Anthony III

When will you Americans learn about the rest of the world ? What exactly is the "Norse" mythology ? You probably mean Norwegian mythology ? But that's not correct either ! What you really should talk about in this matter is Scandinavian mythology, and if you don't know what countries that Scandinavia consist of that's really a shame. But since I, am a nice guy I will tell you. Scandinavia consists of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Finland. And they all where (except Finland) what you in the rest of the world call "vikings" ! The fact that the "vikings" really didn't exist at all, at least not in the way that you probably think they did is another story all together

//Karl (from Sweden)

When I started watching this I thought it was going to be really boring and didn't pay much attention to what was going on. However, it seems that The Runestone is one of those films that improves as it goes on, because things seemed to pick up in the second half. The mystery surrounding the monster slowly sucks you in. The best scene is in the art museum, where a girl is doing some ironing (in a display box thingy) and people are watching her. Suddenly the monster bursts in and attacks her, and blood sprays across the windows. One of the people watching then says: "What's the artist trying to say?" to which another replies "Housework kills". The monster then bursts through the glass and attacks them too. This scene is priceless and definitely worth seeing the film for! There are a few other cool scenes after this which keep you watching. The acting is quite decent and better than most horror flicks.

Overall, The Runestone is worth a watch for horror fans who can tolerate a bit of cheese.

The miners discover strange runestone in the mine.The runestone is transported to New York.Not long after that an archaeologist Martin Almquist,while studying a discovery,cuts his finger and becomes a blood-thirsty monster.This creature-on-the-loose flick isn't very good,but isn't completely bad either.The film tries to be scary and exciting at the same time,some lines are also pretty funny.No gore at all-for me the lack of blood is disappointing.The acting is acceptable,the monster is creepy looking and kills so many cops that it has to be seen to be believed.Good for the rainy day,just don't expect anything special.My rating:5/10.

Just another monster on the loose feature, no surprises abound and routine as ever but remains entertaining for while it lasted. Never have I heard of it, until just recently. You could possibly see why. Far from memorable, but it's well made and its stark-like b-grade material (adapted off a novel) is quite polished. Fans of "The Relic" or even "Rawhead Rex" might get something out of it. Where I give it props is the origin of the mythological beast, Norse (Viking) folklore and the creation was something like a werewolf crossed ape design. Formidable in appearance, while it goes about tearing flesh, taking bites and for most part staying in the shadows. Even with this ancient prophecy background, some things felt a little unclear (like that of Alexander Godunov's mysterious stranger clockmaker character) if too black and white. The plot follows that of an archaeologist who uncovers an ancient Norse artifact; a power stone and returns to New York with it. However this stone possesses an evil which projects itself into the archaeologist, transforming him into a vicious beast that goes about terrorising the people of New York. Now it's up to an archaeologist and his artist wife to begin to investigate the threat and figure a way to stop it. It's as simple as that, but director / writer Willard Carroll's methodical handling is stylishly glassy and well-paced in its clichéd structure. Creating some moments of suspense, with grisly jolts and dark atmospheric encounters consisting of brooding lighting amongst its urban framework. The performances are strongly delivered with the likes of Peter Riegert (providing touches of humour) and Joan Severance standing out. You also have character actor William Hickey and the always hard-boiled Lawrence Tierney in small, but important parts.

"I'm sure there's a logical explanation to all of this"

"The Runestone" is a conglomeration of ideas, some good, but mostly bad. The mythological reasoning for a Norse discovering of America, long before Christopher Columbus, is shear genius. It seems that the Norwegians had a monster, closely resembling "Pumpkinhead", that they wished to dispose of. Tricking the beast and entombing him in a gigantic rock, they then set sail for the farthest disposal land they could find, thus stumbling upon America, and dumping their unwanted rock in what is now Pennsylvania. This concludes the good ideas. Once their rock is unearthed in a coal mine, and brought to New York City, we get a standard monster on the loose affair. It is a real shame that an intriguing cast, including William Hickey, Lawrence Tierney, Peter Riegert, and Joan Severance, is so badly wasted here. Another uneasy element is the weak attempt to throw levity into the mix, although there is one "Paul Bartel type" dark comedy moment in an art gallery, that is definitely worth seeing. - MERK