Steineded
How sad is this?
AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Hadrina
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Kirpianuscus
...I saw this film just as a childish joke. sure, in some measure, as new demonstration of stupid cliches. it is a B film. wit not the worst beginning. and with a handsome Michael Pare. but nothing more. few Romanians actors in small roles. mix of mythology and fake believes. Romano - Catholic priests in Greek - Orthodox churches. Brasov as near place of Bucharest. and decent special effects. yes, I am profound subjective . but this film, like others , are only proofs of experiments in a cheep place from East Europe, with few nice locations, good actors and chance to say absurde stories without limits or good sense.
GL84
While on assignment in Romania, CIA agents attempting to solve a rash of strange disappearances finds them to be the cause of an escaped, legendary gargoyle loosened upon the countryside in modern times and must try to stop the creatures' rampage.This one here proved to be a highly-enjoyable creature feature. One of the main parts about this one is the enjoyable action quotient that runs throughout her, which comes along through several rather enjoyable parts incorporated in this one. The biggest inclusion here is the traditional action elements featured within this one, as the opening abduction sequences features plenty to like here with the initial gunplay serving as the springboard for the rather fun car chase through the city that includes the requisite crashing into each other, explosions and maneuvering through tight spaces that it feels quite in line with the standards of the genre, while a later gunfight between rival gangs on a rooftop is a great piece before including the creature attacking leading to a three-way fight between the two holding off the creature which is really fun and a later sequence where it chases them down through the winding mountain road while it tries to get the special weapon in their possession. Still, as much fun as this is the creature action is where the film really shines as there's plenty of confrontations with the creature which leads to attacks like the opening village sequence where they trap the creature underground, the first attack where it's released from the tunnels, the rather chilling scenes of it rampaging across the city as the attack on the photographer in the zoo or the ferris wheel ambush in front of the traumatized child while the attack on the church high on the hillside makes for a rather enjoyable series of action-packed encounters. In addition, the finale here is quite fun with the commandos venturing into the catacombs beneath the church where it has a nursery set-up which makes for a really cheesy time as they battle the infants flying around leading to some grand firefights as they swarm over them in some really nice deaths and leading to the final confrontation with the creature out in the woods for an enjoyable enough finale. Along with the fine-looking creature and cheesy bloody kills, these here give this one a lot of rather good parts to like over the flaws. The main flaw here is the fact that the film's storyline here with the one priest involved in aiding the creatures really makes no sense and doesn't have any real motivation for helping them, due to the rather inane need for a priest to want to assist them at all. It's a pretty complex and confusing reason as for why this occurs and his response is too utterly clichéd and hackneyed apocalypse reasoning that really doesn't help make it any clearer at all. On top of that, the film's rather cheesy and goofy nature on display, as the low- budget nature of this is featured throughout here not only with the typically atrocious CGI that's quite cheap and low-rent while rarely displaying any kind of realistic semblance at all, while others include the creature's origin story and the scattershot story that goes off into all sorts of tangents without rhyme or reason which makes for a really jarring effort at times. This here is all that really holds it back.Rated R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.
gavin6942
Two CIA agents are sent to Bucharest, Romania to solve a high profile kidnapping. But what they discover is something inexplicable. An evil gargoyle, once thought dead and banished forever, has returned with a vengeance.I do love the use of stock footage from the Jean-Claude Van Damme film "Maximum Risk" (1996) to make the car chase and explosions more exciting. Nice use of the budget, Jim! And actually, when compared to the work Wynorski does today (2012), this is not actually that bad. Not nearly as good as his 1980s work, but not terrible. This must have been about the point where he took a sharp turn downward.
Anthony Yingling
Without giving away any spoilers, this movie was just awful. The CGI was horrible, the acting was laughable, and the selection and use of the props are just... horrible. They couldn't even make the blood look real. I can go down to a horror shop and buy believable blood for a buck.. why couldn't they? Well, the idea behind the movie is fine, but the way they carelessly pulled it off was crap. Please, if you are a fan of gargoyles or just a fan of creatures of the night, please, stay away from this movie. They classified this as a horror movie, but I found myself laughing throughout the "horrifying" scenes of "gore" and such. The only thing that I thought was good about the movie is that it was only 90 minutes long. Any longer and I would laughed myself silly.
