Absolutely RIDICULOUS. Sometimes you read about cult classic films, or “so-bad-it’s-good” movies, and you think that there’s no way it could possibly live up to the hype. But no matter what you’ve read about Zardoz, it’s pretty much guaranteed that it will surpass your expectations. Written and directed by John Boorman, it was his first film after the immensely successful Deliverance, and he was pretty much given a million dollars and allowed to do whatever he wanted. The result is totally fucking insane - an overblown, campy, self-indulgent, dystopian sci-fi epic that kind of comes off like the most brilliant high school drama club production ever made. Or as Roger Ebert described it, “a trip into a future that seems ruled by perpetually stoned set decorators.”

Sean Connery as a future cave man running around in a bright red thong, a ponytail and a mustache is only the beginning. There’s also life-essence-stealing catatonic makeout orgies, silly telepathic finger wiggling sessions, and a giant stone Greek god head that spews rifles and proclaims “guns are good, the penis is evil.” Boorman crams so many ideas into the film that it usually just winds up being convoluted and confusing, and things move so quickly that it often feels like a summary for a much longer film (much in the same way as Lynch’s Dune). Toward the end, especially, the plot gets so complicated and so ludicrous that it’s hard to tell what the fuck is even going on. But no matter how stupid it gets, it’s constantly weird, constantly fascinating, and constantly hilarious. I watched it three times last month. See this movie!!

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