Barbarian Queen (also known as Queens of the Naked Steel) is a 1985 American-Argentine fantasy film directed by Héctor Olivera and written by Howard R. Cohen. The film premiered in December 1985 in the United States. It starred Lana Clarkson.
Overview
Set during the days of the Roman Empire, a simple village is preparing for the wedding of their king and queen. Suddenly, it is raided by Roman troops, and most of the people are whisked off to be slaves or killed. The queen (Lana Clarkson), and two of her best female warriors survive the attack and set off to liberate the queen's sister (Dawn Dunlap) and king (who is sent to the gladiator arena).
Traveling a river, they gradually catch up to slower-moving elements of the Roman raiding party, killing the soldiers but arriving too late to free their female hostage who has been tortured to death. Searching the soldier's belongings, they find out where the raiding party was heading and follow, eventually arriving at the Roman city. Donning disguises, each woman searches on her own and is eventually captured.
One female warrior (Susana Traverso) is killed while trying to escape from the commander's dungeon. Another (Katt Shea) is raped and left for dead in an alley by Roman soldiers, and the queen (Clarkson) is captured and tortured in what is considered to be a cult classic scene.[citation needed] Rescued by the local underground after her ordeal, the only warrior woman not dead or captured decides to join the rebel movement to free her queen, seek vengeance for the citizens, and liberation of the slaves.
Response
This movie benefitted from a surge in interest in the sword and sandal genre sparked by the success of the film adaptation of Conan The Barbarian (film). Playing in discount movie theaters to a sparse crowd, Barbarian Queen was panned by the audience. However, Lana Clarkson drew praise for her acting and her stunning beauty. Her performance in the dungeon scene made an impression with the followers of the genre, such that the movie is now considered a cult classic as a result.
US-Version
The US-DVD only contains an R-Rated version missing a little plot, a bit of violence and some nudity, also, there are several film tears in the first third of the movie[1].
Sequels
A follow-on film, Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back was billed as a sequel, when in actuality neither the plot nor the characters had anything to do with the original Barbarian Queen film, other than casting Lana Clarkson in the title role and having multiple scenes in which she is bound naked to a rack and tortured (at one point, nearly to death). That film went straight to video and never generated much interest.
Despite grass-roots pressure to produce a third installment, a third Barbarian Queen film would not be made.[citation needed]
Cast
- Lana Clarkson....Amethea
- Katt Shea....Estrild
- Frank Zagarino....Argan
- Dawn Dunlap....Taramis
- Susana Traverso....Tiniara
- Victor Bo....Strymon
- Arman Chapman....Arrakur
- Andrea Barbieri....Zoraida (as Andrea Barbizon)
- Tony Middleton....Zohar
- Andrea Scriven....Dariac
- Robert Carson....Shibdiz
- Matilde Mur....Eunuco
- Eddie Little Sky....Vendedor (as Eddie Little)
- Patrick Duggan....Shaman
- Lucy Tiller....Orellia
- Ivan Green....Karax
- Theodore McNabney....Cerus (as Theo McNabney)
- Richard R. Jordan....Vanir
- John Head....Alfana
- Daniel Seville....Kantaka
- Eva Donnelly....Ciega
- Henry Finn....Guard
- Louis Alday....Warrior
- Grace Castle....Arrakur’s Lover
- Norman Friedman....Warrior
- Alexander Essex....Warrior
- Guy Reed....Warrior
- Alfred Alexander....Warrior
- Arthur Neal....Warrior
References
External links
