Conquest

Sword and sorcery fantasy directed by the master of hallucinatory gore horror Lucio Fulci is not really sword and sorcery, because there are no swords. Overall, the film breaks quite a bit from the established conventions of its subgenre, and is well worth recommending for that reason. Fulci wouldn't be Fulci if he didn't make it all his own. Conquest may be just as silly as most Italian Conan knockoffs from the 80s, but thanks to Fulci's direction it doesn't lack for distinctive visuals. It's unusually bleak, brutal and surreal for a fantasy film. Most of it takes place in dark swamps and caves where smoke machines run at full blast. The entire film is literally bathed in a thick fog and is shot entirely in strong backlighting through heavily softening filters, which dissolves the footage to the point of abstraction. Some viewers will appreciate the extremely hazy visuals, some will find them cheap. Either way, it's a great way to disguise bad visual effects. (20/06/2015)