Mondo Macabro's latest DVD release, The Devil's Sword, is a jaw-dropping, eye-popping fantasy/horror/martial arts adventure from Indonesia starring Barry Prima, that country’s answer to Chuck Norris. Prima plays the stoic warrior Mandala, who must locate the title weapon and use it to defeat the Crocodile Queen, a sexually voracious lake goddess who lures young men to her underwater castle for unholy orgies (on an amazing rotating bed that’s thronged with fire). Opposing Mandala’s quest are a quartet of evil warriors, including his former friend Panu Jaggar (Advent Bangun), who gets the most incredible introduction in motion picture history when he kicks a boulder into the air, rides it into a nearby village, and then slaughters an entire wedding party. Mandala must face off against his old friend as well as soldiers with floppy crocodile heads and a monstrous Cyclops (whose eye looks suspiciously like a car headlight) before he can take The Devil’s Sword to the Crocodile Queen’s lair – but will he be able to resist her scaly charms?

Like most Indonesian fantasy and horror titles from the ‘70s and ‘80s (includingVirgins from Hell, which is also available from Mondo Macabro), The Devil's Sword is a madhouse masala of different cinematic genres and styles, all blended together and set to boiling by a barrage of action set pieces and a delirious storyline. You get the kitchen-sink martial arts of ‘70s and ‘80s Hong Kong, with outrageous characters performing super-human feats with a dizzying array of weapons (including a decapitating coolie hat that’s swiped from Master of the Flying Guillotine); the heavy black magic-mumbo jumbo and absurd monsters of Indian fantasy; and the obsession with dismemberment and spurting blood so popular to Asian exploitation. That all of this is accomplished using the crudest of special effects (lots of visible wires), some outlandishly outré sets (the Crocodile Queen’s lair is a miracle of Styrofoam architecture) and some genuinely weird touches (like when the Queen turns into a big rubbery croc in the middle of her underwater lovemaking session with Panu – and he keeps fondling her…) only add to the gleefully surreal fun. Suffice it to say that if you’re a cult movie fan who thinks you’ve it all, you really haven’t until you eyeball The Devil's Sword.

Mondo Macabro’s widescreen DVD includes the original trailer, a lengthy bio on Barry Prima by label head Pete Tombs (who also contributes an interesting essay on the history of magical swords), and best of all, a truly weird interview with the elusive Mr. Prima himself, who dodges questions or gives eccentric answers (when asked about a former co-star whom he married, he flashes a wide grin and says, “I don’t know who she is”) like the superstar he truly is. Brad Pitt should be half as interesting as this guy.