Released in 1980, HAWK THE SLAYER is one of the first modern sword-and-sorcery films, predating DRAGONSLAYER by one year and CONAN THE BARBARIAN by two years.

Strongly influenced by the science fiction and fantasy writing of Jack Vance, producers Terry Marcel and Harry Robertson set out to make a sword-and-sorcery film in the style of Akira Kurosawa and SEVEN SAMURAI.

All the sword fighting would be choreographed kendo-style. In addition to working behind the camera on the film, Robertson also took on the task of scoring the film also.

Known as Harry Robinson for most of his career, thanks to an accounting mistake, Robertson was well known for his association with Hammer Films in the early 1970s, scoring Hammer classics like TWINS OF EVIL, THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, LUST FOR A VAMPIRE and COUNTESS DRACULA, providing a distincting musical signature that fit those films like a glove and help to solidify their identities as Hammer Films.

For HAWK THE SLAYER, Robertson chose to write a bright and modern score, infusing a traditional orchestra heavy on strings and brass with synthesizers and electric guitar, with plenty of nods to the composer's own favorites: Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith, Quincy Jones, Ennio Morricone, John Barry.

While the aesthetic of the film was to emulate Kurosawa in terms of camera angles and direction, Robertson thought of the film as a Fantasy Western while he was scoring it.