THE BEASTMASTER

US, 1982, 113 minutes, Colour.
Marc Singer, Tanya Roberts, Rip Torn, John Amos.
Directed by Don Coscarelli.

The Beastmaster is an action adventure, colourfully made. It seems to be a mixture of Dark Ages sorcery and Tarzan films. It has touches and references of Macbeth, Don Quixote, Knights of the Round Table etc. The film was directed by Don Coscarelli, director of the successful horror film Phantasm (The Never Dead).

The film is one of several films after the success of Excalibur. Others in the genre in the early '80s included Dragonslayer, Conan the Barbarian, The Sword and the Sorcerer. This film does not take itself too seriously and has a blend of the serious icon with the tongue in cheek. Mark Singer is sufficiently brawny hero, though seems particularly modern American. This is even more true of Tanya Roberts (Charlie's Angels) as the heroine. They tend to communicate by inarticulation. Veteran Rip Torn has an artificial nose and manipulates his jaw to suggest evil as the High Priest.

Location photography is excellent, there are many special effects and the re-creation of villages and life in the Dark Ages. Sentiment and sentimentality is provided by the animals themselves, especially two cute ferrets. The film fits into the pattern of comic book heroics which were so popular on a large scale, e.g. Superman and Star Wars, and on this kind of big budgeted B feature.

1. Entertainment value? The picture of the Dark Ages? The times of legend, magic, cruelty? The style of the adventure, Tarzan and the animals? For what audience was the film made?

2. The location photography? Scenic value? The village - and the use of models? The darkness and light? Interiors and exteriors? Mountains, rivers, desert, the sea? Decor and costumes? The atmosphere of the period? The adventure style musical score?

3. The importance of special effects and audience response: magic, violence and gore, the battle sequences, the animals, the cruelty and power of the High Priest, the weird characters? Such special effects as Dar seeing with the vision of the eagle?

4. The background of legends and folklore? Heroic adventures? The larger than life hero? The setting of the scene with the curse on the King and his wife? The transfer of the unborn child from mother to cow? The birth? The imprisonment of the King? The cruelty of the High Priest and the human sacrifice? Horror and revulsion at such goings on? Interest in the hero and his growing up. ability with animals? Savagery needing vengeance? The power of the Beastmaster? His rescues? His mighty feats? Risks, death, battles? His going on to further adventures? How well did the film draw on legendary stories? B grade movie models - the serials?

5. The particularly American style of the film? Accents, American sound, contemporary jargon? The muscular American hero with a skill in martial arts, the Charlie's Angel heroine? The echoes of the West?

6. The village and Maax's control? The consultation of the witches? His assistants hanging themselves? The confrontation of the King? The curse? His destroying the dynasty? The plundering of other villages? His control of the village? Human sacrifice? His pursuit of Dar? The torture chambers? The confrontation in the prison? His final sacrifice and his death? Backgrounds of superstition, evil and power in the name of religion?

7. Maax and the curse of the mother? His going into exile? His control over the child? His later control via the eye in the ring? Sacrifice, exploitation of the people? The impersonation of evil?

8. Dar as hero: the prophecy, the curse, the transfer of the child to the womb of the cow, his being saved, his stepfather training him, the power over the bear, his growing older and his sense of destiny, the work in the fields, the pillage, the massacre in the village, the dog saving him and its death, his setting fire to the village, wandering. his communication with the eagle and its leading him, the ferrets and their stealing and his making friends with them, the confrontation with the tiger? The discovery of Kiri and his infatuation? His reaction to the sacrifice of the children? The rescuing of the child and the gratitude of the father? The encounter with Seth and his brother? The ring? Using the gratitude of the family for help? The journey? The rescue of Kiri? Entering the city? The experience of the dungeons? His being rejected by his father after saving him? The siege? The killing of Maax and the saving of Kiri? The preparation for the battle against the Juns? The final combat? His going on and Kiri following? Conventional character, type? Impersonation of heroics?

9. Seth and his help, the boy King? The old King and his imprisonment? Kiri as heroine ? the washing, the slave, place at the sacrifice, fighting with Dar, helping him, the end, almost sacrificed, going with Dar?

10. The King and his suffering, the revenge, his wanting war? The boy and his becoming King?

11. The animals and his power? The ferrets and their tricks, their help in the prison, the ferret giving his life! And audience grief? The tiger and its help? The eagle?

12. The picture of village life in the Dark Ages? The frightened community? The working community and its destruction by the pillagers?

13. The marauding bands and their vengeance and cruelty? The final combat?

14. Themes of religion, superstition, a dark world? Violence? The triumph of right over wrong? The comic strip presentation of traditional values?