Under the Spell of Fantasy: The Sword and Sorcery Production Cycle in British Popular Cinema of the Early 1980s

Hines, Claire (2026) Under the Spell of Fantasy: The Sword and Sorcery Production Cycle in British Popular Cinema of the Early 1980s. British Fantasy Society Journal (28). (In Press)

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Abstract

Despite what are now long-standing challenges to the prominence of the realist paradigm in British cinema history, the significance of Fantasy film remains a largely underexplored area. This article focuses on a group of early 1980s British films — mostly critically and commercially unsuccessful — popularly labelled as ‘sword and sorcery’, in order to explore their significance for conceptions of both the Fantasy genre and British cinema in this period. In doing so, the study examines aspects of the industrial and cultural circulation of the films at the time of release, drawing on promotional materials, industry and press reviews, and genre-based fan publications. The article contributes to the historical study of British film genres and the contexts in which they are produced and circulate. It also further expands conceptions of popular British Fantasy cinema.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Media, Language and Communication Studies
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Media Equality Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Film, Television and Media Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Gender and Its Intersections
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	12 Jun 2026 11:52
Last Modified:	12 Jun 2026 11:52
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/103382
DOI:

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