Sam Panico Lucio Fulci is a divisive figure: either you worship every movie the man ever made or lent his name to — ignoring continuity errors, bad dubbing, dealing with multiple cuts and names of his films, all while explaining away ridiculous moments like a man patiently waiting for spiders to slowly eat his fake face — and mention how much his surrealist approach points to him as more auteur than simple director. Or you think he's a hack, making the same movie again and again — woman hating paeans to gore, decimated eyeballs, slow motion zombies, gore, glacial plots and oh yes, more gore. I'm not going to change your mind, but I will say that I tend to be more in the "Fulci lives!" t- shirt wearing army that owns multiple versions of his films and can (and will) talk your ear off about how awesome The Beyond is.This article isn't about any of that.Beyond mediations on the witches that really run the world and zombies treating humanity as a never-ending buffet, my love of Italian horror — nay, Italian exploitation film — rests on its ability to shamelessly rip off other films. According to the liner notes of the 2010 DVD reissue of Zombie 2, Italian copyright law allows any film to be marketed as a sequel to another work. Therefore, any major trend in horror or sci-fi will be answered by an insane amount of spaghetti remakes. Most of these films would be a splinter into the eye of a normal person (Olga Karlatos, eat your heart out). But these celluloid copycats are my bread and butter. I blame a childhood of waiting for more Star Wars and being "rewarded" with Star Crash (part of the greatest double drive-in bill I've ever seen with Battle Beyond the Stars), a movie that I endlessly daydreamed about when I really should have been paying attention in grade school.To wit: 1982's Conan the Barbarian was a huge hit worldwide to the tune of nearly $69 million dollars, leading to a horde of Italian imitators: Joe D'Amoto's Ator, the Fighting Eagle; Umberto Lenzi's Iron Master; Antonio Margheriti's Yor, the Hunter from the Future (you just knew I was going to bring up Yor and his fine meats, right?) and so many more, as well as American cousins such as Albert Pyun's The Sword and the Sorcerer (starring Lee Horsely of TV's Matt Houston) and Phantasm creator Don Coscarelli's The Beastmaster. That's but a sprinkle of the veritable ocean of barbarian rip-offs out there that you could dip your toe into. But we're here to talk Fulci's take on the whole sword and loincloth subgenre.Conquest comes at a crossroads in Fulci's life. After six years of working with screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti — a collaboration that led to the golden (err, red is a better color to use here) era of his films, like Zombie 2, City of the Living Dead, The Beyond, New York Ripper, Manhattan Baby and House by the Cemetery, a murder's row of, well, movies about murder — Fulci unexpectedly went off on his own to create this film. For some reason, it was believed that this would be a big budget production and Sacchetti felt betrayed (their relationship would worsen with lawsuits and recriminations forever dividing them). The failure of Conquest would hasten not only the decline of Fulci's career, which would see him lending his name to films that he hadn't even worked on (the jury is out, but it seems for all intents and purposes he was a bloody version of Dali, wily nily signing his name onto any project that'd float him some cash) and facing worsening health.Perhaps Fulci was battling the criticism that his films were becoming repetitive. Maybe he saw the film as his chance at the big time, as one of the reasons why this was funded was to push Mexican matinée idol Jorge Rivero to be a bigger star. Perhaps he wanted to try something different.Read more at bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/08/17/conquest-1983/

number1stun Fans of Fulci, you will love this! This film is no Zombi or Beyond but it has the feel and atmosphere of a Fulci masterpiece. He may be the Godfather of Gore, but if your just looking for that certain aspect in the film, then turn away. With the exception of one or two scenes(which are pretty decent), Conquest has little gore to offer. What Conquest does have to offer tho is a great atmosphere and music score. Around the time of Conquest's release, the sword and sorcery genre was very popular. This film is merely Fulci's take on the genre and he pulls it off brilliantly. The story may be simple and seem generic yet it is pulled off well enough to make the plot of the film enjoyable and entertaining through the use of great settings, creatures, cheesy special effects and a cool techno score of the early 80's. If you're a fan of Fulci or even a fan of cheesy 80's movies, then Conquest would probably be a great film for you. 8 out of 10!

