For a supposed fantasy film for youngsters, Bert I. Gordon's THE MAGIC SWORD (United Artists, 1962) contains enough horrific images to even give adults a few creeps. Loosely based on the medieval tale of St. George and the Dragon, the film is book-ended by a gallant knight's (Gary Lockwood as Sir George) quest to save the Princess Helene (Anne Helm) from the evil clutches of Lodac (Basil Rathbone). Lodac has kidnapped Helene and informs her father that he will feed her to his dragon in seven days in revenge for his sister's death.
George assembles a group of brave souls and they petition the king to rescue the princess. The king in turn, will give his daughter's hand in marriage to the one who brings her back home safely (no mention is made who gets her if more than one survive!). There's one problem: they must defeat the dreaded Seven Curses on their journey.
The men set out, and sure enough, they soon come up against said curses and begin to get killed off one-by-one, and sometimes even two at a time. Up until this point the story seems like any typical juvenile fantasy or fairy tale, but that changes with the first curse in the form as a giant ogre who dispatches two of the men before George can kill it. They face the rest of the curses in their ensuing travels, including a drowning in a fetid swamp, an encounter with a beautiful woman who turns into one ugly and murderous hag (played by a young and pretty Maila "Vampira" Nurmi), and the worst of all, two more men get fried in a magical spiral of heat.
Of course, George is the last hero standing and kills Lodac's two-headed dragon with -- you guessed it -- his magic sword.
The movie still plays well, and although the special effects by Milt Rice and visual effects by Bert and Flora Gordon are largely dated (with the exception of the two men who stagger toward the camera with their flesh burned off, courtesy of makeup artist Daniel C. Striepeke), it's still entertaining to watch. Besides the Seven Curses, there's a pinhead, sinister Siamese twins, menacing midgets and plenty more freaks running around in various scenes that would do Tod Browning proud. I might add that it scared the pants off this 7 year-old kid when he saw it at the theater. In fact, I was so memorably scared that it earned a "What Scared Me" post back in 2012!
Following this feature article from FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #13 (August 1961 ) are lobby cards and the pressbook for the movie.
You can also read the comic book film adaptation HERE.
THE MAGIC SWORD Lobby Cards:
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