Hawk the Slayer is a low-budget fantasy film that delivers plenty of 80s cheesiness, but it stands out as a sword and sorcery guilty pleasure that has a sense of fun and a respect for its genre.
What is it?
The story of this fantasy film focuses on two feuding brothers who live in a land of magic in ages past. The evil brother Voltan (played by-the-numbers by Jack Palance, though he does bring some life to the character) wants to possess the last Elven mindstone and he kills his own father to acquire it. However, the stone winds up in the possession of the good brother (Hawk, played with full deadpan woodenness by John Terry), as it attaches itself to and enchants the sword he carries. This, however, does not stop Voltan from embarking on a campaign to bring his evil to all the lands. Voltan’s ambitions result in the demise of Hawk’s wife (which leads to a reprisal that disfigures Voltan’s face) and Hawk vows to avenge the deaths of his loved ones who have suffered at Voltan’s hand. Later, Voltan kidnaps an Abbess and demands all the gold from the convent for her return. The High Abbot then turns to Hawk to help free the Abbess from Voltan’s treachery. In response, Hawk reassembles a band of warriors he has fought with before (Gort the giant, Baldin the dwarf, Crow the Elf, Ranulf the fighter, and an unnamed Sorceress) to free the Abbess and put a halt to Voltan’s evil.
Cast: Jack Palance, John Terry, Bernard Bresslaw , Ray Charleson , Peter O’Farrell
Crew: Terry Marcel (Writer/Director), Harry Robertson (Writer)
Original Release: 1981
Legacy
When the Blockbuster Era kicked off in the 1970s, it brought plenty of big-budget sci fi movies to theaters, but not too much for fantasy fans. And while Hawk the Slayer may have lacked the high-dollar production values, it delivered good, cheesy sword and sorcery fun and stands out as a beloved guilty pleasure in the fantasy genre.
A Closer Look
This fantasy film from television and B-Movie director Terry Marcel hit theaters in 1980, though it had a very limited release in the United States and most Americans who saw it first remember catching it on TV. At that time, Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, Alien, and more had delivered grand sci fi epics to the big screen, but there was little of note in the fantasy genre in theaters. Hawk the Slayer filled that void, and turned into a fan-favorite despite its shortcomings. It might have been burdened with wooden acting, clunky dialogue, a minuscule budget (heck they couldn’t even afford a decent village), Jack Palance hamming it up and chewing the scenery, and a group of Lord of the Rings castoffs traveling through a slip-shod stand in for a fantasy world. But this movie had a charm about it that has given it cult status, and it still has a strong appeal today to those who can look past its limitations.
For those of us who grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons at the time this movie came out, Hawk the Slayer was a must-watch affair. It preceded the much bigger budgeted Dragonslayer (1981) and Conan the Barbarian (1982) and at least scratched that fantasy itch that many fans had. It delivered all the archetypes of the sword and sorcery genre (the noble warrior, the evil knight, the bow-wielding elf, the snarky dwarf, etc.) and a slew of imminently quotable lines (well, quotable to a bunch of D&D geeks). And really, it was the ancillary characters like Gort, Baldin, and Crow that made the movie so much fun. Plus, it had a sincerity about it that made it seem less hackneyed and more of an homage to the genre (unlike 1982’s vapid The Sword and the Sorcerer which just dully piled on one cliché after the next while never really grasping its source material). Sure, Hawk the Slayer had almost no budget, and stumbled many times with its acting and directing (and why exactly did Hawk find it necessary to constantly go out of his way to ride his horse through water?). But it also had a sense of fun about it, like a D&D campaign brought to life. The writers seemed to understand the genre pretty well (or just lucked into hitting all the right buttons), and the film delivered a straightforward sword and sorcery tale that, despite its deadpan delivery, also had a bit of magic about it.
Viewers spoiled by the current CGI era of movie-making may have a hard time finding the heart of this movie, but it’s definitely there. And then there’s that soundtrack that mixes a classical film score with disco and Ennio Morricone-style western themes! For fantasy fans, I highly recommend checking this one out. Adjust your expectations appropriately and I believe you will find this to be a quaint little relic from a simpler time of film-making.
The Story Continues
The ending of Hawk the Slayer promised a sequel, and a trilogy of films was originally planned for the property (and possibly more if those succeeded). Terry Marcel began working on Hawk the Destroyer in 1981, but that film was never realized. In 2009, he made another attempt at revisiting the character with a new cast, trying to raise money through crowdfunding to finance a film to be titled Hawk the Hunter. That has not materialized either, nor has the proposed TV series, and we may not expect much more from Marcel seeing as he is in his 80s now. In 2022, a comic book sequel written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Henry Flint appeared in four issues of the Judge Dredd magazine. That has since been collected as a TPB and in eBook format and more adventures could follow in that medium.
Should It Be Rebooted?
Absolutely! And this is one of those films that is perfect for a reboot. It was a decent genre entry in its original form, but it has many shortcomings and a modern update would serve it well. It doesn’t need the CGI overload we get all too often from movies today, just a medium budget that could bring it to life in a way that modern audiences could enjoy it. Keep the main story intact as well as the sense of fun and respect for the fantasy genre, and you could have a franchise that could deliver multiple movies and not break the bank. The big studios would likely not be interested in this one because it does not have enough name recognition. But a smaller-scale production could happen–and prove quite successful–if the right people get behind it.
Interesting Facts:
Other fantasy works that Terry Marcel worked on over the years included Prisoners of the Lost Universe (where he re-teemed with Peter O’Farrell), Jane and the Lost City (which co-starred Flash Gordon‘s Sam Jones), and the 2000 British TV series Dark Knight where he re-imagined the Ivanhoe legend.
John Terry is probably better known to genre fans for playing Dr. Christian Shepherd, the father of Jack Shepherd, on Lost.
Where Can You Watch It?
Hawk the Slayer was released on DVD, but it has since gone out of print and is fetching pretty high prices from third-party sellers. It is widely available for streaming on the free services like FreeVee, Tubi TV, and more. (See its full streaming availability at JustWatch.com.)
