I'd forgotten how much I used to crush on actress Caitlin Clarke, who plays the role of Valerian (opposite a very young Peter MacNicol) in the 1981 movie "Dragonslayer." The movie was on TV last night, and I went online afterward to look Clarke up, only to find out that she had died of ovarian cancer in 2004. I was surprised at how sad that discovery made me. One website had photos of her as an older woman, probably taken in the late 90s or early "aughts," and I saw with a pang that she was still beautiful.
"Dragonslayer" has become something of a cult classic in the intervening years, though not because it was a B movie. Quite the contrary: it featured a masterful performance by Sir Ralph Richardson as the wizard Ulrich, and solid performances from the other cast members-- McNicol as the apprentice Galen, Clarke as Valerian, John Hallam as Tyrian the vicious knight, Peter Eyre as Casiodorus the king, and-- I'd forgotten this-- Ian McDiarmid (yes, Emperor Palpatine himself) as a priest who has an unfortunate encounter with the titular dragon. The movie also had top-notch ILM special effects (top-notch for 1981, anyway), and both the costume design and atmospherics work well even today: the movie has retained a gritty, gloomy, realistically Dark Ages feel.
The plot didn't insult the intellect, either. For what was purportedly a kid's movie, the storyline was remarkably complex. The ancient sorceror Ulrich is asked by Valerian and her companions, travelers from Urland, to battle the dragon-- Vermithrax-- that holds their land in such terror, but the wizard knows he is too old to make the journey. He therefore allows himself to be killed and cremated, counting on his impetuous apprentice both to carry his ashes to the site of the eventual confrontation and to figure out how to bring the wizard back to life. Galen and his servant Hodge begin the journey to the dragon's lair; it's Hodge, doing "the Master's bidding in his own way," who brings along the wizard's ashes without Galen's knowledge. Hodge is shot by Tyrian, but in his dying moments he gives Ulrich's ashes to Galen. Many seeming accidents turn out all to have been part of the wizard's plan. (For an adult, watching the puzzle pieces fall into place is a pleasure.)
Most of the movie's middle is devoted to Galen's adventures in Urland as he faces the skepticism of King Casiodorus, the wrath of his lieutenant Tyrian, the naivete of the king's daughter Elspeth, and a budding love for Valerian. Galen initially tries and fails to kill the dragon by summoning an avalanche to block the only known entrance to the lair; this merely angers Vermithrax, who launches into the air and goes on a killing spree. Later, Galen is imprisoned by the king, who confiscates the young wizard's magic amulet and tries to use it himself. While in prison, Galen has a chance to tell Princess Elspeth (filiam regis-- the film isn't shy about inserting Latin into the dialogue) that she has been excluded from the king's lottery, i.e., the arrangement by which virgins are selected twice yearly to propitiate the dragon. The news disturbs Elspeth, who sets about redressing the injustice in a grim way. Her actions begin the story's plunge to its visually stunning conclusion.*
The story is not only complex, but is also interesting for students of religion: it takes place at the turning of the age, when pagan magic is fading away while Christianity gains strength. Whether the movie possesses a particular religious message is doubtful, though-- in fact, the movie seems to tweak Christianity's nose as the people at the end of the film praise God for slaying the dragon, despite the previously demonstrated ineffectiveness of the priest, who takes a brave stand but ends up fricasseed by old Vermithrax. Or could the movie be saying that the pagan wizards are as much the servants of God as the Christians? Who knows?
"Dragonslayer" has taken a beating for its wacky musical score, which sounds even weirder now than it did in 1981. The music never quite seems to match the visuals, often sounding too frantic and overbearing, as if the instrumentalists had been asked to drug up before the studio recording. But perhaps because the movie is a sentimental favorite of mine, I don't mind the acoustic weirdness; it gives the story an otherworldiness that pulls my emotions in strange directions.
Speaking of those visuals: I'd love to see them cleaned up and made seamless. The story remains solid, and many of the special effects have withstood the test of time. But a George Lucas-style cleanup could fix problems like the cloud-roiling scene, or the inadvertent transparency of Ulrich's eyes in that same scene (you can see the clouds through them, indicating the use of some sort of overlaying process). I wouldn't redesign the dragon-- which already looks fearsome-- but would enjoy seeing a better CGI version of it to replace the clunky, stop-motion animated creature, which now smacks too much of the monsters in old Harryhausen movies.
If you've never seen "Dragonslayer" before, give it a whirl. It came out a year after "The Empire Strikes Back," a pleasant cinematic connection that any kid at the time would have made as soon as he saw young Galen using his amulet to levitate a backpack à la Yoda and the Force. The movie also contains a good measure of blood and guts (we see one unfortunate maiden get her leg chewed off at the shin by one of the dragon's offspring; we also see Galen use a magically sharpened spear to behead some of those very offspring), and a tantalizing slice of female nudity when Galen discovers that Valerian, who had been passing herself off as a boy when the film began, isn't a boy at all. Yes, that scene probably helped cement my crush on Caitlin Clarke, and no, you don't see any naughty bits. But from a very young age, boys are quite good at undressing women with their eyes: all we need is that little visual hint-- a curve here, a bit of exposed skin there-- and 'tis enough, 'twill serve.
Ah, bittersweet memories. Rest in peace, Caitlin.
*"Dragonslayer" is as much a big-screen movie as Peter Jackson's LOTR films.
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