An incredibly cheesy contribution to the Sword & Sorcery genre starring the late Lana Clarkson, Héctor Oliviera's "Barbarian Queen" of 1985, is a film that is absolutely ridiculous in almost any aspect, but that shouldn't be missed by anyone who can enjoy the cheesier kind low-budget trash flicks. From a mainstream point of view, Sword & Sorcery (& Boobs) flicks such as this one may be, but they can be so much fun to watch when they're not taken too seriously. "Barbarian Queen" might be described as an unintentional comedy, but it's pretty clear that the funny aspects were at least semi-intentional as the film never takes itself too seriously. I personally can't help it - I love films of this kind, cheesy and amateurish as they may be, and always have a good time watching them.
This little film's thin plot in particular tells the story of 'Barbarian Queen' Amethea (Lana Clarkson) who, together with a few other busty female warriors, decides to free her tribe from slavery and tyranny after their village has been razed to the ground by a ruthless tyrant. It's been stated that this is set in the times of the Roman empire, but the villains really have nothing Roman about them, I'd say the movie is set in a typical, undefinable Sword'n'Sorcery fantasy time, some of the folks look like medieval knights, others like Barbarians from more ancient times...
The whole movie is quite similar to an earlier Lana Clarkson movie, "Deathstalker" of 1983, In which she played a role that was almost the same as in this one. I personally enjoyed Deathstaker more, since it was gorier and the shlock factor was at times even higher, but "Barbarian Queen" is definitely also recommended if you're looking for enjoyable trash and a good laugh. The acting is, unsurprisingly, god-awful, and the set pieces sometimes make you wonder whether the hilarious flaws are really unintentional. "Barbarian Queen" delivers cheaply made but entertaining gore effects and a good amount of sleaze and a busty female cast that gets topless every five minutes.
"Barbarian Queen" may be anything but a masterpiece, but B-Movie and Exploitation fans like myself should enjoy it. Just don't expect anything that anyone who has read the title and seen the poster wouldn't anyway.
This little film's thin plot in particular tells the story of 'Barbarian Queen' Amethea (Lana Clarkson) who, together with a few other busty female warriors, decides to free her tribe from slavery and tyranny after their village has been razed to the ground by a ruthless tyrant. It's been stated that this is set in the times of the Roman empire, but the villains really have nothing Roman about them, I'd say the movie is set in a typical, undefinable Sword'n'Sorcery fantasy time, some of the folks look like medieval knights, others like Barbarians from more ancient times...
The whole movie is quite similar to an earlier Lana Clarkson movie, "Deathstalker" of 1983, In which she played a role that was almost the same as in this one. I personally enjoyed Deathstaker more, since it was gorier and the shlock factor was at times even higher, but "Barbarian Queen" is definitely also recommended if you're looking for enjoyable trash and a good laugh. The acting is, unsurprisingly, god-awful, and the set pieces sometimes make you wonder whether the hilarious flaws are really unintentional. "Barbarian Queen" delivers cheaply made but entertaining gore effects and a good amount of sleaze and a busty female cast that gets topless every five minutes.
"Barbarian Queen" may be anything but a masterpiece, but B-Movie and Exploitation fans like myself should enjoy it. Just don't expect anything that anyone who has read the title and seen the poster wouldn't anyway.