Dragonslayer - Needs a bit of an edit

I do like a good eighties 'sword and sorcery' kind of movie.  I don't really care how 'cheesy' it is and films like 'Krull, Hawk the Slayer' and the 'Conan' movies all get watched regularly in my household.  For some reason 'Dragonslayer' slipped by me back in the day and I've only just got round to watching it.  I was pleased with the majority of the reviews saying how good it was, so I thought I was in for a real treat.

Unfortunately - and maybe this was due to me setting my expectations too high - I felt like it was quite a let-down.  It's about a sorcerer who is charged with the task of slaying a dragon.  Sadly, he barely even gets out of his front garden before he gets stabbed and murdered.  Therefore, it's up to his young apprentice to carry out the task.

First of all, the good.  It's very well shot.  The filming locations in Scotland and Wales are perfectly used to create a 'Lord of the Rings' style environment and it's quite believable as a setting for magic and dragons.  However, the characters just aren't that interesting.  The leading man (and his amazing perm!) just isn't charismatic at all and his 'love interest' doesn't really have much chemistry with him.

Plus it's very long.  Actually, it's not THAT long, but it felt it.  You could definitely trim a few scenes down and keeping its overall run-time below ninety minutes would probably make it feel less of a chore.  It all plays out like the writers had read 'Lord of the Rings' and figured that such a story would never make its way to the big screen, so they could get away with ripping off a lot of it without anyone noticing or caring.  In other words... it comes across like a cheap 'Rings' rip-off.

I know I'm being a bit negative about it, but, in some ways, I was glad I watched it.  And that was because of the dragon itself.  It was some of the most amazing special effects (especially for the time it was made) I've ever seen.  The dragon is quite under-used for the most part, but in the final act it really comes into its own - and it was definitely worth the wait.  In fact, it was so much the star of the show that I found myself rooting for it (even if it did have a nasty habit of roasting young maidens!).

Maybe it was one of those films that I'd like more if I'd watched it when I was a child and now saw it through more nostalgic eyes.  I'm glad I saw it because of the special effects, but probably won't see it again.  Shame the dragon never went on to do more films.  Guess he must have roasted his agent and lost out on the part of 'Smaug' from 'The Hobbit' to Benedict Cumberbatch!

6/10 Should probably keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights