Review of Krull (1983) by Jon T — 16 Apr 2014

The most compelling scene in KRULL is one where an old man visits an old widow in an enlarged spider's web. The ideas behind that scene bring a lot of potential for a story that would have been far more intriguing than everything else about this movie, which is not something that I, as a fantasy fan, would ever dare to say.

Released during the same year as RETURN OF THE JEDI, KRULL is a hodgepodge of sci-fi/fantasy concepts, few of which interest (a fortress that teleports at daylight as well as the aforementioned spider scene) and many others of which pull every cliche from the book.

It tries to be so many things (but mostly it's a "hero must rescue his bride from a monster" plot) that it ultimately backfires. Director Peter Yates obviously bit off more than he could chew with the material, and was obviously the wrong person for the job.

His picture unfolds at a torturously SLOW pace, and even the action sequences are detaching and depressingly unexciting... mainly because its characters are all basic cardboard cutouts with zero personality.

I did like Freddie Jones' performance and James Horner's bombastic if derivative score, but these two elements cannot save this picture. The dialogue is both cheesy and laughable and the acting is depressingly terrible, including a then unknown Liam Neeson, who has done far better elsewhere.

Ken Marshall is boring (and I mean BORING with a capital B) as the hero and Lysette Anthony (whose voice was dubbed for bizarre reasons) is even worse as the damsel in distress. I really hate to come down on a movie that has a cult following, but I just couldn't get engaged with KRULL.

Despite the occasional moment, this film is both boring and an ambitious failure in every regard, mainly because it was made by all the wrong people. Get a better cast and crew and this would have been something unique.

Instead it's just a waste of time and talent. Too bad, too bad.