Quest for the Mighty Sword

• Also known as Ator III: The Hobgoblin, The Hobgoblin, or Troll 3
• Directed by Joe D’Amato
• August 29, 1990 (US)

A god who gave a mighty sword to a king to bring justice to his people now he wants it back-I think. These were never well made.

The name ‘Ator’ gets tossed around a great deal to remind the audience that this is indeed an Ator movie since it lacks Miles O’Keeffe or any obvious connection to the previous three movies. Eric Allan Kramer plays Ator as his son and/or grandson or a very close relative. Hard to tell given that after the second one the rest of the films look to have done their own thing. Did Joe D’Amato really believe the use of ‘Ator’ alone could draw an audience? Looks like it.

The first sequel barely had a connection to the original film with the third one having an overall different tone and based on certain elements not even directly connected. Yet this is considered a sequel of sorts. It can be tough doing a sequel when recasting a lead, but this gives the character a whole new life history!

Quest for the Mighty Sword jumps around so much and explains so little. How did Ator come into the care of the soothsayer Nephele (Marisa Mell) when Ator’s mother Sunn (Dina Morrone) left him in the care of the sorcerer Grindel (Don Semeraro)? And why did the gods punish her instead of Grindel for the love potion he used to, well, rape her? And how did getting back his mighty sword cure her insanity punishment? And how was becoming a prostitute considered insanity? And how is the rape basically forgotten about by Ator?!

The titular quest for the mighty sword really isn’t a quest at all. Ator knows right where to get it. It’s more about saving Dejanira (Margaret Lenzey) who showed up to save poppa Ator. Ator only ever saw her in a vision and is instantly in love because he never got out much, I guess. This is stalker level love. Romance truly isn’t dead.

Dejanira is an immortal warrior but does little fighting. In moments of action she tries to meekly push aside attackers and never draws an arrow. I am not sure the bow even has a string. She is very much a damsel in distress who reciprocates Ator’s love for no discernable reason. Is it some variation of Stockholm Syndrome? This movie makes no sense!

Clearly relationships are based on absolutely nothing. This might’ve been sold with some better actors but honestly Eric Allan Kramer is the best actor. He’s not a bad one in general. But one serviceable actor in a film of largely terrible performers can’t sell bad writing. There are plenty of movies out there with bad writing that you will be okay with until the credits give you a chance to think. Not so here.

I have no idea why King Gunther (Donald O’Brien) is so hot to marry Dejanira. I think he wants to marry her to have a wife so he can pawn off the royal duties to some creature that works for him and focus on his art. Apparently this creature Hagen (Don Semeraro) might be an advisor. Gunther made a deal with Hagen to help him get a wife exchange for actually running the kingdom. You would think that would make Hagen the main villain but he never really gets framed as that. He just dies at the end with Gunther who is covered in boils.

The costuming waffles from between the cheap and wanting to look like Conan the Barbarian. Our lead actor looks like a goth version of Thor which ironically Eric Allan Kramer played in The Incredible Hulk Returns some two years before this. I would not be surprised if they just took it and colored it black.

This can’t decide whether it wants to be serious or goofy. It tries to straddle the line and hurts itself. If it were just one big goof or very serious it could overcome many of its flaws. The main reason to watch this is to see the second reboot of the Ator concept since this is more of an Ator film in character name only.

Quest for the Mighty Sword is dumb enough to be entertaining and if you’re looking for a bad movie it’ll hit the spot. But it lacks that special something that will make you go back again. It’s not a complete waste of time, but there are some better options out there.