Sorry, this movie sucks

An Exercise In Nonsense

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Cameron Mitchell and his stunt double take on the Viking hordes in this cheaply made Mario Bava film that carries a little more emotional weight than usual. This film cost $75,000 to make, which is surely really cheap even for 1966?The story is this: jerk Viking Hagen has just returned from exile to his home town to claim the throne from himself, as the previous King, Arald, has seemingly drowned at sea. The only way Hagen can become King is to marry Arald's wife, Karin, but she has gone into hiding to get away from him, hiding with her son in a remote cottage. Hagen has his men scour the land looking for her, and ignores the prophecy of a strange old woman that a man is on his way to kill Hagen.One day, hunky Cameron Mitchell turns up at the cottage looking for shelter and some food, and ends up saving Karin from two of Hagen's men in a rather violent fight. Turns out Cameron is a drifter who offers his services to Karin and starts training her son to be a fierce fighter, but also falls in love with Karin and sees the kid as some sort of surrogate son. This is all heading somewhere!Everyone has a past and it's the past that comes back to haunt the characters in this film, as Cameron seeks both revenge and redemption and is actually quite believable as a man torn between his conflicting emotions. He's also hard as nails and takes down quite a few of Hagen's men with his throwing knives, even if his stunt double has a totally different colour of hair.You can tell this was made cheaply, due to the limited sets, most of the action on the beach taking place in the one area, and a general sparse feel to the whole film, but then again you've got Mario Bava behind the camera, so everything looks better than any big budget film made last week with the most hi-tech CGI you can imagine. Plenty of action too, mainly Cameron taking on gurff Viking types. He also gets a good performance out of Cameron Mitchell, who is prone to hamming it up in most of his roles. Here he exudes warmth and regret and finally, resignation, and his character does go on some kind of personal journey that ends in a bitter victory.

I generally can find something to like about all the big cult film subgenres; but the one exception to that is definitely the 'sword and sandal' film. I've only seen a handful and they never fail to bore me to tears. I tuned into this one simply because it has the great Mario Bava at the helm; however, it turns out that Bava is just as bad as Fulci when it comes to films like this, and Knives of the Avenger is heinously boring. What we basically get is a bunch of people that are supposed to be Vikings (I think) running around in silly costumes. The plot has something to do with a woman, or fighting, or something. Anyway, this basically goes on for about eighty five hours...sorry, I mean eighty five minutes and then the film ends. Mario Bava made his name in the horror genre and his directorial style lends itself to the genre so well as Bava is brilliant at creating atmosphere. This film does actually feature some decent camera work and Bava does create a few good atmospheric scenes. However, that's really the only good thing I have to say about this film. Before seeing Knives of the Avenger, I had Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Bombs down as Bava's least fine hour; but now I'd say it's a tie between the two. Both are very much avoidable, although fans of this type of movie (assuming this type of movie has fans) might find something to like here I suppose.

Noble Viking warrior Rurik (a strong and credible portrayal by Cameron Mitchell) vows to protect the fiery Karin (well played by the lovely Lisa Wagner) and her spunky son Moki (the charming Louis Polletin) from the vile clutches of the savage Hagen (a perfectly hateful Frank Ross) and his army of nasty brutes. Director/co-writer Mario Bava takes a welcome break from his usual horror fare to deliver a surprisingly complex and low-key, but still occasionally exciting period action drama that's essentially a thoughtful and inspired variant on the classic Western "Shane." Bava relates the absorbing story about revenge, betrayal and loyalty at a steady pace and stages the down'n'dirty fight scenes with considerable brio (a protracted confrontation between Rurik and Hagen in a tavern rates as a definite thrilling highlight). Antonio Rinaldi's breathtaking widescreen cinematography takes full advantage of the beautiful seaside scenery. Marcello Giombini's robust, rousing score likewise does the trick. The cast all give sound performances: Mitchell excels in one of his best roles, with sturdy support from Wagner, Ross, and Jack Stuart as Karin's gallant husband Harald. Best of all, the main characters are refreshingly complicated and genuinely engaging. A fun film.

The last of Mario Bava's various peplums for the silver screen – although he would still have a couple more stabs at the genre for Italian TV – is also the last of four films (one of them in an uncredited capacity) he made with second-tier Hollywood star Cameron Mitchell. It seems rather incredible to me now that Italian producers were still trying, at this late stage, to emulate the commercially successful formula of THE VIKINGS (1958) – even down to dyeing their leading man's hair blonde like Kirk Douglas'.The film starts atmospherically enough with a witch on a sandy beach waxing metaphysically about the doom-laden future lying in wait for a vanquished Queen (the rather wooden Lisa Wagner) and her treacherous pursuer (Fausto Tozzi, a forceful if decidedly one-note portrayal). Despite the expected bouts of lively action, the film is surprisingly intimate for this director and genre; in fact, an even stronger influence is that of SHANE (1953), complete with adulating kid – an aspect which is further reinforced by the various scenes of horsemanship and showdowns in dark taverns. Besides, even the action sequences rarely involve more than a couple of characters (including the climax set inside a cave), and the fact that it employs flashbacks (which help render the two male leads – the stoic and, decidedly, ambivalent Mitchell and the rugged Giacomo Rossi Stuart – more rounded than is par for the course) is largely a departure for this kind of film.On the debit side, one must certainly note the sluggish pace. All in all, even if still perhaps his best peplum, this is a lesser Bava film – which I rather enjoyed more the first time around (ironically, watched via a pan-and-scan print on Italian TV!).