Lucio, Lucio, Lucio. A barbarian movie? Actually, why the hell not? He's done everything from zombie movies, erotic comedies, poliziotteschi (Italian Cop movies), gialli and spaghetti westerns - so why not a barbarian movie? I didn't really know what to expect from this before I saw it. I figured it would either be really good or really bad. And it turned out being both.
Conquest is the story of Ilias (Andrea Occhipinti), a young man armed with a magic bow and arrow who sets out on a quest to destroy the evil, naked, golden masked, snake lovin' Ochran (Sabrina Sellers). He meets up with a barbarian named Mace (Jorge 'George' Rivero) and together they fight against Werewolves (actually more like Werewookies), Cobweb Monsters, (obviously robotic) bats, and of course Zombies on their conquest to destroy Ochran.
This film turned out to be exactly what I was hoping for. A silly, over the top barbarian film in which every woman in the film is topless and the gore rivals Fulci's bloodiest films. Who else would add a woman being ripped in half, decapitations, puss filled boils that pop ooze, a dude who gets the top of his head chopped off and multiple bloody arrow wounds? This film also has tons of fog, a bow that shoots laser arrows, heroic dolphins and some terrible dubbing. It is so fun however that none of that harms the picture, it actually makes it better. The hazy filter used on the lens throughout the film causes some scenes to be a little hard to make out, but it actually gives the film its own original look. I think if you are looking for a big budget Conan type movie, you may or may not be disappointed but if you are looking for a barbarian movie directed by Lucio Fulci, well...you know what you're getting into.
RATING: 4/5
I'm always happy to stumble across others that have appreciation for this one. It's probably for Fulci freex only, but you did a damn fine job reviewing it.
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