Portuguese fantasy The Old Man and the Demon Sword is a scrappy little terrier of a film, marked by a cheap digital video sheen, off-the-shelf visual effects, and non-professional actors. It has more than a whiff of the student film about it: technically proficient, but stylistically basic. Even its screenplay – the one place that ultra-low-budget cinema can excel – is for the most part perfunctory and riddled with stereotypes. All that said, there are flashes of brilliance here. They suggest better, more accomplished films down the road, and for that reason I must admit writer/director Fábio Powers held my attention from beginning to end.

The film opens with a martial artist monk arriving at a small Portuguese village. The local priest appears to be masterminding a demon-worshipping cult. Shadowy devils appear to roam the local forest. The monk himself wields a magical sword, powered by a demon of its own. It is a familiar set-up, but within minutes Powers has up-ended it all by killing off the monk and putting the demonic sword in the hands of town drunk António da Luz (played, rather bizarrely, by an actual man named António da Luz).

It is a wonderfully silly set-up for a film, with António begrudgingly taking the sword around town as it continues its mission, and getting himself into any number of conflicts, scrapes, and confrontations. Most of the production values are terrible, but they are presented in such a knowing, good-humoured way that it is difficult to mind too much. It is true that much of ensuing film still feels over-familiar and relatively flat, but when António has his moments they are kind of wonderful. There is a great element of banter between him and the sword, who is capably voiced by João Loy: the Portuguese voice of Dragonball Z‘s Vegeta.

The battle comes to a very surprising climax, one that will divide the audience I am sure. For my own part I liked it, and would not dream of spoiling events here. By the film’s conclusion it has turned into something far more interesting that it was at the beginning. Powers is also smart in keeping the running time brief: to be honest, there is only so much wobbly costuming and terrible computer graphics one can sit through. Keeping events down to just over an hour was the right approach.

Is The Old Man and the Demon Sword good? Almost certainly not. Did I enjoy watching it? To my mild surprise, yes. I was entertained, and often amused. Fábio Powers shows a lot of potential, and I really hope the festival success of this feature leads him soon to bigger and better ones in future.

The Old Man and the Demon Sword screened at the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival. Click here for more information.