:1 ratio and anamorphically enhanced for 16x9 TV sets, it looks stunning. There's minor speckles at the start, and the odd 'hair' on the screen now and again - but this truly is a pristine transfer, gorgeous to behold.

The English dubbed audio is presented in a stereo mix, and does it's job extremely well. A rousingly loud and clear mix.

The film can be accessed via 20 chapters.

As ever, Mondo Macabro have complemented their release with plenty of interesting extras.

First up is a jaw-dropping 20 minute interview with Prima, conducted outside a hotel in Indonesia. Prima is either taking the piss or genuinely ignorant - it's painful to watch his distant, offhand answers at times. Still, it's riveting in a perverse kind of way. Almost worth the price of the disc alone. He offers one-word answers most of the time, after having mulled the question over for what seems like an eternity. I particularly liked Mondo Macabro's text disclaimer at the beginning of this featurette, warning "make of it what you will"!

ABOUT THE FILM is 5 pages of text from the ever-dependable Pete Tombs, mainly concentrating on the movie's production.

Tombs is also on hand for a 7 page Prima biography, and an insightful illustrated 10-page essay on the mythology behind magical swords.

The original US trailer is a hoot, largely due to the hyperbolic voice-over.

Finally, we get the usual Mondo Macabro trailer reel which lasts well over 5 minutes nowadays, and includes the likes of ASWANG, CLONUS, PANIC BEATS, ALUCARDA, LIFESPAN, THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN, DON'T DELIVER US FROM EVIL ... reminding us how essential this label has become.

High art this is not, but it's a whole lot of guilty fun. To be watched drunk, preferably with like-minded friends. And the disc is great.

Review by Stu Willis