Starring - Barry Prima (Hell Raiders, Revenge of the Ninja), W.D. Mochtar (Special Silencers, Mystics in Bali), and Dana Christina (Deadly Angels Strike Back, Five Deadly Angels)
Release Date - 1981
Genre - Action/Fantasy
Tagline - "No power on Earth - or in Hell - could stop him"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
When I started my writing career, over a decade ago now, I went into it with the goal of finding and reviewing long forgotten exploitation and action flicks. While I had always loved horror, I grew up watching direct to video action flicks with my dad and cheap kung fu films and sci-fi fantasy movies with my grandma. While my love for horror eventually took over, I still like to review old action and kung fu flicks from time to time. A few weeks back my friends over at Mondo Macabro sent over the Indonesian Warrior trilogy. I had never seen these films before and I couldn't wait to dig into them. The first film in the trilogy, directed by Satan's Slave filmmaker Sisworo Gutama Putra, was released in 1981 as Jaka Sembung and retitled The Warrior. I want to thank Mondo Macabro for sending this one over!
Jaka Sembung (Prima) is an unstoppable fighter and leader of a rebel resistance fighting the Dutch government that has taken over his homeland. When the armed forces are unable to stop him they turn to black magic to resurrect a former fighter to kill him.
I had not seen this one prior to getting it in for review but I was familiar with the work the cast and the crew had done prior to or after filming this one. Satan's Slave is one of my favorite horror films after my first time watching it a few years ago and I recently reviewed Special Silencers which featured W.D. Mochtar. While I was familiar with some of their work, nothing could prepare me for this absurd mix of comedy, martial arts, and supernatural. The acting in this one is extremely cheesy in the best way possible. The cast, especially Barry Prima, ham up each and every scene and I absolutely dig it. The characters are very cartoonish and their emotions are overdramatic but it works. The story for this one is a lot of fun for a martial arts film. While the martial arts aspect is at the front of the film, it combines a lot of different elements into something truly unique. It has a lot of comedy scattered throughout it along with some horror elements. It's not the first martial arts film to use horror but it is the first that I've seen that combines horror and comedy. It works and doesn't overstay it's welcome. Finally, the film has a lot of great choreographed fight scenes and the use of classic camera tricks but those looking for a lot of blood and gore will be disappointed. Overall, The Warrior is a must see for fans of martial arts films and Indonesian cinema. It's one of the wildest films I've seen and I couldn't imagine checking something like this out in the 80s when it was originally released. I highly recommend it.
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