Kull The Conqueror
Sun Herald
Sunday November 30, 1997
Starring Kevin Sorbo, Karina Lombard, Tia Carrere
Rating: M
Critic's Warning: Plenty of sword-in-the-chest violence. 1970s hairstyles. Sequinned harem costumes. Need we say more?
Critic's Rating: 5 out of 10
MY blood is as red as any man's!" declares hunky barbarian master-fighter Kull (Sorbo), flicking back his glam-rock styled fringe and long hair.
All eyes are on him, not just because this commoner has been unexpectedly promoted to king of the corrupt sword-heavy court of Valusia.
Feisty harem girl Zarita (Lombard) has developed a crush on Kull. Snakish sorceress Akivasha (Carrere), who's just back from the dead, wants him too - as a stepping stone to ultimate power.
And the late king's resentful sons also have a yen for Kull - a yen to see him deader than a pagan on the sacrificial block.
And that's about it for plot. Opening with a wonderfully fruity voice-over ("At the dawn of time ..."), Kull The Conqueror concentrates on delivering more fights and necking scenes than dialogue.
Sorbo makes no attempt to tone down his American accent, nor do colloquial support performers like gravel-voiced ID4 star Harvey Fierstein.
That's not as snigger-worthy as you might think. Kull succeeds in evoking all those great 1950s sword-and-sandal hamfests which starred Tony Curtis and Kirk Douglas. It's a much more ironic movie than 1982's Conan The Barbarian, which starred a blockish Arnold Schwarzenegger. Informed that his new sorceress bride is 3,000 years old, Sorbo exclaims, irritated: "She told me she was 19!"
Both Kull and Conan are based on the pulp stories of Robert E Howard. For buffs, the neat Howard bio-pic The Whole Wide World, with Vincent D'Onofrio and Renee Zellweger, releases on video this week.
Although Kull begins looking as boxy as Sorbo's Hercules TV series, it actually visually improves: Looser camera work, fast fight-scene editing.
Yes, every time there's a fight, loud clanging rock music does suddenly blast out from nowhere - and the finale special effects are downright dinky. But for fans of Sorbo, this is a good-natured romp with more smart-eyed sarcasm than you expect.
© 1997 Sun Herald
