INTO THE VORTEX
“THE PENIS IS evil.” Levitating over a desolate wasteland, this granite visage is worshipped as a god by scantily clad warriors on horseback — one of whom is revealed as Sean Connery, making only his second big-screen appearance since his last as James Bond. There are no slick tuxedos for him here in this post-apocalyptic vision of the 23rd century. He sports a ponytail, a big moustache and not much else: thigh-high leather boots, some bandoliers and, most strikingly, a tiny scarlet loincloth.
Later, we will see him mobbed by death-craving geriatrics; experimented on by psychic immortals fascinated by his ability to achieve an erection; and forced into wearing a bridal gown — all in a movie which, clearly, couldn’t better have satisfied the star’s early ’70s urge to avoid post-007 typecasting.
This is Zardoz, a surreal and sometimes brutal sci-fi fantasy that is without a doubt one of the oddest films to ever be produced by a Hollywood studio. Critics didn’t get it (“A trip into a future that seems ruled by perpetually stoned set decorators,” wrote Roger Ebert). Audiences reportedly walked out in droves. It was, on its release in 1974, a resounding box-office flop. And it all sprang from the mind of a filmmaker best known for punchy, commercially successful thrillers, like the Lee Marvin-loaded Point Blank and Appalachian nightmare boat trip Deliverance.
“THE GUN IS GOOD,” INTONES THE GIANT STONE HEAD, ITS
