Dragonslayer (1981) – Fantasizing About Fantasy Films

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

This week on Fantasizing About Fantasy Films, we're taking a deep dive into one of the strangest films ever to emerge from Disney – Dragonslayer – a co-production with Paramount Pictures that ranks as one of the darkest sword and sorcery movie of the eighties. Peter MacNicol (Ghostbusters 2!) stars as a young wizarding apprentice set to kill a terrifying dragon, Vermithrax Pejorative. Directed by Matthew Robbins, the great Ralph Richardson co-stars with Caitlin Clarke, with cutting-edge VFX courtesy of ILM (the first time they ever did special effects for a non-Lucasfilm LTD production) and an acclaimed score by Alex North.