Golok Setan (1984) User Reviews

Demented fantasy action from Indonesia.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 23 March 2007]

Fans of bizarre foreign trash, oddball martial arts movies, low-budget gore-fests and crazy ninja flicks should find plenty to enjoy in this bonkers Indonesian fantasy film featuring loads of frantic fight action, spurting blood and bad special effects.

A tasty nymphomaniac crocodile queen abducts men from nearby villages, and keeps them trapped in her sub-aqua palace where she uses them to satisfy her sexual urges. When the evil queen sends one of her top fighters to kidnap a man about to be married, the ever-so-miffed wife-to-be teams up with good warrior Mandala (Barry Prima) to search for a magic sword which can help them defeat their enemies.

I enjoy bad films almost as much as I enjoy good ones and, if you feel the same way, then it is highly likely that you will find much to enjoy about this totally weird 80s effort from director Ratno Timoer. With its dreadfully executed, but very bloody, gore effects and non-stop fights, it is hard not to enjoy a movie which scores so high on the silly-ometer.

Invite a few friends round, have a few beers and sit back and enjoy watching endless hordes of crocodile men getting sliced by Barry, vicious killers battling each other for possession of the magical sword, a creature that is a serious contender for 'worst movie monster of all time', and bargain basement visuals that need to be seen to be believed.

The Devil's Sword might not be a great film, but it is definitely unmissable if you dig strange cinematic offerings from all corners of the globe. I give it 6 out of 10 (although it almost got a 7 for its excessive use of dry ice).

Mind-boggling madness from Indonesia

[Red-Barracuda · 5/10 · 2 May 2012]

There was a time back in the early 80's when sword and sorcery action flicks were all the rage. The Devil's Sword is part of that phenomenon. But, in truth, it is probably unlike most you may have seen. It's more similar to the Japanese series Monkey than Conan the Barbarian at times. This is partially due to the hokey special effects but just as much to its East Asian origins. Really, its Indonesian flavour is what makes it most interesting. It's exotic and bizarre in ways that are a result of the culture that produced it. For any fan of weird cinema from around the globe, this makes it quite fascinating.

It's about a nymphomaniac crocodile queen who lives in a cavern under the earth. She sends out her evil minions to capture men, whom she puts to use as sex slaves. The wife of one of these 'unfortunate' men teams up with a warrior and together they set out on a quest to find a magic sword that will help them defeat the forces of evil.

This film is quite simply insane. Its chock full of action, which consists of lots of fights and lots of gore. There are crocodile men, a Cyclops, a laughing man travelling on a flying rock and cannibal slaves. It features a couple of extended fights involving a trio of evil warriors. They all have their own individual skills and weaponry – one is a granny with a brush and another appears to have a helmet on a piece of rope. It's that kind of film. It's utterly delirious.

Prima Barry!!

[gemproductions · 6/10 · 6 July 2000]

Not as entertaining as the Warrior movies, this is still worth looking for. This time there is no evil Dutch Imperialists, but instead we get a Crocodile Queen in a pastel plastic cave, surrounded by her harem of cannibal sex slaves. As usual there is loads of martial arts, magic, and one and a half hour of memorable quotes. Oh, and the Devil Sword, the magical weapon who turns the owner into an invincible half God, or something like that. Yes, this is one trashy Indonesian movie, but it is still more entertaining than any Hollywood comedy. Did I mention the gory fights, the deadly parasol, the flying rock or the stone-headed cyclops?

Recommended.

Beware of crocodile men and stone giants and see The Devil's Sword!

[tarbosh22000 · 6/10 · 21 March 2012]

When a mystical, magical and powerful sword is forged from a meteor that crashes to earth, everyone wants to get their hands on it. That includes the evil Banyunjaga (Bangun), as well as a host of other baddies. Luckily, the brave hero Mandala (Prima) is going to try to make sure the sword falls into the right hands. Master Abirama trained both men, but one chose the path of good, and the other evil. Meanwhile, underneath the earth, the Crocodile Queen reigns. She abducts men from the surface world to satisfy her urges. When she spirits away the innocent Sanjaya, his wife, Princess Retaloca hires Mandala to rescue him. Many fights and battles ensue...who will take possession of the DEVIL'S SWORD? Here we have a wild and wacky Indonesian adventure. It's impossible not to love the spirit of downright weirdness and the homemade special effects. Sure, the dubbing is preposterous and the many fight scenes are ridiculous, but that's what is so enjoyable about a gem like this. It shows that every country in the world loves action movies, and what makes this movie so special is that it displays its own ethnic quirkiness and charm onto what they produced. Nowhere else in the world could have produced something like The Devil's Sword.

