The term “Fantasy Land” is generally used mockingly, as a means of chiding someone with an overly rosy view of the world. It’s a simple and effective analogy, instantly evoking images of princesses and unicorns and all-around insufferable whimsy. Yet, as any moderately well-read nerd will tell you, most actual Fantasy Lands are far from pretty. Sure, you’ve got your wizard schools and Princes Charming, but the vast majority of mythical kingdoms are positively lousy with barbaric rulers, Eyes of Sauron, and little people who will gladly do any number of terrible things to you. Hell, even unicorns are historically kind of shitty. If you think that Fantasy Lands are all rainbows and treasures, well, you’re living in one.
Presently, the most visibly inhospitable Fantasy Land is undoubtedly Westeros, the setting of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels and, of course, HBO’s world-conquering TV series Game of Thrones. Viewers accustomed to the sanitized landscapes of Disney’s princesses have become entranced by Martin’s uncensored kingdom of gore, nudity, and demented Justin Bieber kings (it is at this point that the author should confess that he does not get HBO and that all of his GoT knowledge comes second- or third-hand). But true genre fans know that the show simply follows a rich tradition of unsavory sorcery. And rarely was cinematic fantasy quite so brutal, bloody, and, well, Barbaric as it was in the 1980s.
The ‘80s were a wild time for mainstream movies. The monstrous success of Jaws and Star Wars encouraged studios to gamble more money on potential blockbusters, but today’s formulas for box office dynamite had yet to be canonized. The PG-13 rating wouldn’t be introduced until 1984 (mostly so that Steven Spielberg could do things like rip guys’ hearts out and nuke monsters in the microwave), which meant a surprising amount of hard-R blockbusters and even more truly traumatizing PG-rated films. It’s tough to imagine in today’s landscape of family-friendly action bonanzas, but the difference between a mainstream blockbuster and a grindhouse gore film was once best measured in terms of budget.
Just in time for the fifth-season premiere of Game of Thrones, the Brattle has curated a weekend’s worth of the finest dark fantasies to come out of the Reagan era. First up is Dragonslayer (1981), a Disney-produced epic which shattered its share of childhoods with its brutal pagan imagery and terrifying title monsters. On Saturday is Excalibur (1981), John Boorman’s bleakly beautiful take on Arthurian legend. Sunday brings perhaps the gold standard of the genre, with the original, Ahnold-starring version of Conan the Barbarian (1982). Finally, in a less prestigious (but no less sanguine) vein comes The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982) by legendary schlockmeister Albert Pyun. (Please note that, despite its title and concurrent programming, Eric Rohmer’s A Tale of Winter is, in fact, a tender romance, and is NOT part of the Bloody Fantasy series). Winter may be coming, but Crom will always rule.
3/13 – Dragonslayer (1981)
3/14 – Excalibur (1981)
3/15 – Conan the Barbarian (1982)
3/16 – The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982)
