Conquest 4K Review (Cauldron Films)

Conquest (aKa La Conquista De La Tierra Perdida) is a 1983 fantasy action film directed by Lucio Fulci (Voices from Beyond, The House of Clocks, The Sweet House of Horrors, The Devil’s Honey, Don’t Torture a Duckling, Perversion Story, Zombi franchise, The Beyond, City of the Living Dead, and The House by the Cemetery). It was written by Gino Capone (Fearless, The Black Hand, Convoy Busters, and The Devils of Monza), José Antonio de la Loma (Five for Revenge, Deadly Deception, Street Warriors, and Grand Slam), and Carlos Vasallo (Manaos, Goma-2, Counterforce, and Fist Fighter). It was produced by Giovanni Di Clemente (The Nun and the Devil, The Devils of Monza, Domino, American Fever, Students, Car Crash, and Speed Cross). When a mysterious drifter Ilias (played by: Andrea Occhipinti from New York Ripper, A Blade in the Dark, Night of the Fox, Control, and Bolero) travels from far away lands to explore. He gets attacked by the evil Ocron’s (played by: Sabrina Siani from The Sword of the Barbarians, White Cannibal Queen, Cobra Nero, The Throne of Fire, 2020 Texas Gladiators, Ator: The Fighting Eagle, and Aenigma) wolf-like henchmen led by Fado (played by: José Gras from Mad Foxes, Goma-2, Hell of the Living Dead, Change of Sex, and El Ser) that wants to steal his magic bow. He is saved by the fierce barbarian Mace (played by: Jorge Rivero from Operation 67, The Last Hard Men, Ángel Negro, Werewolf, and Goma-2). The two strangers embark on an epic quest to conquer Ocron and all of the land’s most evil and vile creatures around!!!!! The legendary Lucio Fulci took advantage of the popular sword and sorcery sub-genre with Conquest. Studios pumped out all kinds which included The Sword and the Sorcerer, Conan the Barbarian, Sorceress, Krull, The Beastmaster, Deathstalker, Hawk the Slayer, and many others. The Italian master of gore seen potential for a wider audience with this independent fantasy action production. Conquest is so bizarre, extremely random, and full of surprises. It just elevates this wild dreamlike atmosphere. Jorge Rivero is the unstoppable hero Mace. He travels the world ready for anything. He uses action for most of his performance rather trying to hold his own acting against his co-stars. The role fits the muscular warrior that’s just trying to survive. Andrea Occhipinti is the unlucky Ilias. He’s just at the wrong place at the wrong time. He manages to get help so he’s able to get past these ferocious savages that want his mythical sword. Sabrina Siani steals the show as the untraditional villain Ocron. She has a great look to her and she hides behind a golden mask. She’s sadistic and she is full of greed when it comes to achieving absolute power. She’s willing to do whatever it takes for this prized sword. It’s a great performance from the cult actress. The rest of the supporting cast includes José Gras, Conrado San Martín (The Beast and the Magic Sword), Violeta Cela (Kilma, Queen of the Jungle), and Gioia Scola (Atlantis Interceptors). Conquest has enough brutality, violence, and gore to excite any action fanatic. It’s packed with action, tension, and suspense during this uncharted journey. The special fx are super ambitious but they are good for it’s time. The creatures and monsters in this look like nothing that I’ve ever seen before. Fulci gets props for thinking out of the box and being unique for these dangerous threats that put fear in the community. The visual fx probably come off a little silly to modern day viewers but they were ahead of their time especially for what little budget they had. I appreciate what they did here but it hasn’t aged well so it kinda ends up unintentionally hilarious. Conquest keeps itself entertaining and unpredictable for the most part. One of the biggest controversies about this 80’s feature is it’s foggy cinematography from DP Alejandro Ulloa (The Devil’s Honey, Goma-2, Christina, The Exterminators of the Year 3000, The Diabolical Dr. Z, Horror Express, and The Night of the Werewolf). It was already a little darker than most movies so this additional style stood out like a sore thumb. He used a fog machine, peculiar filters, and he went with a shaky approach when it came to the focus of the original visuals. I’m not going to lie, it took me a few viewings to fully appreciate it this risky maneuver. I didn’t like this unusual visual style at all originally but it’s grown on me over the years. It truly makes it stand out compared to all of it’s competition over the years. Conquest benefits from it’s skilled behind the scenes crew. It had top notch production that gives it the feel of a completely different universe. It’s guided by a killer score from composer Claudio Simonetti from Goblin (Suspiria, Demons, Tenebrae, Opera, and Dawn of the Dead). It’s a definitely a love it or hate it type of film but I always enjoyed it. Lucio Fulci proves here that he could do any genre that’s thrown at him. He was unfortunately highly underrated until he passed away. Now he’s praised as an all time great in the horror community. Conquest still flys under the radar, it deserves more attention so hopefully this brand new home video helps it grow it’s fan base. RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Cauldron Films! This 2160p (1.85:1) transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is from a brand new 4K restoration from the original camera negative. Conquest has been released several times over the years from Media Home Entertainment, Video Treasures, Blue Underground, and Code Red. Honestly, it has kinda looked rough for most of those home video releases that ranged from VHS to Blu Ray until now. Conquest is clearly a very low budget and independent production so it’s never going to be reference quality but this exclusive newer upgrade blows away all of the versions from the past. It’s almost like watching it for the very first time, it feels like a whole new experience. Like I mentioned above, the foggy cinematography has either impressed or disgusted cinephiles everywhere. This at least gives it the most accurate vision that it was meant to be on home video and it’s a nice surprise. Regardless, it has excellent production design and locations that stands out here. It has a few different audio options which includes English 2.0 Dual Mono, Italian Dual Mono, and English 2.0 Stereo tracks on the UHD. Conquest is full of vicious action and gruesome violence plus it has a pulse pounding score from Claudio Simonetti. All of the dialogue is very clean, the chaos is elevated, and the music has a big boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has