The Old Man And The Demon Sword

Most of the films that get to screen at the Fantasia International Film Festival are a good deal more sophisticated and insightful than non-genre fans tend to expect, but that said, if there were not at least one involving possession, magical weapons, mysterious cults, quests, and monsters that look like Seventies BBC cast-offs, we’d all be pretty disappointed. Filling that gap this time around is Fábio Powers’ cheerily irreverent The Old Man And The Demon Sword, which delivers all the clichés you could want but still manages to break a few rules in surprising ways.

Every story needs a hero, but does it really need to keep him around? It’s no real spoiler to reveal that the bold young man whom we see dispatching monsters with ease in this film’s opening scenes, and whom the titular sword demon is relying on to win his freedom, meets with a sticky end, so quickly does it happen. He’s just broken through a magical barrier into a sleepy mountain village, and that’s where the sword falls – which could be bad news for the perpetually imperilled world were it not for an odd stroke of fortune. Normally ordinary people cannot see the otherworldly conflicts going on around them, nor the demon, but local man Tonho (António da Luz, to whose memory the film is dedicated) just happens to be so steaming drunk that the usual magical laws don’t apply. He rescues the fallen sword and takes it home. The question is, if he’s the only person available to wield it, can the two of them survive?

Part epic tale of desperation and doom, part buddy comedy, the film follows Tonho and the sword (which is voiced by João Loy and loving sculptured in latex to look like D&D monster), as they try to come up with a plan. Training is suggested and you might hope for a classic martial arts cinema montage, but Tonho is palpably not up to that. He also does a good job of offending the spirit of the forest when they go looking for allies, but does manage to impress a strange woman in glowing white clothes. She’s not Galadriel, honest, but she gives him the power of light in dark places all the same. He’s going to need everything he can get, because whilst all this is going on, a ground of hooded figures huddled round a table that’s crowded with candles discuss the breaking of the barrier and determine to eliminate the person responsible before it’s too late.

Nothing here is quite what it seems, and Powers delights in upsetting expectations. There’s a warm humour about the whole thing which keeps this from getting annoying. The whole film has clearly been made with love, with simple but spot-on model work and cheesy Eighties-style special effects. The first wave of monsters are rather unimpressive but once we get to a proper showdown in the middle of the tangled streets, they get a lot more creative and a lot more fun. The lively heavy metal soundtrack, much more deftly arranged than is usual on this kind of budget, helps to keep it pacey and remind us of the stakes.

The Old Man And The Demon Sword is cheap, derivative and distinctly cheese-flavoured, but it’s smart enough to get away with it. Full of beans and full of heart, it might go better with a few beers, but it’s easy to love.