Hawk the Slayer (1980) is a swords and sorcery movie directed by Terry Marcel and starring John Terry and Jack Palance. The protagonist is Hawk, a hero in the Dark Age, where the Evil ruled the world.
Plot summary
In the terrible time of Evil, the wicked Voltan kills his own father. However, before the old man dies, he bequeaths to his other son, Hawk, a sword with magical powers. Hawk then vows to avenge his father and to kill Voltan. Voltan’s evil touches the whole countryside, and in time, there comes to a solitary convent one Ranulf, a man who has survived the attack of Voltan, an evildoer described as a son of Satan.
Ranulf reports to the nuns of Voltan’s attack on his people, who have been “hacked to pieces”, even the women and children. Ranulf’s injured arm is saved, but his hand is beyond saving. He is nursed back to health.
Before long, Voltan appears at the convent. He kidnaps the Abbess, demanding as her ransom all the gold of the convent and the local Abbey. Voltan again injures Ranulf, but he decides not kill him. Ranulf rides off to the Abbey to talk with the High Abbot, who sends Ranulf to look for one who can help, namely, Hawk. Hawk discovers Ranulf with the help of a local blind sorceress, a woman whose life he saves when she is accused of witchcraft. Ranulf is the prisoner by this time of two thieves, but Hawk rescues him with the help of his sword.
Hawk, the virtuous warrior, then gathers to his assistance an elf, a giant and a dwarf.
After a long and dangerous journey, Ranulf and Hawk decide to help the nuns get their Mother Superior back. Hawk locates his old friends: Gort, a serious giant,who welds a mighty mallet; Crow, an elf of few words and a deadly bow, and Baldin, a funny dwarf,with a whip. (The similarity of this line-up with J R R Tolkien’s in “The Fellowship of the Ring” will not be lost on viewers). All together, they arrive at the convent, protecting the nuns and working out how to get sufficient gold to lure Voltan into a trap. They rob the needed gold from a slave trader, Sped, by using their combined powers.
Knowing Voltan of old, Hawk doubts about the promise of Voltan to free the Abbess.
Hawk recalls how Voltan killed Elaine, his wife,by shooting her in the back, a crime he adds in his reckoning to he death of his father also.
Hawk and his friends, suspecting Voltan’s treason, decide to rescue the Abbess, but they fail. Later, Hawk kills Drogo, Voltan’s son, who earlier tried to kill Hawk and the nuns. When Voltan realizes that Hawk has killed Drogo, his rage boils, and he engages with the heroes in a final battle at the convent. He is helped by a well-meaning but rogue nun to capture the heroes; she dies for her pains at his hands.
With the help of the sorceress, the heroes overcome their captivity, though the dwarf is mortally wounded and dies trying to distract Voltan from torturing Hawk with a hot iron.
In the fighting that ensues, the evil Voltan gets his just reward at the hands of Hawk, and the Abbess is restored. An underworld influence leaves us aware that Voltan will be restored to life to carry out further evil. Meanwhile, Hawk and the giant end up by following the sorceresses advice to go south and engage new evildoers, continuing the battle of good against evil.
Soundtrack
The most striking thing about this movie is the soundtrack which alone has gained cult status amongst B movie fans. It is unusual for melding a traditional orchestral arrangement with synthetic disco beats and Ennio Morricone inspired western music. The soundtrack was composed by Harry Robertson who also provided scores for the Hammer Horror genre.
A fan created dance mix using sound bites from the movie was created in 2003. A 40 second sample clip can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yuHG6QbFc8
Cast
- John Terry as Hawk
- Jack Palance as Voltan
- Bernard Bresslaw as Gort
- Ray Charleson as Crow
- Peter O’Farrell as Baldin
- William Morgan Sheppard (billed as Morgan Sheppard) (as Ranulf)
- Patricia Quinn (as Sorceress)
- Cheryl Campbell (as Sister Monica)
- Annette Crosbie (as Abbess)
- Catriona MacColl (as Eliane)
- Shane Briant (as Drogo)
- Harry Andrews (as High Abbot)
- Christopher Benjamin (as Fitzwalter)
- Roy Kinnear (as Innkeeper)
- Patrick Magee (as Priest)
Trivia
In an episode of the comedy Spaced, Bilbo Bagshot claims that he once punched a man in the face for saying that Hawk the Slayer is rubbish.
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