Arabian Adventure (1979) - film review

The ancient city of Jadur is ruled by the tyrannical Caliph Alquazar, an evil sorcerer who employs mystical powers to prevent his people from rising up against him.  Alquazar lacks only one thing to make him the most powerful of all men, the enchanted Rose of Elil.  He promises his beautiful stepdaughter, the Princess Zuleira, to Prince Hasan if he can find the legendary rose and return it to him.  With the help of a little urchin boy, Majeed, Hasan begins his quest in earnest, unaware of the fantastic challenges that lie ahead...

Having directed one of the best of Amicus’ anthology horror films, From Beyond the Grave (1973), and the sci-fi classics The Land That Time Forgot (1975) and At the Earth’s Core (1976), director Kevin Connor lent his talents to another fantasy extravaganza, this time in the Arabian Nights line.   You’d have thought that, post-Star Wars, audiences would have shied away from all that mystique of the Orient malarkey, with its genies, flying carpets and turban-wearing sorcerers, but whilst the genre was undoubtedly past its sell-by date by the late 1970s Connor and his screenwriter Brian Hayles deliver a colourful fantasy adventure that appeals to adults and children alike. 

Christopher Lee, as ever, makes a superlative villain, absolutely revelling in his character’s malevolence, whilst his old sparring partner Peter Cushing makes a pleasing cameo appearance.  Mickey Rooney covers the comedy angle magnificently and eye-catching Suzanne Danielle spices things up with her exotic dancing.  The star of the film is however none of the above but 11-year old Puneet Sira, a prominent child actor of the period who later went on to have a distinguished filmmaking career in Britain and India.  With his equally attention grabbing little monkey, Sira eclipses all of his co-stars (Lee excepted) and somehow manages to give a post-modern ironic spin to virtually all of his homespun dialogue. 

Part of the fun of this film is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously and cheekily inverts some of the old clichés, so that, for example, the genie in the bottle turns out to be an ungrateful old git and a particularly unconvincing fire-breathing monster is shown to be unconvincing for a very good reason.  Admittedly things do get a little out of hand in the flying carpet sky battle, which looks like a too obvious attempt to reproduce the climax to the first Star Wars film - it’s a classic example of the special effects guys getting a little too full of themselves (when what they should really have done is just said no).  Although the central plot is a tad pedestrian and some (but by no means all) of the special effects are somewhat feeble by today’s standards, Arabian Adventure is overall an enjoyable flight of fancy that offers thrills and laughs aplenty.

© Derek Adamson 2011

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