HorRHIFFic 2024: ‘The Slave and the Sorcerer’ Review

Stars: Chris Black, Briony Monroe, Megan Tremethick, Jonathan Hansler, Lawrie Brewster, Stephen Kerr, Jon Vangdal Aamaas | Written by Sarah Daly | Directed by Lawrie Brewster

When the evil wizard Akaris abducts Princess Meyra, the muscular and determined ‘Tyrol the Slave’ leads a diverse band of heroes on a perilous quest. They must navigate through an underground labyrinth, brimming with treacherous traps and monstrous foes, to rescue the princess and thwart Akaris’s dark plans.

As a throwback to a genre seemingly forgotten, The Slave and the Sorcerer is billed as “Deathstalker meets The Evil Dead”, a redux of the sword and sorcery films that came before it. Films that, at times, never took themselves too seriously. As The Slave and the Sorcerer opens it feels like this film is a little TOO camp, the tongue stuck far too deep into the film’s proverbial cheek – with many of the films cast over-egging their performances to the point of ridicule. Though ridiculousness does mean that this film is a LOT of daft fun… in the most joyful way possible of course!

In terms of everything else associated with the genre – the visual stylings, the soundtrack, the action choreography, and even the foley work, The Slave and the Sorcerer is spot on. 100% truthful to those films that came before it. There’s even a smattering of gore and special effects which reflect the more extreme takes on the genre that many an Italian filmmaker brought to the table in their take on Conan et al. In fact there are times when this film feels more like an Italian Conan rip-off than it does a modern-day homage to the genre – especially in the film’s many monstrous encounters.

What also helps The Slave and the Sorcerer is that it doesn’t let up, not in the slightest. From the opening moments as Princess Meyra meets our slave hero, Tyrol, there is not a single second of wasted screen time or lull in the action. Even the soundtrack keeps going full tilt, right up until the film’s final credits roll. Which means this film is never, EVER boring!

Interestingly, as The Slave and the Sorcerer progresses, those once-camp performances start to feel less so – as the entire film becomes this giant cohesive, FUN slice of sword and sorcery action. It’s hard to quantify just how well the performances and the on-screen action come together but by the time the film’s story comes to a close the once-jarring, seemingly over-egged performances feel natural and perfectly suited to what we’ve seen on screen. It’s a tremendous turn of events and one that is undoubtedly the true “star” of this movie.

Speaking of stars, producer/director Lawrie Brewster, who also appears in the film as Arlo the Torturer, certainly knows how to pick a cast. Chris Black may over-egg his performance as Tyrol but it ultimately feels very apt – he’s like the eager, over-excited heroes of American action movies of the 80s, think this film’s Conan by way of wise-cracking Rambo. The Slave and the Sorcerer‘s other hero is the witch Nemain, played by longtime Brewster collaborator Megan Tremethick who manages to walk the fine line between kick-ass heroine and sex symbol with aplomb – reminding me very much of the strength and poise Sandahl Bergman brought to her iconic roles in Conan the Barbarian and, in particular the 1984 remake of She.

Far removed from Lawrie’s Brewster’s most famous work, Owlman, The Slave and the Sorcerer is a perfect low-budget pastiche of films like Ator the Invincible and the all-time classic (and personal fave) Albert Pyun’s The Sword and the Sorcerer; and being a life-long fan of such films means this one honestly felt like it was made for me. I absolutely adored it!

**** 4/5

The Slave and the Sorcerer screened on Sunday, March 3rd as part of the Romford Horror Film Festival.