CONQUEST: Fulci, Conquerer Of Trashy Fantasy Adventure
In the '70s and '80s, the Italian genre film mill was astrend-conscious as it got. Whatever the new commercial cinema craze was - crimefilms, post-apocalyptic action, cannibal movies, you name it - would getpounced on as producers quickly put together their own cost-effective entriesinto the latest trend.
The sword and sorcery genre spurred by the success of Conan The Barbarian is a good exampleof a trend that the Italians explored to its fullest: everyone from UmbertoLenzi to Joe D'Amato cranked out a bunch of these films in a few short years.To Schlockmania's eyes, the results were seldom successful: the quick nature ofproduction, tight budgets and errant attention to detail resulted in a numberof silly films with actors running around in animal skins and looking goofyagainst the backdrop of national parks that were unconvincing stand-ins for theexpected fantasy landscapes.
That said, there was one notable exception: Conquest. This production stands out asone of the quirkiest, most surreal films to emerge from this cycle, thanks inno small part to the direction of Lucio Fulci. He was doing director-for-hirework here but still managed to infuse his cinematic personality into thefinished product in a number of ways.
Odd as this description may sound, Conquest is at heart a buddy movie. The prime mover of the story isIlias (Andrea Occhipinti), a young adventurer who sets out to rid a fantasykingdom of the evil that haunts it. As he finds his way through a surreallandscape, he is joined by Mace (Jorge Rivero), a lone wolf type who is a skilledfighter and friend to the animals. The evil this duo faces is represented byOcron (Sabrina Siani), a sorceress with a golden mask who uses everysupernatural means at her command to stop the heroic duo.
That simple plot description in no way prepares you forthe sensory assault of Conquest. Forstarters, it has the most unusual look of any of these Italian fantasyadventures: cinematographer Alejandro Ulloa devised a strange lookincorporating fog machines, soft lenses and unusual color filter effects thatmakes the entire movie look and feel like a drugged-out hallucination. Thescript enhances the dreamlike quality by taking what would be a sturdy plotlinein normal circumstances and laying it out in this odd, ebb-and-flow manner thatalso weaves in dream sequences and poison-induced hallucinations. Between thisstory and the visuals, you'll feel like someone put something in your drink asthe film progresses.
And then there's the "Fulci" of it all: thedirector might have been a hired hand but it definitely feels like his work. Conan-style fantasy adventures could beviolent but Fulci pushes the envelope here with immolation, people gettingtheir the tops of their heads bashed off, brain eating, oozing sores and onesquirmer of a moment where a primitive girl gets split up the middle by Ocron'sminions. The surreal look and mood Fulci establishes with Ulloa isn't that farremoved from what he was doing in TheBeyond or City Of The Living Dead.Speaking of The Beyond, Fulci adds anod to that film here by having a symbol tattooed on Mace's forehead thathappens to be the same symbol on the Book Of Eibon.
That said, surreal style alone can't make a movie work -and thankfully, Fulci and company deliver on the excitement a fantasy adventureneeds in Conquest. There's at leastone action scene or eye-catching shock every reel, usually more: highlightsinclude attacks by supernatural soldiers with budget-conscious but interestinglooking monster masks (wolf masked soldiers as well as some kind of bug-eyedfish men) and a scene where Mace has to take on his own evil doppelganger.There are some pretty good visual effects (laser arrows!) and Occhipinti andRivero make for an appealing hero team. The film even takes time to build theirfriendship so there are moments of uplift when one rescues the other.
In short, Conquestis a weird and wonderful treat for anyone interested in the quirky side of '80sConan knockoffs (I haven't even mentioned Claudio Simonetti's pulsating,"New Age on steroids" synth score or an amazing underwater sceneinvolving dolphins). It's a fun barrage of continental pulp where Fulci'sdistinctive style shines through at all times.
Blu-Ray Notes: this title finally got its long-awaited blu-ray debut courtesy of Code Red. The transfer does well translating the film's hazy, misty look to high definition and the same can be said for the presentation of the film's 2.0 stereo English dub, which comes through with real punch, especially in the music. Extras include a trailer, a new commentary track by Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth and a pair of new interview pieces with Rivero.