a brand new exclusive “Audio Commentary” with Eugenio Ercolani and Nanni Cobretti. That’s the only extra located on the UHD, the rest of them are located on their own Blu Ray disc. It has the almost 11 minute “Jorge the ConquestOutlaw”. It’s an interview with lead actor Jorge Rivero. He knew the reputation of Lucio Fulci before he got this gig so he was excited about it. He goes over his experiences with the Italian filmmaker. He calls him one of the most creative directors that he’s ever worked with. He goes over some of the locations for it. He chats about problems with the producer and that he became friends with Fulci after this shoot. It has the little over 33 minute “A Catalan Wolfman in Sardinia”. It’s an interview with actor José Gras. He chats about his work in Italian films which includes Hell of the Living Dead and Conquest. He has good memories of working on those productions. He talks about the producers here being more freelance. He tells a few stories related to this. He goes over how it was like wearing the wolf man costume while filming. He has plenty of positive thoughts about Conquest including Lucio Fulci. It has the almost 24 minute “Post-Goblin Conquests”. It’s an interview with composer Claudio Simonetti. He says they were the first rock band to make music for films. He chats about his creative process and the equipment that he used. He talks about a few of his other contributions like Dawn of the Dead, Demons, and some of the Dario Argento features. He discusses the culture at the time. He was highly in demand for scores back in the day in Italy. He brings up the science fiction sub-genre which leads to Conquest. He didn’t even interact with Fulci on this, he went through the producer for it. It has the little over 14 minute “Operating the Conquest”. It’s an interview with Federico Del Zoppo. He expresses his love for cinema and how it’s been apart of his life since a young age. He chats about the older and bigger style of cameras used. He worked on several different sub-genres over the years, he enjoyed it all. He goes over his favorite things about working on a movie set. He shows respect to some of the talented people that he’s collaborated with. He calls Lucio Fulci a funny character because he would act mad when he wasn’t while working. He praises his skills and he brings up that he was always yelling while he was behind the camera. It has the little over 18 minute “Cavemen Talk”. It’s an interview with screenwriter Gino Capone. He chats about some of his early influences. He talks about his early career and what he was writing at the time. He goes moving to do more things in the industry and some of the people that were involved with it. He had around 3 years during his peak where he was struggling to find consistent projects so he started writing for genres that he usually didn’t have much experience in. He focuses on Conquest for the last 5 minutes of this informative conversation. He’s very honest about how he personally thought about the late great Lucio Fulci here. It has the little over 23 minute “Jose Antonio De La Loma: More Than Just a Name”. It’s an interview with cinematographer Paco Marin Andreu. He got involved with the film business because his father was already in it. He points out some of the huge changes from the 80’s production. He brings up several projects and collaborators during his career. He goes through some of the struggles and efforts from Jose Antonio De La Loma. It’s a nice retrospective piece. It has the little over 23 minute “A Conversation with Jorge Rivero”. It’s another interview with the lead actor from Conquest. He repeats a few things from the previous one in this. He has some interesting stories and he seems very proud of his work in this. He was supposed to do another film with him but he got sick before they could. It has the little over 14 minute “The Arsenal of Fantasy”. It’s a video essay from Heather Wixon. It’s a fascinating focus on Italians knocking off popular fantasy features. It shows some of the Influences for the independent movie. Conquest gets some real attention in this. She goes over it’s history and how it ended up in a lawsuit. Fulci was supposed to do another film with the producer but it obviously didn’t work out. It has the almost 13 minute “Conquering Occhipinti”. It’s a video essay from Pier Maria Bocchi. This is dedicated to the mysterious Andrea Occhipinti that left the film industry a long time ago and he’s now a business man that wants to keep his new life separate from his past. It has 2 video essays which has the little over 13 minute “Conquest” and a little over 29 minute “Beyond Conquest” from Mike Foster. The first one is a deep dive with entertaining stories and fully loaded with information about this action adventure entry. Conquest is his favorite film from Lucio Fulci and it truly shows in these essays. He is very passionate about everything related to the low budget production. He goes into some of the other movies from the same sub-genre. Beyond Conquest goes over Lucio Fulci’s career. Several Italian features are discussed that took advantage of the popular American releases. He mainly focuses on the later work from the master of gore in Italy. It has the almost 43 minute Conquest inspired short film “Serurta”. The Friac is one of Britain’s ancient tribes. They are being forced away from their own land with a deadly attack from the vicious Celts as they come from Europe armed with iron weapons, horses and a blood thirst for conquest. It has a 10 minute “Introduction” with director Steven Lyons (Room for Rent) and writer Merlyn Roberts (Island of the Blind Dead and Seize the Night). It has the “Theatrical Trailer” and a “Grindhouse Trailer” for Conquest. It has another disc for this impressive that’s a CD of Claudio Simonetti’s (Cut and Run, Patrick, Hands of Steel, Primal Rage, The House of Witchcraft, and House of Lost Souls) soundtrack for Conquest. It has 15 tracks and it’s a little over 38 minutes. It’s the very first time that this expanded version of the score is available on physical media plus it’s been remastered. This is clearly the definitive home video release for Lucio Fulci’s Conquest and there’s no way that anyone is going to match this one when it comes to this obscure film. It comes in a higher quality hard slipbox, 2 different artworks underneath, a 48 page booklet, 1 UHD, 2 Blu Rays, and a CD. It’s a must own for fans of the sub-genre and Lucio Fulci. This limited edition is exclusively available at DiabolikDvd.com right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!