In the past I have heard some fans of Naschy claim that THE BEAST AND THE MAGIC SWORD is one of his best movies. Having spent several hours going through the film with great attention to detail I’m ready to debate that idea and so is Troy. I personally believe that the reason for the reverence this one engenders is that for decades the only way to see it was in washed out, third generation video tapes that barely hinted at the perversity and violence onscreen. Now that it’s possible to see a clear, sharp version of the film its time to reevaluate and decide where this one falls on the mighty Daninsky scale. Is it one of the best Wolf Man movies of all time or…… something else?
No matter what side you come down on it cannot seriously be argued that this film lacks boldness. Starting in the year 938 we are finally shown the genesis of the Daninsky Curse that forces every seventh son born under a full moon to become a werewolf….. or was that every son born on the seventh full moon during…….. or one son every other generation or something. I say the Hell with it! THE BEAST AND THE MAGIC SWORD starts out in Europe but quickly moves the action to 16th century Japan for the world’s first werewolf vs. samurai battles. Ya gotta love that! This is a film that seeks to combine as many disparate ideas as possible into one big lycanthrope adventure and the different elements seem to only occasionally fit together smoothly. I’m still trying to forget the inclusion of freakin’ Ninjas in the story!
Join us as we chat this one to death with tangents into The Jungle Book, Riki-Tiki-Tavi, the Spanish Inquisition, masculine facial hair, long distance travel and well staged tiger fights. The discussion is our usual in depth, scene by scene dissection that goes on for longer than either of us thought probable or possible. The body of the show is two and a half hours long with the mailbag section stretching for the last forty minutes! I hope everyone likes long podcasts.
Remember to drop us a line at naschycast@gmail.com or talk to us over at the Facebook page. If you listen through iTunes please think about giving us a review there - five stars would be nice – and, as Troy says at the end of the episode, have a Happy Halloween!
NaschyCast #21 LINK
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