Frequently throughout the year we will be highlighting a few titles that are considered to be "stuck" on VHS, with no physical releases since the format (discounting video transfers on DVDs, etc.) for various reasons, i.e. legal ownership disputes, music licensing issues, or perhaps just perceived lack of interest.

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This month brings us HEARTS AND ARMOUR, a strangely psychedelic, and wonderfully cheap Italian sword & sorcery flick that was distributed by Warner Bros on VHS yet has still never seen a physical release since.

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From the back of the box:

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In a titanic clash of cultures, noble warriors follow their hearts while wielding their sowrds because they live in a world of Hearts and Armour. There, codes of honor become codes of conflict... and high ideals are prey to a thousand human weaknesses.

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Tanya Roberts (the former Charlie's Angel whose The Beastmaster, Sheena, and A View to Kill make her one of the hottest tickets on the entertainment scene) heads a cast of talented newcomers in this sword-clanging epic of magic, armour and valiant knights. The ravishing Roberts brings an exotic blend of softness and savagery to her role of Angelica, a Moorish princess trapped in the turmoil of brutal combat between Christians and Moors in the Middle Ages.

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But the passions of war cannot eclipse love's passion. Christian warrior Orlando (handsome Gentleman's Quarterly model Rick Edwards in his screen debut) seeks victory over the Moors... and the hand of the captive Angelica. His Christian comrade, femme-fatale-in-armour Bradamante (popular Italian actress Barbara De Rossi), loves Ruggero (Ron Moss), the Moorish prince determined to free Angelica. Bradamante, knowing the prophets have fortold that Orlando will someday slay Ruggero, is torn between love and loyalty. The conflicting passions of war and love hurtle to a final showdown, where terrifying combatants like the Mongol, the Human Weapon and the Black Warrior clash in a battle to the death.

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In the spellbinding tradition of Excalibur, which focused on Arthurian legends of the north, Hearts and Armour brings to the screen the medieval myths of sun-drenched southern Europe. There, in a rhapsody of swordplay, lavish spectacle, searing passions and hellbent barbarians in stylized armour, men and women play out their entangled destinies... and become legends.

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dir. Giacomo Battiato, 1983
Italy, VHS projection
98 min

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SUNDAY, 6/7
7:30P DOORS
8:00P SCREENING

Special ticket prices!
$6 general admission, $5 members.

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Whammy! is located in the REAR unit of 2514 Sunset Blvd, entrance access is via Rampart Blvd.