In 2022, fans of entertaining B-movie goods said goodbye to director Albert Pyun, who was best known for trashy sci-fi classics like Cyborg or Nemesis. However, the beginning of his career was marked by a formulaic adventure film that fit perfectly into the neighborhood of Conan and Krull during the fantasy boom of the 80s.
But Pyun’s film debut Talon in the fight against the empire from 1982 was on the index in Germany for a long time because it featured genre standards such as sword fighting and magic didn’t skimp on horror elements. Today the view of the film has changed and with a new FSK rating it is very easy to conjure up on the screen.
Forgotten fantasy film conjured up by the index: Talon in the fight against the Empire is very easy to get today
That’s what it’s about: As a young man, Prince Talon has to watch as his father is killed by the tyrant Cromwell (Richard Lynch), who has allied himself with infernal forces. Years later, the adult Talon (Lee Horsley) returns with the murdered king’s legendary three-bladed sword to support the rebellion around Prince Mikah (Simon MacCorkindale), overthrow Cromwell and avenge his family.
According to the editing reports, the film was from 1983 to 2008 on the index and returned in a big way 15 years after the re-evaluation with an uncut version hitting the German market in 2023. Unlike Pyun’s debut, which remained his most financially successful film, the late 2010 direct-to-DVD sequel The Sword and the Sorcerer 2 received little attention.
How to watch the fantasy horror Talon today?
If you want to see for yourself what made Talon’s terrible fantasy adventure so index-worthy for 25 years, you can find the film today as a home cinema release from Leonine* and as a streaming title on the Amazon channel Adrenalin.
But don’t expect too much: Aside from some handmade monster, torture and killing scenes, there’s hardly any horror worth mentioning in today’s 16+ title.
*. If you purchase through this link, we will receive a commission.