The Devil's Sword (1984)

"There's room for only one tiger in this jungle." - Banyunjaga

aka: Golok Setan
A warrior must find a magic sword to stop an evil queen.
Starring: Barry Prima, Advent Bangun, Gudi Sintara, Enny Christina, Rita Zahara

Link to IMDB

Mandala

Legends tell of a magical sword that has been forged with great power, which means that everyone is trying to get their hands on it. The evil Queen of the Crocodiles tasks her strongest warrior, Banyunjaga, to find the sword and return it to her. He sets off to find the sword, killing anyone that gets in his way, but luckily there's a hero that has come to stop him...

Mandala is just as strong as Banyunjaga, but he has chosen the path of good instead of evil. Now that Mandala is aware that the Queen wants to get the powerful sword, he vows to protect it from falling into the hands of evil.

It's going to be an epic adventure of the bizarre, like only the Indonesian can create!



As Mandala travels the land in search of the sword, he gets help from a lady named La Vida Loca (well, at least that's what her name sounded like to me.) And he's going to need all the help he can get, because not only does he battle with his nemesis Banyunjaga a few times, there's plenty of other warriors also looking for the sword.

 La Vida Loca                         Banyunjaga                          The Queen

Getting the magical sword will only be half of Mandala's quest, because finding it means that he must protect it from all the evil people that want it for themselves. There are Gator people, a cyclops monster, witches, and more crazy things to see in action.

Being a mix of Indonesian folklore and traditional sword & sorcery tropes, things get pretty wacky and creative. The plot is usually confusing or just nonexistent, but it doesn't really matter. It's a mystical adventure with lots of blood and butts, and that's all you really need to know.

"The power of the sword of Satan is entirely too much for you to possess." - Witch Lady

Fighting the Gator people

There's quite a few kung-fu fight scenes and they're actually well done, while still being outrageous and with a few moments of surprising gore. The costumes and effects all feel homemade, but they fit into the general tone of low budget madness that the movie embraces.

The only real problem I had was a few sections seem to be designed to just extend the runtime to an unnecessarily long 100 minutes. It creates some dull moments among all the otherwise fun energy, and these easily could have been removed from the film.

Overall, this is another crazy Indonesian film that needs to be seen to be believed, and it will consistently have you laughing.

Be sure not to miss:
- The horse's name might be Got Beer.
- "You polluted bitch" is an epic insult.
- Exploding mushrooms?
- The story is simply credited to "Man."

Internet review:
"Perfectly stupid and indescribably funny movie that plays best after a few drinks." - 34Horse

Should I watch it?
If you're in the mood for Indonesian wackiness.

Where can I find it?
Here on YouTube.

The Devil's Sword gets...