Hundra
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| Hundra | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Matt Cimber |
| Written by | José Truchado John F. Goff Matt Cimber |
| Produced by | John Ghaffari José Truchado Eric Bruckner |
| Starring | Laurene Landon John Ghaffari Marisa Casel |
| Cinematography | John Cabrera |
| Edited by | Claudio M. Cutry Juan Serra |
| Music by | Ennio Morricone |
Production company | Continental Movie Productions |
| Distributed by | Cinema Epoch (DVD Reissue) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 109 minutes (DVD version) 90 minutes |
| Countries | Italy United States Spain |
| Languages | English Spanish |
Hundra is a 1983 Italian-American-Spanish fantasy film co-written and directed by Matt Cimber and starring Laurene Landon.
Plot
[edit]Hundra belongs to a tribe of Amazons. She is the only tribe member of her age who has never been with a man. She declares she will keep it like that. One day when she goes hunting, her tribe is outnumbered and slaughtered by barbarians. As the only survivor she travels to an old wise woman and asks her for advice, but to her surprise she is told she ought to become a mother in order to prevent the final extinction of the Amazons.
Hundra seeks a father for her child. The first candidate has bad manners and it turns out that he is suffering from a sadistic personality disorder. While she continues her search she is confronted by a murderous robber baron who only wants to kill her. Later she encounters an effeminate pimp. Eventually she gets to know a gentleman who works as a healer. She asks him to become the father of her child but she is told that a man won't get in the right mood if he is approached too bluntly. Hundra asks other women to help her to live up to his expectations. She succeeds in seducing him, gets pregnant and delivers a child.
An evil pagan priest kidnaps Hundra's daughter. Thus Hundra is coerced into joining a sinister ritual where the priest's followers humiliate her. During this session she is informed that her new friends have freed the child. She fights back and returns to her home lands. The female narrator explains there was proof that Hundra's spirit kept on living in all women ever since.
Cast
[edit]- Laurene Landon ... Hundra
- John Ghaffari ... Napatkin
- María Casal ... Drachima
- Ramiro Oliveros ... Pateray
- Luis Lorenzo ... Rotahar
- Tamara ... Chrysula
- Victor Gans ... Landrazza
- Cristina Torres ... Shandrom
- Bettina Brenner ... Hundra's mother
- Maria Vico ... The midwife
- Fernando Bilbao ... Torente
- Jorge Bosso Gordoza
- Azucena Hernández
- Frank Braña ... Chieftain
Production
[edit]There was a stunt double for the nude scene, which Laurene Landon originally wasn't going to do, but she was short and heavy. "They had her in the water because I wasn't going to show my boobs. She was maybe five-feet-five. I think Matt Cimber did that on purpose to get me to do that nude scene in the water. I saw the footage of that and said, 'That's not me. My ass isn't that big. I'll do it myself'," Landon said.[1]
Reception
[edit]Paul Mavis of Dvdtalk.com described Hundra as a "genial, rollicking, comic book sword and sandals fantasy" and argued for the film's cult status.[2] "Monster Pictures" stated "Hundra" was "one of the great underrated films of the era".[3] John Shatzer of BloodTypeOnline.com wrote a negative review but gave Hundra credit by saying a few action scenes were exciting.[4] Judge David Johnson of DVD Verdict instead regarded the action scenes and Landon's general performance as "stilted,"[5] only allowing the film's "camp" value. Keith Breese of Filmcritic.com praised Laurene Landon as "a striking action lead" and compared Hundra to "Xena".[6]
Comparison to contemporary genre films
[edit]Mondo-Digital categorised Hundra as one of the better contemporary copies of Conan the Barbarian and pointed out that Hundra preceded the film adaptation of Red Sonja.[7] Richard Scheib of Moria.co.nz called Hundra a "better incarnation of the spirit of the Red Sonja stories than the Red Sonja (1985) film ever was".[8] Landon herself called the film "a female version of Conan the Barbarian".[9]
DVD release
[edit]In 2007 the DVD label Subversive published "Hundra" with a commentary by Matt Cimber and Laurene Landon and a making-of. The edition also includes a comic book and Ennio Morricone's soundtrack on a CD. Andrew Borntreger of badmovies.org complained about missing subtitles and closing credits being hard to read.[10] Jonathan Doyle of media-party.com criticised the anamorphic transfer and the sound quality of what he called a "cult oddity".[11]
References
[edit]- ^ "Interview With Actress Laurene Landon: A Cult Star's Journey". www.pophorror.com. 19 May 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ "1983's Hundra, the genial, rollicking, comic book sword and sandals fantasy, has generated a minor cult". Retrieved 2007-03-25.
- ^ "HUNDRA is one of the great underrated films of the era". Retrieved 2012-12-29.
- ^ "I will give credit and say that a few of the fights are effective and even exciting". Archived from the original on 2013-03-13. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
- ^ "Landon's stitled performance combined with the stilted action sequences lend the entire film a camp value". Retrieved 2007-04-06.
- ^ "While Hundra practically vanished after a short theatrical run (studio troubles), 'Xena' ran with the same theme and made mint more than a decade later". Retrieved 2011-10-20.
- ^ "Hundra, is one of many, many Conan copies which flooded theaters around the world, though in this case it also predates another Schwarzenegger film as well, Red Sonja. One of the more accomplished of its ilk". Retrieved 2012-12-29.
- ^ "the film is in fact a far better incarnation of the spirit of the Red Sonja stories than the Red Sonja (1985) film ever was". 2 June 2000. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
- ^ Watson, Chris. Bad Ass Women of Cinema: A Collection of Interviews. BearManor Media.
- ^ "the end credits are difficult to read, and the DVD lacks subtitles". Retrieved 2007-04-20.
- ^ "anamorphic transfer on this disc is flawed and the sound is quite poor (most of the thickly-accented voice-over is indecipherable unless you crank the volume to dangerous levels), but it is currently the best way to see this forgotten cult oddity". Retrieved 2007-04-03.
External links
[edit]- Hundra at IMDb
- Hundra at the TCM Movie Database
- Hundra at AllMovie
- Hundra at Rotten Tomatoes
- Trailer