The back cover blurb
"THE FIRES OF HELL WILL BE UNLEASHED"
"A stunning blend of terrifying danger and blistering excitement, Wyvern is one of the most thrilling dragon movies you're ever going to see.
When an ancient evil awakes from its thousand year slumber it has only one thing in mind: to feed. Setting out on a destructive rampage through the land, the vulnerable inhabitants have no choice but to cower in fear of its wrath - until one group of people avows to put an end to the bloodshed...
Risking everything and making terrifying sacrifices along the way, one town will stop at nothing to defeat the deadly onslaught of the ferocious fire-breathing dragon in this incredible, white knuckle thriller"
So what's it about? A melting glacier cracks open, uncovering a large, carnivorous flying reptile.
Meanwhile a small town is getting jittery from the Alaskan midnight sun. As the wyvern starts eating its way up the cast list, a clutch of survivors find themselves trapped in a diner and on the menu.
At the risk of sounding petty can I just point out that at no point in the entire film does the wyvern breathe fire, fart fire or in any way cause fire to happen. His breath might stink a bit but fire? Nope.
I suppose I could also take issue with the wording of the cover blurb. Aforementioned lack of firebreathing aside, you get the definite impression the blurb writer thought he was talking about a film set in the 1300s. He uses the word "Avows" for crying out loud.
Moving on to the film itself.
If you are allergic to the sort of low-budget Creature Feature that keeps the SyFy channel in business, you are unlikely to like this movie. However, if you don't mind your creatures being CGI and the odd lapse into monster-movie dumbness then "Wyvern.." may pleasantly surprise you.
To begin with, the titular reptile is better animated than most . Not "Jurassic Park" levels admittedly but three or four rungs above "Aztec Rex" and "Sharktopus". It stays the same size between shots for starters. Giving the beastie more than a little cunning is also a nice touch. The wyvern is playing with the good guys and they know it.
Unusually for this sort of film the wyvern is a definite menace rather than a running gag.
The inhabitants of our unfortunate burg are a quirky collection of small-town boys and gals and make a nice change from mercenaries, tourists and evil Suits. At one point a character takes exception to being called a "Hilbilly" and is promptly told "You made your own fur jacket!"
A couple of them are clearly too dumb to live and surprises, surprise, they don't but by and large, this is a likeable crew and the cast acquit themselves in respectable fashion.
I can't really claim that this pic is entirely free from cliche but "Wyvern" works quite well within the usual framework and I found myself really getting into it.
What's more surprising is that I was enjoying the movie as a movie rather than an excuse for some quality piss-taking. Some of the films I've seen lately revel in their cheesiness, playing along with the joke, but here's a Creature Feature that plays it fairly straight and gets away with it.
How much did I pay for it? £2.99
Was it worth it? Yes. I can't see myself ever watching it again but what the hell. A film with an enormous flying reptile and a plate of curry= not a bad way to spend a Saturday night.
Youtube doesn't have a trailer as such but here's the opening moments.
That's all folks.
Yep, you've got me. Gonna check this one out.
ReplyDelete