Barry Prima deserves more visibility as an action star. In that corner of the globe, he was the man. Some of his movies came out on VHS in the golden age in various countries so people do know who he is. But more of the movie viewing public should be aware of him.

Seemingly inspired by myths and legends, there are some fascinating sets and great costumes. The visuals are great thanks to the organic special effects. The whole thing is exotic, inventive and fun. It's very entertaining. You gotta give it up to Mondo Macabro for putting this out. Us westerners (or anyone for that matter) are lucky to see this movie. Rapi Films productions never really made it to the U.S. in any significant way back in the 80's. Thanks to Mondo Macabro and other DVD labels, the world is truly getting smaller and we can see movies we never thought possible.

Beware of crocodile men and stone giants and see The Devil's Sword.

For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Those wacky Indonesians!

[Coventry · 5/10 · 29 March 2017]

There exist only two types of conditions and circumstances under which I'm willing to watch a movie like "The Devil's Sword", and that's either together with a group of friends completely intoxicated by alcohol or other (slightly more illegal) drugs OR at a special type of themed festival in a ramshackle theater surrounded by a crowed of equally over-enthusiast genre fanatics! In this case, it was option number two, as the Belgian Off-Screen festival scheduled a crazy Indonesian 80s double-feature with "Lady Terminator" and this "The Devil's Sword". Now I already knew that the former was guaranteed entertainment; a completely bonkers and shameless "The Terminator" rip-off starring an unknown beauty (Barbara Anne Constable) as the reincarnation of a mythical Indonesian sea-queen on a relentless killing spree. I didn't know anything about "The Devil's Sword" yet, but the plot description and still looked equally amusing. Like "Lady Terminator", the film is also based on national heritage (legends, comic books…) but still grabs every possible opportunity to blatantly imitate the biggest Hollywood blockbusters. They really must have worshiped Arnold Swarzenegger in Indonesia back then because here the main inspiration comes from the Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery classic "Conan the Barbarian". The story is senseless and I won't bother too much to summarize, just keep in mind the following key words: atrocious acting, laughable dubbing, silly crocodile costumes, flying rocks, badly choreographed swashbuckling and chopped off heads. However, in sheer contrast to "Lady Terminator", which is truly a masterpiece in its own and very secluded league, "The Devil's Sword" quickly gets dull, repetitive and uninteresting. Around halfway through the film, I really had difficulties staying awake and even the cheerful crowd had tempered down. The long and tedious samurai/swashbuckling fights are supposed to cover up that the plot is weak and substantially void, but that naturally only works for about half an hour. Therefore the first 30 minutes are hilarious, with a crazily yelling freaks flying down a mountain on a piece of rock, only to interrupt a small town's wedding, claim that the husband is property of the subterranean Crocodile Queen and then subsequently slaughter the entire community. The only person that fights back more or less decently is the bride, whereas the broom cowardly hides behind his father-in-law. 5/10. Half of the points because I was entertained for about half of the film.

The most interesting part of the night was actually the introduction. For these two screenings, the festival's organization had invited one of the founders of the Mondo Macabro DVD-label that specializes in fancily releasing this type of globally neglected cinematic trash. This person, and I sadly forgot his name, shared a couple of lovely trivia facts with the audience. For example, Barbara Anne Constable was furious when she discovered via her 14- year-old daughter that "Lady Terminator" was released by the DVD label, because she hoped that the movie would never be shown outside of Indonesia. Another story was about the lead star of "The Devil's Sword", Barry Prima, who was quite a big star in Indonesia during the 1980s, but allegedly hated acting and particularly loathed the films he starred in. During an interview with the label, he stated that he only came to the interview to see the idiots that want to put the rubbish that were his films on DVD.

Why many attend movies --

[gregoodsell · 23 September 2002]

Berry Prima. Witches and warlocks. Monsters. Lush jungle locales. In-camera special effects. Pastel parasols that kill people. "The story of THE DEVIL'S SWORD makes absolutely no sense, the acting is often appalling and the special effects a re a no-budget riot." Pete Tombs, Mondo Macabro. No argument there, pal, but this film aside from MYSTICS IN BALI is what I love about Indo films in the first place. Nonstop, colorful nonsense that recalls Italian muscleman peplum at its most indulgent. A one-eyed Cyclops whose eye is a very obvious car headlight is just one of the many bizarre delights offered. The dismal musical score that sounds like the backdrop of an outdated video game just adds to the appeal.

Production note: Why are we treated to a male swimmer's anus in one shot?

