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scoouterboi
Reviews
Maxim Xul (1991)
Cheesy But Cool
I gave this film 7 out of 10 because I like Adam West and because it has really unique Music that I have never heard before.
I have seen this film about 3 times - once in English - once with Dubbed Sound in German and also in Spanish. If you are an Adam West fan then you will like this film regardless of it's low budget and somewhat hard to follow continuity.
I agree with the Review in TV Guide Magazine and also on the TV Guide Website that the acting is a bit cardboard but Adam West is Excellent. I also agree with the TV Guide Reviewer that the Music Score Kicks Butt and completely outclasses the film as the Real Star here. http://www.tvguide.com/ detail/movie.aspx?tvobjectid= 128600&more=ucmoviereview
The music sounds and feels to me like a Huge Cryptic Deteriorated Heavy Metal Orchestra conducted by a Madman, a bit in the Great German Composer Wagner Tradition or even Mozart's darker-deeper stuff like the final moments of act2 in Don Giovanni in the movie Amadeus or even Mozart's Requiem Mass - (hehee) lurking in the swamps (yes yes) and mingling with the deities of the Underworld (omg!-demons & vampires!).
During the films ending credits it says voices by the "Morbid Tabernacle Choir" - Wow!! The composers name is listed as "Mickey Rat" - very deep heavy music score indeed - Why isn't there a CD of this? As for any other possible redeeming quality about this film and as far as I can tell about the sword It looks Real to me - my dad said that it appears to be an Excalibur and he does not think that it is a prop but the real deal.
It seems to me that some of the actors were very uptight and uneasy with their parts. Did this movie have a Director that attended the actual filming of the scenes? - I wonder! Adam West steals every scene that he is in as Professor Marduk though - (holly bat master - batman) - they should put him in a new Batman film as the older "Master Bat" - something like they did in "The Mask of Zorro" (the one with Anthony Hopkins - Antonio Banderas & Catherine Zeta-Jones) ...
If they show this movie on TV on Halloween again then I might try to watch it to see how I feel about it this year - it kinda grows on you - and I'm a bit tired of all of the current overblown Morphing in the recent Hollyweird movies that are usually shown.
This film is like a very weak Hitchcock attempt gone semi sci-fi with mostly bad acting and directing but with a Music Score that is genuinely on par with classic film composer's like Bernard Hermann (Orson Wells "Citizen Kane" and Hitchcock's "Psycho")but with a more Powerful Bang! - on one part the horns sounded like an Elephant Stampede with Timpani Drums! - I could not find a Soundtrack CD to buy or even a DVD of this movie anywhere - only a used factory released VHS rental tape at a Blockbuster Video Store when I was visiting in the USA. - It is not the worst movie ever but if you hate the Movie, then you will probably Love the Grunge Orchestra.