Well, this week I was on my Netflix and came across this dark fantasy adventure film: Curse of the Dragon Slayer (also known as Saga: Curse of the Shadow). Thinking that the movie was going to be just sub-par I decided to put it on while I did some chores. Well, I am happy to say that I didn't get very much house work done during that time. I quickly became engaged in this independent, low budget work of dark fantasy. I was very impressed and pleasantly surprised.
She takes the head into town to collect her bounty and now realizes she is considered a criminal because of her curse. It seems that anyone cursed with the brand of the The Shadow--a secret cult--eventually becomes a slave to the dark forces, possessed by demons and forced to do The Shadow's demonic bidding. The Shadow is trying to possess as many "followers" as possible so they can raise the demonic elder god Goth Azul who will destroy the world. (Does this type of plot sound familiar yet? Demonic possession, raising demonic legions, summoning evil elder gods, etc. If we made it gorier and more vulgar we could pass it off as an Evil Dead or Army of Darkness clone.)
Nemyt is thrown in jail. A cleric named Keltus comes in and takes her into his custody. He thinks he might use her as his pawn in scheme to stop Goth Azul from awakening and devouring the earth. She has a strong will and is therefore resisting the possession of the curse upon her. She is against going with Keltus at first but agrees to go with him when he claims that he can cure her after she helps him.
The story continues along similar lines for the rest of the movie--Nemyt is captured by the horde at one point and is threatened with rape and torture. More party members are marked with the curse and are forced to fight off turning into demons of The Shadow. The final scene with the ceremony feels like something out of one of H.P. Lovecraft's novellas. All these elements build together in a dark adventure that is enjoyable to watch.
I was very suprised with the quality of this movie. Yes, it is a B-movie. It hearkens back to the dark fantasy/barbaric films of the 80s such as Deathstalker and Dragonslayer. As a fan of both horror films and fantasy films from the 80s I found this to be very exciting and engaging. For a film in this type of genre and budget it does well in all areas. The script and dialogue are well written and engaging. I think the only exception may be the very end with its trite final scene. (Come one, really? Did we have to give it a happy sappy ending?) But the actors do fairly well in their roles. There was the occasional dropped line from Nemyt but it was forgivable because her action sequences were so great.
The special effects and make-up were fairly good. The dragon and demon CGI both look fairly impressive for a film of this merit, although still not 100% like a big budget film would be. Also, there manages to be a decent amount of violence and gore. Blood sprays as characters are beheaded or throats are slit. Some of the sequences end up being a little over the top and cheesy but not horrible enough to take away from the overall immersion of the film.
Summing it Up
Deaths: X
Language: 2
Gore Factor: 3
Sex Factor: 1
Scare Factor: 1
Fun Factor: 5
Overall Rating: 4