Bottom line: "Movies are so rarely fine art, that unless we cultivate an appreciation for great trash, there really is no reason in going." -- Pauline Kael

Insane fantasy trash from Indonesia

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 21 June 2016]

Think the special effects in LORD OF THE RINGS are decent? Think again! You haven't seen anything until you've watched THE DEVIL'S SWORD, another extraordinary and fantastic offering from Indonesia. Old friend Ratno Timoer (who seems to direct just about every Barry Prima film ever made) once again delivers a fast-paced, ultra-cheap and ultra-entertaining film of heroic sorcery and superhuman battles. Similar in feel to Barry Prima's classic WARRIOR trilogy (although, it has to be said, not quite as entertaining), this is a rip-roaring film with plenty of outlandish goofiness and outrageous blood-and-gore action to recommend it.

Instead of Dutch colonists, the bad guys this time around are the scantily-clad Crocodile Queen, her sorcerer and her evil strongman (didn't catch the guy's name). She lives in a plasticky cave full of male sex slaves (!) and a bunch of cannibals who remain locked in a pit. You see, the Crocodile Queen is a nymphomaniac, who just can't get enough of young male sex sacrifices (neat twist, huh?) and the trouble begins when she sends her strongman to capture a man just married. An outstanding display of Indonesian martial arts action follows, always surprisingly well-shot. It wouldn't be complete without those meaty "thwack" sound effects dubbed in afterwards either. Huge cardboard weapons, tiny little costumes made out of sparkly stuff and a deadly umbrella are a few more of the treats to be had in this scene. Of course, our hero Barry Prima (here a warrior named "Mandala") turns up, and joins up with the distraught bride (who actually kicks ass pretty good) and goes to rescue him. Oh, and there's some sub-plot about four evil warriors fighting for control of the Devil's Sword – which Prima ends up getting anyway, so you wonder why they bothered with all that.

Of course, as is usual with these movies, the acting is appalling but the actors are always athletic and put their all into it. The dubbing is crude and often hilarious (ie such lines as "you dirty dog" and "you bastard" are the order of the day). The special effects bring new meaning to the word 'tacky' whilst the music is little more than a dirge. The inspiration for this film in particular seems to be CONAN THE BARBARIAN and the wake of similar (mostly Italian) barbarian sword-and-sorcery movies to flood the market at this time, although this is a noticeably gory variant. Expect to see numerous decapitations; a witch who is cut in two, grows back together and explodes; leg removal; the infamous "flying guillotine" in action again (YES!); guttings; tearings; slashings; whippings and all manner of impalements. While not as gory as some other Indonesian offerings, it certainly makes one take notice.

The special effects (or the fantastic elements) are pleasingly ambitious, done on a shoestring budget with lots of love and affection. We get guys flying around on levitating rocks, a guy getting gutted and flying up into the air before crashing back into the earth (my favourite scene, happens 14 minutes into the film – I had to rewind this bit) and a bunch of "crocodile men" (the most pathetic rubbery costumes you'll ever see!). Plus numerous old hags, a skeleton boatman leading Prima across a swampy river (cool stuff) and a giant cyclopean monster with a glowing eyeball! There are golden crocodile statues which shoot burning rays and an evil scarf which can whip people to death! Spike traps, acid baths and other pleasures await the discovery of the discerning viewer of trash and exploitation. They don't make 'em like this anymore, more's the pity.

Worst movie...

[Piotr_D · 1/10 · 28 January 2005]

... ever! (I always wanted to write that:) Many years ago (in 1993 as I recall it) one of my former classmates persuaded me to watch what he called "a epic masterpiece". To this day it stands out to me as the worst movie I have ever seen. The acting, the story, the effects - everything is bad. Unless you are one of these people who just loves to appreciate trash, you should pass on this. However chances are that since you are reading this, you've already seen it.

Out of almost 500 movies this is the only non-short I've given a 1/10.

I haven't seen any other low-budget Asian warrior flicks, so I guess there's even worse things out there! Scary...

:P

Fun From Start to Finish

[pj75pj75 · 10/10 · 26 September 2006]

This is quite simply one of the most fun movies I've ever seen. A riot of colorful craziness from start to finish. And Barry Prima is one of the best action heroes of the 80's - bar none.

If you like films with more than a touch of the wild, the weird and the wonderful, then this one is for you.

The newly released DVD is a real revelation for those who've only seen this film in cut full screen VHS versions. Anamorphic widescreen, with colors that leap off the screen. It's a beaut.

The extras include a rare interview (the only one I've ever seen) with the afore mentioned Mr Prima, who comes across as just about as crazy as the films he starred in.

