The Sword and the Sorcerer
Lean, lanky Lee Horsley (TV'sMatt Houston) is hardly the iconic  image of a medieval warrior, but in this cheesyConan the Barbarianknockoff he makes his swaggering, mercenary Talon a genial smart aleck of a  barbarian hero. The plot is pure pulp cliché: evil Cromwell (Richard Lynch)  raises a demon to conquer a peaceful kingdom, kill the rulers, and imprison the  royal heirs, and the son of a murdered patriot returns to take his righteous vengeance  with a projectile-loaded, three-bladed sword. First-time director Albert Pyun apprenticed  under Akira Kurosawa and brings with him an eye for handsome images and a fluid sense  of action that helps overcome B-movie dialogue ("Unlock this door, wench, and leave  that to us!"), scenery-chewing performances, and bargain-basement budget. In one fight  sequence a guard punches a rock wall--and dents it! Kathleen Beller (the dark-eyed  beauty ofThe Betsy) is the rebel princess who enlists Talon to the cause,Route 66's charming wanderer George Maharis is a conniving traitor under an  unflattering mop of greasy hair, and Richard Moll dons a latex monster mask to play  the double-crossed demon. It's utterly silly and often awkward, but it does have  energy to spare. The sequel promised at the end of the film was never produced and  Pyun went on to direct some of the best straight-to-video action films of the 1990s,  includingNemesis.--Sean Axmaker