Albert Pyun’s film The Sword & The Sorcerer (1982) came out during the heyday of the sword and sorcery genre. The film pits a lone hero with a three bladed sword (Lee Horsley) against the evil king (Richard Lynch) in order to liberate the kingdom and return it to an age of peace and prosperity. It’s an adventure full of all the magical hijinks that Pyun can conjure up on a small budget.
The strength of the film is in its scenes of action as swords clash and men meet terrible, gruesome deaths. The dialogue and plotting, on the other hand, are severely wanting. Pyun’s gifts for staging battles and keeping the cuts quick and the shots short disguise budgetary limitations while still giving the illusion that the scope of a conflict is far greater than it actually is.
Of course The Sword & The Sorcerer needs its gimmick to set it apart from other entries in the genre which it provides in the form of the titular sword. Not only is the sword of three blades but it can launch its blades like missiles into evil foes. It’s a wonky looking prop and the special effects of the blades rocketing to its victims looks cheesy and cheap.
But cheesy and cheap is the name of Pyun’s game and the source of the film’s appeal. The low budget and earnest execution are what makes The Sword & The Sorcerer so endearing. The continued popularity of the film is derived from these qualities because what most sword and sorcery films lack is an abundance of sincerity and technical ingenuity.