You owe it to yourself to check this one out. You won't be sorry.

"The deeds of the flesh and heart are without end"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 20 February 2021]

Crocodile men, crocodiles, an ancient sea dwelling queen kidnapping young men for their... services, a quartet of quirky fighting villains, badly staged but enthusiastic martial arts, a mystical sword, a bride and groom sundered, an handsome young hero on a lovely horse, a couple of old gurus, blood, mist, fire, laser beams and more! An Indonesian film that story wise is as mixed up as latter day 'Star Wars' films (dumbed down Disney) but much more entertaining.

Barry Prima as heroic Mandala leads a sprightly cast and cinematographer Herman Susilo provides sparkling visuals, particularly the exterior landscape shots. The production design is charmingly attractive. Perhaps it could have done with some trimming by the editor but apart from it being a little too long it is a pleasure to watch. Must be seen in a good print.

Great music

[oulamies · 5/10 · 11 February 2023]

Fairly incompetent martial arts scenes unite with fantastical cheese sfx in what feels like an Indonesian version of Lucio Fulci's Conquest. The sinister synth score is easily the highlight of the picture, while not exactly fitting the milieu (save for perhaps the Crocodile Queen's sex lair). The Devil's Sword is worth a look for its trippier moments, although there's nothing here you won't find done better and wilder in Hong Kong psychotronic masterpieces like The Boxer's Omen and Five Element Ninjas, from the latter of which, you'll notice, the makers of this film blatantly lifted a detail or two.

Probably The Worst Martial Arts Movie In The World - I Loved It.

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 6/10 · 2 August 2022]

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of The Devil's Sword; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.25 Direction: 1.25 Pace: 1.25 Acting: 1.00 Enjoyment: 1.50

TOTAL: 6.25 out of 10.00

The Devil's Sword has to be one of the most enjoyable, though thoroughly awful, movies ever made. Should anybody not understand the appeal and draw of a B-Movie, then look no further than this one - It is the quintessential representative of the sub-genre.

The story tells of a village's curse. For the hamlet to prosper, they must elect a strapping young man to become the "Husband" of the Invisible Crocodile Queen. Husband is a loose term for a courtesan whose only job is to satisfy her carnal desires. Should he fail his Queen, he's swiftly fed to her cannibal pets, kept under lock and key in a bamboo cage. However, the nymphomaniac Queen's insatiability is too strong to control, and she dispatches her faithful warrior to rustle up her next Husband. This over-eagerness doesn't go down well with the villagers, especially the real wife of the newly Queen-selected Husband. And the fight between good and evil begins. Riding out of the hills to the sound of conflict comes our hero, Mandala. No sooner does he arrive in the blood-splattered town square than he realises this fight is personal. His combatant is his brother in training Banyunjaga, who abandoned the teachings of their master for fame and fortune. Not only does Banyunjaga serve the Crocodile Queen, but he also aspires to possess the Devil's Sword and be the greatest villain in history. Iman Tantowi, who wrote this epic, packs the tale with everything but the kitchen sink. Because he stuffs so much in, it sustains the viewers' attention and interest from fully waining.

And that would have been great, but then Ratno Timoer takes the director's chair. For the most part, he's not too bad a director. He has some decent ideas, and his cinematography is above average. Regretfully, the incidental elements render the movie inferior to its Asian counterparts: Like the farcical facial make-up, which consists of bad wigs, awful fake eyebrows, moustaches, beards, scars, and dirt. One rogue possesses the worst bald head I've seen, and it's not a latex cap like most effects teams use. It's a thick helmet of some variety, complete with false hair draped below it. You can see the actor's ears bent under its weight. Then we get to the aforementioned martial arts. For one thing, they needed better choreography and better fighters. There are too many missed hits and kicks that have devastating effects. However, they try to redress the action with absurd over-the-top special effects. Heads pop off like pop bottle tops after being agitated too much. And halfway through the picture, Timoer must have realised the action was too slow as he takes to speeding up the frames. Everybody ends up running around like hyper Speedy Gonzales. Arriba, Arriba, Andale, Andale. It looks ridiculous, but it brought a smile to my lips and a laugh to my voice, so it's all good.

The cast is passable for a movie such as The Devil's Sword. Nobody's winning an Oscar soon, but they will entertain you - even if it's for the wrong reasons. And I will state at this juncture that Barry Prima, who plays Mandala, is one of the best martial arts actors in the film. His acting isn't too terrible either.

All in all, The Devil's Sword is a tremendously fun and entertainingly bad B-Movie. I would passionately recommend it to anyone who loves B-movies and is having a bad day. This flick should elevate you above the drudgery of everyday life.

