Dragonslayer (1981)

Director: Matthew Robbins

Starring: Peter MacNicol, Ralph Richardson, Caitlin Clarke, John Hallam, Peter Evre, Albert Salmi, Sydney Bromley, Ian McDiarmid

More info: IMDb

Tagline: In the Dark Ages, Magic was a weapon. Love was a mystery. Adventure was everywhere... And Dragons were real.

Plot: A King has made a pact with a dragon where he sacrifices virgins to it, and the dragon leaves his kingdom alone. An old wizard, and his keen young apprentice volunteer to kill the dragon and attempt to save the next virgin in line - the Kings own daughter.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again? YES!

Usually seeing "Disney Presents" at the beginning of a movie spells out boring for adults but not this one. I haven't seen DRAGONSLAYER in nearly 30 years and I'm blown away at how well this one has held up and how mature and lacking in anything childish it is. WOW! This is a fantastic fantasy film and one that came just before the big Sword & Sorcery boom of the early to mid 1980s. OK, so Peter MacNichol is a teensy goofy looking (I think it's the perm) but you kind of forget that with the bleak world he lives in with the grimy people he encounters. The special effects are outstanding and I can't dare stop before mentioned Alex North's dissonant score. It's the kind of score that could stand toe-to-toe with most classical works. It's not your typical score and it's one of the many reasons why North is one of my favorite film composers. There are tons of sub-par movies in this genre and this one gets overlooked when thinking of things like LORD OF THE RINGS or CONAN. Don't let this one pass you by. It deserves a wider audience.