The big excitement recently has been the arrival of Vinegar Syndrome‘s new 4K UHD release of The Beastmaster. I have very vivid memories of seeing this at the local movie theater in 1982 (when I was on the cusp of turning 11 years old). I pretty much knew I was different at this point in my life and that men grabbed my attention more women. It was a weird, scary, and thrilling feeling. The Beastmaster just helped reaffirm all this. Marc Singer running around in a leather hula skirt that barely covered anything was an amazing site for these young eyes.
It’s weird to think now that my parents probably thought I was excited to see Tanya Roberts topless in this movie. Nope. I was all about Marc Singer. I mean, c’mon … look at him!
The Beastmaster is one of three films from my childhood that I feel helped solidify my gayness. The other two are Flash Gordon and Gwendoline. Maybe it’s of note that all three are from the fantasy/sci-fi genre … and maybe it’s not.