Sword & sorcery

Barbarian fantasy films made in the wake of Conan the Barbarian (1982), by the same producers who were simultaneously making post-nuke films in the same quarries.

The trigger

Conan was a serious, expensive, well-directed film with a Basil Poledouris score and an actual point of view. It also made a great deal of money, which was the part the imitators noticed.

The response

Deathstalker (1983), Ator the Fighting Eagle (1982), The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982), Barbarian Queen (1985), Yor, the Hunter from the Future (1983), which begins as sword and sorcery and turns into science fiction halfway through with no warning.

Roger Corman produced several in Argentina, where the labour was cheap and the landscape worked. Italy produced the rest. Both used the same three castles.

The furniture

A prophecy. An evil sorcerer in a large hat. A princess who is either captured or secretly a warrior. A tavern brawl. A creature suit that works from exactly one angle, filmed exclusively from that angle.

The other branch

The Beastmaster (1982) and Krull (1983) were legitimate studio attempts and are much better made, though Krull cost so much it effectively ended Columbia's interest in the genre.

The cycle died around 1988, killed by the same thing that killed post-nuke: the direct-to-video market stopped paying for practical effects, and fantasy moved to television.

Where to start

Deathstalker if you want the real thing, The Beastmaster if you want to enjoy yourself.