Dragonslayer (1981) – Review

The 1980s were a fun time when it came to dark fantasy films, with such entries as Ridley Scott’s Legend and Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal making great strides in the genre, if not in great box office returns, but when it comes to fantasy offerings it’s hard not to mention Walt Disney Pictures as bringing classic fantasy tales to life was pretty much their business model.  While the studio had lost a little of the shine during the 80s they managed to team-up with Paramount Pictures to offer audiences a truly dark tale of fantasy and adventure.

The plot of Dragonslayer takes place in the sixth century and deals with a land terrorized by a 400-year-old dragon named Vermithrax Pejorative, who must be appeased by a virgin sacrifice twice a year. To handle this situation, Good King Casiodorus Ulfilas (Peter Eyre) had set up a lottery to chose which lucky girl would be sacrificed, to the beast needless to say, this is not something the villagers were all that happy about. Enter a delegation led by a young man called Valerian (Caitlin Clarke) who seeks help from the world’s last sorcerer, Ulrich of Cragganmore (Sir Ralph Richardson), who is their best hope of slaying the dragon. That he is possibly too old for the trip let alone slaying a dragon, is quickly put into question.

“Have you tried getting a hold of Gandalf the Grey?”

When Ulrich is killed by Tyrian (John Hallam), the brutal Captain of Casiodorus’s Royal Guard, it’s up to the wizard’s young apprentice, Galen (Peter MacNicol), to become our movie’s dragonslayer, stating to the delegation “All that you asked of him, you may now expect of me. The dangers he would face, I will now conquer. The task he would undertake, I will now fulfill. I’m Galen Brandwarden, inheritor of Ulrich’s craft and knowledge, and I am the sorcerer you seek.” These are pretty bold statements from a sorcerer’s apprentice, dragon slaying is not normally a gig for a novice. There are also some nasty wrinkles along the way, such as Tyrian murdering Hodge (Sydney Bromley), the wizard’s old retainer and keeper of secrets, but the most interesting twist is the discovery that Valerian is actually a young woman, who has been disguised since birth to avoid being selected for the lottery.  It should be less of a surprise that she will also become a somewhat love interest for the hero.

Galen is clearly shooting way above his pay grade.

Galen’s journey is not just a quest to defeat a monster but a coming-of-age story about the nature of power and responsibility and accepting one’s strengths and limitations. And then with the role of Valerian we don’t get the typical damsel in distress, who must be saved from clutches of the dragon by our stalwart hero, instead, with Dragonslayer we have Caitlin Clarke playing a spirited woman who has spent her entire life disguised a man and that is something that has definitely shaped the kind of person she has become, one who will challenge traditional gender roles and adds depth to the story.

“A woman’s place is in the kitchen or on a sacrificial altar.”

What makes Dragonslayer truly remarkable is its attention to detail, from the intricate costumes by Anthony Mendelson to the breathtaking sets by Elliot Scott, every element of the film creates a rich and immersive world that captures the imagination with every frame. That twenty-five percent of the budget went to the dragon itself should be a surprise to no one who has seen the film, this creature is a marvel of special effects and pretty awe inspiring. With its scaly skin and fire-breathing capabilities it fully capture the threat of such a mythical beast. Of course, the key test to any such creations isn’t so much on what marvel of technology was utilized to bring it to life but what character and personality it has on screen, and in the case of Vermithrax Pejorative you have an aging malevolent beast whose very appearance screams death and destruction.  But surprisingly, it also gets us to somewhat sympathize with this aging creature of a bygone age.

A literal baptism by fire.

Creating such a fantastic character required visual effects that were quite groundbreaking for its time – computer-generated monsters were not even a glint in ILM head Dennis Muren’s eyes at this point – and what this film provides the viewer more than holds up to today’s effects. The dragon itself is a marvel to behold, brought to life with a combination of animatronics and puppetry that seamlessly blends with the live-action footage. Stop-motion effects wizard Phil Tipped utilized a technique called “Go Motion” that would allow the animators to incorporate motion blur into each frame that involved motion, which removes the distinctive staccato effect found in traditional stop motion animation. As for the dragon’s design itself, graphic artist David Bunnett came up with the conceptual look of Vermithrax Pejorative, a look that even when not moving was bloody terrifying. With Phil Tippet and company bringing it to life they created one of the most imaginative and distinctly memorable creations in film history, one whose appearance has influenced countless fantasy films that followed.

We get a really electrifying finale.

Stray Observations:

• This is a Disney co-production about a sorcerer’s apprentice but it doesn’t include animated brooms and buckets, talk about a lost opportunity.
• This is the second co-production between Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions, with Robert Altman’s Popeye being the first, and while both films had fantastic production value they also both had poor box office returns.
• If there is a better dragon name out there than Vermithrax Pejorative I haven’t come across it, and it roughly translates as “The Worm of Thrace Which Makes Things Worse” which is even cooler.
• The King’s whole plan behind the lottery was just to buy them time, with the dragon being four centuries old he hoped to outlive it, but who’s to say it wouldn’t live five centuries?
• A family that has a daughter chosen for sacrifice is excused from the lottery for five years, but looking at the size of this kingdom I can’t see how they could provide two sacrifices a year if they continually shrink the pool of eligible families.
• If one’s virginity was a prerequisite to be included in the lottery wouldn’t every maiden in the kingdom be doing her best to get laid? I could see an enterprising young man offering his services in a pinch.

“Want your daughter’s saved from sacrifice? One gold piece and five minutes is all I need.”

The movie does have some flaws, the pacing of the film can be slow at times and some of the characters and their motivations could have been more fleshed out. The noble Princess (Chloe Salaman) sacrificing herself when she learns that she’d be exempt from the lottery all these years, while everyone else lost daughters, could have used a little more screen time, yet the movie does a pretty damn good job of balancing horror and humour in an era when magic was dying and Christianity was on the rise.  Director co-writer Matthew Robbins tackled such topics masterfully and was unafraid to show the darker side of this medieval setting, with moments of brutality and cruelty that added weight to the story. The entire production was buoyed by a fantastic score by Alex North and the bombastic music provide the perfect amount of boost. In conclusion, Dragonslayer is a thrilling adventure film with heart and intelligence and is a must-see for fans of fantasy films, and is also a testament to the power of practical effects and strong storytelling.

Personal Note: I’d rather live in a world with dragons than one with pompous priests going on and on about hellfire and damnation.