Review of Barbarian Queen

I watched Barbarian Queen after seeing several movies made by Argentina filmmakers at the United States Film Festival (a.k.a Sundance) back in the 80s. A large chunk of these films were about the just-ended military Junta that took place in that country. Thousand went missing, dead or were tortured during those very black days. One of the films , "Night of the Pencils," was made by the very same director, Hector Olivera, of "Barbarian Queen." Pencils is a serious film that examines the brutalization of several young folk during the Junta years. When I came across Barbarian Queen, I was some what surprised that this obvious exploitation sword and sorcery was made by the same guy. However, some of very anti-Junta sentiments are buried in this rather mercenary Conan rip-off. Barbarian Queen is about a group of villagers taken captive by an evil regime. It also features a sinister and very creepy torture doctor. These are very familiar to the victims of the military Junta. And while the film does wallow in the same rape fantasy that populated a big chunk of these sword & sorcery b-movies, there is one sequence I think that more honestly displays Olivera's view. In that scene, Clarkson comes across a young women that is chained to a pole. She is bruised, beaten, and scarred –not in the least bit sexy. A hideously brutish soldier stands before her. He takes her bruised face in his hands and orders the captive to smile. Clarkson rams a sword through his neck. This lit bit of business is not in the least bit titillating. The last thing we want is for the loathsome soldier to have his way with this broken woman. It is very satisfying when he gets his at the business end of Clarkson's sword. It is quite a powerful scene (probably the best in the movie). I am not foolish enough to look at this sleazy bit of exploitation shot on the cheap by Corman and crew as some sort of political statement. Still, it is kind of interesting to see the impact the Junta made on Olivera creep (perhaps unconsciously) into this Corman quickie. I never would have made the connection at all if I hadn't just seen a bunch of Argentinean movies before this. It certainly makes Barbarian Queen more interesting for me than it probably deserves.