Step Away From The Crocodile Queen and come take a look-see at my Obsidian Dreams, Holding Out For A Hero, and Guilty Pleasures lists to see where I ranked The Devil's Sword.

Take Care & Stay Well.

Crazy Conan-pastiche/martial arts mayhem in Indonesian garb

[OldAle1 · 5/10 · 25 April 2009]

Golok Setan/The Devil's Sword (1983 Ratno Timoer) I don't recall ever seeing this film discussed here, or actually any Indonesian film discussed here. So let's see if anybody besides me has heard of this or seen it...

This is an Indonesian sword & sorcery epic, built around the country's top leading man, Barry Prima, a tae kwon do expert and fairly handsome guy if not exactly a great actor. There was a huge and worldwide, if fairly short-lived upswing in cheapo barbarian/fantasy films in the wake of the success of Conan the Barbarian (1982) - dozens of crappy American and Italian films in particular featuring beefy loin-cloth clad bodybuilder-types and equally scantily clad ladies - and Indonesia's burgeoning film industry seems to have turned out quite a few of them as well, though they're not so well known in the west. This looks to be one of the more popular in the genre and it's probably an appropriate choice for my first-ever film from the country.

The story can be dispensed with fairly quickly - the movie does, why shouldn't I? At the beginning, ominous electronic music (the score throughout is like cheap John Carpenter) signals the forging of THE DEVIL SWORD. Old master-dude finds a meteorite and forges a sword in primitive conditions...cut to evil sorcerer-queen underground who has grown weary of her male sex-slaves and wants a new one - she sends her best henchman to steal a young bridegroom away from his wedding. Cool if cheesy effect as the evil warrior appears on top of a mountain, knocks a piece of rock off and flies down to the village on it. Travelling swordsman/martial artist Mandala (Barry Prima) appears in the village just as evil warrior has dispatched most of the town's top fighters (as in a great many martial arts films, everybody it seems can go kung fu fighting), fights him but is beaten as the bad guy summons magical help in the form of crocodile-people. Bad guy goes off with bridegroom, while the bride (the best fighter of the villagers) is left alone.

Our hero leaves too, to visit his master who it turns out is the heir to the secret of the Devil Sword, desired by good and bad warriors and magicians alike (this is one of those films where everybody is, in fact, good or bad and they even refer to themselves that way -- subtlety ain't what you should be looking for here). The master has been gravely injured in battle. After seeing to him, our hero goes off to find the devil sword, and after joining up with the bride from the previous scene, we're off to save the sword and defeat the evil queen.

Basically there is an action-to-plot/talk ratio of about 3:1 here; very brief and minimal expository scenes are followed by quite lengthy martial arts sequences that are mostly quite cheap-looking and not well-choreographed -- but who cares? Nothing makes much sense, the widescreen photography is great, the English dubbing is awesome (all the men sound pretty much the same; there are some great insults thrown around like "you'll...regret this, you...polluted bitch-hound", said during a long death scene by a warrior to the old witch who helps to kill him) and the special effects would have looked bad in some 50s American sci-fi films. Lots and lots of decapitations, spears through chests, etc, and the Devil Sword turns out to be pretty much nothing.

In short, massive amounts of cheesy fun.

Awesome!

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 5 December 2020]

Barry Prima was one of the biggest stars of Indonesian cinema, appearing in several Jaka Sembung movies which were adaptions of a comic book, including Jaka Sembung (The Warrior), Si Buta Lawan Jaka Sembung (The Warrior Against Blind Swordsman), Bajing Ireng Dan Jaka Sembung (Jaka Sembung vs. the Ninja), Jaka Sembung Dan Bergola Ijo (Jaka Sembung and Bergola Ijo) and Jaka Sembung Dan Dewi Samudra (Jaka Sembung and the Ocean Goddess).

Also known as The Devil's Sword, this is based on another comic and has a sequel as well, which is called Mandala Dari Sungai Ular (Mandala from the Snake River).

Once upon a time, as they say, an old man found a meteorite and forged it into a sword. Then he hid it until the time was right for its use. That time seems like right now, because the Crocodile Queen is kidnapping all the men of the village and turning them into her sex slaves, while still allowing them to steal women of their own.

Our hero floats around on a rock and has laser beams that can come out of his hands.

Our villainess is the only person in this whole country willing to admit that she gets horny.

Our monsters are goopy, gory and awesome.

And the sets? You'll want to live within them.

For some reason, my week of sword and sorcery has had plenty of crocodile-themed enemies in it. I hope the universe isn't trying to tell me something.