Scarecrow-88 A young man, Ilias(Andrea Occhipinti) ace with his bow and arrows(..both of wood and lasers), is sent by his people to execute an evil sorceress, Ochron(Sabrina Siani, under a mask, her breasts on display, only a g-string "shield" covering her vagina, often seen with a snake slithering all over her body) who is a viable threat to the rest of the human race. Ilias is quite brave, but notwithstanding green, despite his abilities as a marksman, he'll need help, receiving assistance from Mace(Jorge Rivero), a skilled warrior who understands Ochron's land and how to survive on it. Mace mentions how he cares little for his fellow man, having adopted a special relationship with the animals of all kinds, seemingly able to communicate with flying creatures(..birds and a bat, both which guide him to a kidnapped Ilias). Yet, he will eventually bond with Ilias as they escape numerous encounters with Ochron's furry, ferocious dog-men, dangerous pine needles which shoot from "angered bush"(!), "spider-web men"(..they look like humans cocooned in web, their eye sight visualized in a green tint), a magical "assassin" named Zora(Conrado San Martín, also under a mask, who is able to move from one place to the next, his body simply vanishing, also, at one point, taking the shape of Mace in order to surprise a sickly Ilias who was incapacitated, eventually losing a battle with the one whose form he "borrowed"), cavernous monsters(..barely visible, with long nails and glowing eyes), and dangerous bats. The humans are of a "tribal" variety..skin often colored with dirt, mud, and other materials, hair mangled and filthy, bodies covered with skins(..or not covered at all), feasting from flesh in the same way as the beasts they killed for their meal.Lucio Fulci creates an atmosphere that certifies that CONQUEST is pure fantasy. The creatures in his film are what you might read about in fantasy fiction..they are quite violent, often subservient to their queen's wishes, leaving nothing alive in their quest to secure Ilias at Ochron's command. Mace is always asking Ilias to return home due to his understanding of just how sinister and hostile Ochron is. Ochron has convinced the creatures that follow her lead(..they seem to all speak in English)that she has power over the sun. One major problem is that Fulci often stages action set pieces at night, Ilias and, particularly, Mace combating Ochron's forces, with a lot of the violence bathed in murkiness. There's a sequence in a darkened cavern, where monsters(..after successfully capturing Ilias)battle Mace and you can hardly see anything..also, Mace is warding off a swarm of bats. There are some really inspired moments such as Mace fending off swamp zombies and a diseased Ilias(..who was stabbed in the leg by a poisonous needle)suffering bulging puss oozing sores(..following a little later, Fulci displays ants throughout Ilias' body, crawling around his wounds!). The "Mace versus Mace" encounter is certainly surreal as is Ocron's orgiastic display with a snake as she envisions nightmares of Ilias blasting her with one of his laser arrows. Most of the weapons used are fashioned from rock or wood. Lots of wounds gushing blood. The real star of the film is Alejandro Ulloa's cinematography. There are some remarkable shots through the use of the sun. The most unexpected scene has dolphins rescuing Mace from a most certain drowning. The ending, Mace's revenge against Ochron, using his comrade's bow, her "unveiling"(..we have a chance to see the grotesque face under the mask), and what she eventually turns into as a result, is simply perplexing. Recommended pretty much exclusively to fans of the genre. CONQUEST's success will be based on how you approach the material. I thought the film was delirious, unpredictable, very strange, but entertaining with another pulsating, stimulating electronic score by Claudo Simmoneti.

Witchfinder General 666 Sword and Sorcery flicks had their heyday in the early 80s, with "Conan The Barbarian" as the absolute highlight of the sub-genre, and tons of mostly immensely crappy low-budget flicks to follow. These films were so popular then, that even the godfather of gore himself, Lucio Fulci, decided to dabble in Fantasy's trashiest, and most entertaining sub-genre. Fulci's take on the Sword And Sorcery genre, namely this "Conquest" of 1983 is definitely not one of Fulci's masterpieces (more precisely, it is probably his dumbest movie), but it nonetheless outshines most other contemporary low-budget films of the kind. The storyline is extremely silly, and in spite of its flatness it is often confusing and makes little sense. People shouldn't watch Sword'n'Sorcery flicks and expect logic, however, and "Conquest" certainly has its qualities too. The film is atmospheric, and often quite bizarre, even more so than most other films of the genre, which is a quality in my book. I also liked the (quite strange) characters. The main villain is a nearly naked woman wearing a bizarre golden mask, who commands an army of beasts who are something in-between bears, wolves and men. While one of the heroes, Ilias (played by Andrea Occhipinti) looks like a total wuss, the other main character, Mace (played by Jorge Rivero) is basically a trashier version of Conan the Barbarian. Director Fulci also implicates the trade-mark gore, among other things heads are being crushed and people are torn into pieces.What especially makes this film watch-worthy, however, is the ingenious score by Claudio Simonetti, known to Horror buffs and Progressive Rock fans as the creative head of "Goblin", the ingenious band responsible for some of the greatest Horror film scores ever, most prominently those to Dario Argento's masterpieces. Simonetti always stands for brilliant film scores, and the progressive Rock score fits in with Sword and Sorcery better than one might expect. I would even go further, and say that the score to "Conquest" may very well be the single coolest soundtrack to any film of the genre. All things considered, "Conquest" is well worth watching. Fans of trashy 80s flicks, especially lovers of Sword And Sorcery should definitely give it a try!