Starring Gary (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY) Lockwood, Basil (SON OF FRANKENSTEIN) Rathbone, Estelle (DARBY O’GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE) Winwood, Anne (NIGHTMARE IN WAX) Helm, Danielle (VALLEY OF THE DRAGONS) De Metz and Maila (PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE) Nurmi. Screenplay by Bernard (THE SPACE CHILDREN) Schoenfeld, from a story by Bert I. Gordon. Directed by Bert I. (THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN) Gordon.  

Princess Helene (Helm) is kidnapped by the evil wizard Lodac (Rathbone), who intends to feed her to his two-headed dragon in a week’s time. Young hero George (Lockwood) vows to save Helene, whom he loves, and he isn’t deterred by the fact that Lodac has announced there are seven deadly curses which need to be overcome to reach the dragon’s lair.

Luckily for George, who happens to be the adopted son of a good sorceress called Sybil (Winwood), he is able to equip himself with an anti-black magic sword, a special white steed that is the fastest horse in the world, and an invulnerable suit of armour. He is also accompanied by six magically frozen, valiant knights (all from different countries) that George can reawaken and command. But George is unaware that the arrogant knight Sir Branton, who has also pledged to rescue Princess Helene, is actually a treacherous villain in league with Lodac…

I have a soft spot for this cheesy fantasy movie, which is also known as ST. GEORGE AND THE 7 CURSES, THE SORCEROR’S CURSE, ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON and THE SEVEN CURSES OF LODAC. Director Bert I. Gordon, famous for giant creature features like BEGINNING OF THE END (1957), EARTH VS THE SPIDER (1958) and THE FOOD OF THE GODS (1976), tries to make this a family-oriented adventure, but he can’t help including elements of horror, such as when a beautiful woman (De Metz) transforms into a grotesque, wonky-eyed vampire hag (played by Maila Nurmi, aka ‘Vampira’).

More horror-tinged moments include a frothing, bubbling swamp that turns one of the knights into a skeleton, and a swirling, hypnotic vortex that scorches its victims’ blistering skin (which reminds me a little of what happens to the Colonel Breen character in 1967’s QUATERMASS AND THE PIT, when he is hypnotised and fried by the glowing space vessel).

THE MAGIC SWORD, though made on a low budget, is full of novel incidents, characters and creatures. There’s a huge, snaggle-toothed ogre, a group of little people , a chimp in a tunic, cone-heads & bird-faced minions that do Lodac’s bidding, a two-headed servant, and cave ghosts. Bert I. Gordon also treats us to a big dragon, which he brings to the screen via the use of a pretty nice-lookin’ puppet beast that has two fire-breathing heads! The dragon mainly moves its heads and is rather immobile, but it is a visually cool creation that helps ramp up the movie’s fantasy vibes.

This is a colourful romp, no doubt about it, but it’s definitely the pervading air of grimness running through the story that helps THE MAGIC SWORD stick in the memory. Though this was obviously intended to be a kid’s flick, I can’t think of any similar fantasy film from this era that would’ve included the scene where Lodac feeds two pretty princess sisters to his dragon: these princesses get eaten (off-screen) by the dragon as Lodac forces Helene to watch! Even the design of the ogre (played by Jack Kosslyn) has a grimmer-than-usual touch: this humanoid brute already has an injured/paralysed right arm before he even attacks the knights, which makes you wonder what sadistic tortures the ogre may have suffered previously at the hands of his master Lodac.

THE MAGIC SWORD is a twisted low rent children’s fantasy-action-adventure that, if you’ve not already seen it, should really be tracked down right away and watched!

Some posters for the movie…

Here’s the cover for the Dell comic book adaptation of the film…

…and here are some of the interior illustrations from the Dell comic book adaptation…

Okay then, here’s a final look at the vampire hag…