Well folks I just got duped into thinking that this movie was actually a high budget fantasy film. I mean look at the box cover. Dam movie looks like Lord of the Rings. Fact of the matter is that this film is just another poor attempt by the Sci-fi Channel to make an original movie. Now when I say poor attempt, I mean that this film could of been a lot better if more money was invested in it’s production value.
The plot of this film is very detailed. It starts out with a basic war plot between two kingdoms which is about to come to an end after three hundred years of battle. However the greedy king of Lockland orders the court sorcerer to unleash a it’s so called ancient protector known as the Gryphon. An over sized bird that like to kick ass. However greed is also in the works for the sorcerer as well, and he uses the powers of the Gryphon to try and take over both Kingdoms and rule the land himself. The two kingdom decide that in order to survive they must work together for the common cause of the land. The princess of Lockland and the prince of Delphi join forces and set out to find some pike and some sword that will help them defeat the Gryphon and the sorcerer.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t care much for this film at all. I was kind of expecting it to be at least a halfway decent film with great production value. Although I can’t rule out that in some parts of the film their were some great set pieces. The overall effects in the film were very poor. The Gryphon looked like a cartoon. The fire balls the witches and sorcerers used to fight with looked fake. Just the overall CGI and visuals in general were just plan bad.
The script was halfway decent but did have it flaws, some of the dialogue was pretty lame. I can’t say the idea was bad, but it was hard to buy the story as a low budget fantasy film. It just didn’t work because of that, I’m sorry to say.
The acting was surprisingly the only high point of the film. I can’t say the cast which involved Larry Drake, Amber Benson and Jonathan Lapaglia was worthy of an Oscar, but they did pretty good with the script and parts they had. I was surprised that Larry Drake was cast as the sorcerer in this film. for some reason he just didn’t fit in this part for me. I so used to seeing him as Dr. Giggles or that disabled guy he used to play on that TV show back in the late 80’s; L.A. Law. But playing a sorcerer? He just didn’t fit the part in my opinion.
Overall, I was never a big fan of low budget mid evil fantasy films. And I probably never will be. Unless a fantasy film such as this is made with a decent budget to cover the special effects and make’s the film to the likes of Lord of the Rings or Eragon. Then it’s probably something I’m not going to like. In the case of this film, it was an alright story, but the cheap effects are what ruined the whole entire film for me.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
