SAGA - Curse of the Shadow

Given the nature of the film, the content and the advertising - I admit I was inclined to watch it anyways. However reading some of the comments here I got the impression this was a film over-looked by the normal mass viewer.

Fortunately I did watch it and I agree with things expressed here so far. The film is so natural feeling, yet with a hint of amateur innocence. Great set pieces, costumes, scenery. The dialogue is acceptable, the pace is quick and the direction is clear.

I only wish it was longer or a part of a larger series.

If this is what 'Indie' can do on a budget, I'm hopeful for the future of B films.

Somewhere in time and space, there is a battle between the evil and the good. The Prophets of The Order are trying to restore civilization while The Shadow is trying to revive the God of Death.

The female elf bounty hunter Nemyt Akaia (Danielle Chuchran) fights against the criminal Fangtor Bloodmoon (Adam Abram) and kills him. However she is cursed by him with the Shadow mark on her wrist. When she goes to the nearby castle to collect her reward, she is arrested because of the mark and sentenced to death. Meanwhile the human Ambassador of Light Keltus the Wanderer (Richard McWilliams) chases the dwarf Gyarmuck (James C. Morris) to find the real intentions of the Shadow and he learns that the orcs have a powerful vessel that they will sell to the Shadow representative. Keltus heads to the castle where Nemyt is imprisoned and he finds that she has discovered where the orcs are going. He brings her with him to seek out the horde of orcs and promises that the Prophetess would help her to get rid off her mark.

On the beginning of their journey they find Kullimon the Black (Paul D. Hunt) that was left behind tied up to two trees by his former horde after being betrayed by the orc Mulgrut (Kyle Paul). The unlikable trio teams up in a journey to avoid that the God of Death returns life and destroys civilization.

"SAGA – Curse of the Shadow" is a low-budget adventure in a magic world of elves, orcs, dragons and forces of light and shadows. The story is rushed in the beginning certainly due to the budget constraint and the screenplay is uneven. The choreography of the many fights is terrible, the repetitive music score is annoying and the acting is reasonable only. But the flick is watchable in a rainy day afternoon. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "SAGA – A Maldição das Sombras" ("SAGA – Curse of the Shadow")

I visit IMDb for several years, but this is the first film I really feel the urge to comment on around here. I stumbled about "Dragon Lore/Curse of the Shadow/The Shadow Cabal" by pure chance (I think it was the lead Elf's iconic mask that initially caught my attention).

The story itself isn't something to write home about, but isn't inferior to the stuff one gets served in most of the shiny Hollywood productions either. A High Elven bounty hunter, a human cleric/paladin and an Orc war chief team up -- more or less reluctantly -- to defeat the malevolent Order of the Shadow, which disciples plan to summon and materialise their demon master, the death god Goth Azul. Nothing new here.

No, the strong points of "The Shadow Cabal" (I'll stick with this title) lie within other fields.

In some parts the film is wonderfully trashy, but more than once we are granted well done sceneries, e.g. the vision sequences or the Orc's boating trip. It is also the Orc that is the trio's most entertaining one, thanks to the actor's solid performance. The Elf, Nemyt, is established as a likable "bad girl", albeit with an irritating habit for spitting (and sexy "Underworld" contact lenses). She has got an impudent attitude, indulges in animalistic hissings at times, but turns out to be loyal to the good side. Last but not least, she is pleasant to behold. Which leaves us with the paladin: He stays slightly anaemic, partly because he hasn't got as many strong scenes as the other two lead characters.

Digital effects are scarce, yet (or therefore) the final boss is rather impressive for an indie film. Furthermore, there is many a scene that sports a downright surreal atmosphere (for example the happenings at the Bleeding Stone). The locations are generally well chosen, but the footages of the Grand Canyon and other recognisable sites work against the immersion into a fantasy world. Make-up and props look good, often really good. However, the main Orc needs a nose job -- right now he reminds me of the Grinch. The fighting scenes are mostly solid and never overdone. To top it off, there are a lot of lovely details, such as Nemyt's aforementioned mask.

Unbiased, this film would get a seven. But the indie bonus makes it an eight out of ten, hands down.

I saw this film accidentally, with zero warning, so to speak. It looked as if it was interesting enough, so after watching the trailer and a bit of pondering, I decided to go and check it out. (Besides, I tend to enjoy watching bad films - I saw Uwe Boll's "Alone in the Dark" after reading all the bad reviews - so nothing could go wrong, right?) And yes, nothing went wrong, I actually quite enjoyed the film. Yes, it was a bit cheap and the (sparingly used) CGI weren't top quality, but that's quite understandable given the film's limited budget. The music was very nice, and the costumes were spot-on, with the orcs looking quite good. (Fun fact: There were more fantastic races in this film than there were humans.) Speaking about the races though, the film certainly reminds more of WarCraft III than of Tolkien, but it only "reminds", nothing more. We didn't see a lot of dwarfs, unfortunately. The story was reasonably good and the action scenes were abundant. I'd have loved more character development and more introduction to the world (the first 10-15 minutes of the film were mostly swordfights), but it works as it is. The film is gripping and interesting enough, and worth a watch. Just don't expect something too amazing. It seems to be based on a video game and I've heard rumours about other films (or TV series? I'm not certain, sorry) in the same universe, which I'd certainly give a shot to as well.

A solid 6/10 from me, but it's very near to the 7.

NB: Note that there is some blood and a bit of gore in this film, which some viewers might find displeasing.

A pretty well done fantasy film of mythical characters and magic powers. The actors played their roles nicely. With suiting effects and suiting costumes the movie introduces the viewer in that world of legend. I would say the movies was better than most Hollywood movies. The whole crew that done this movie did a very well job; The orcs looked vividly orc-ish and the elf girl has played her part well. And of course the human hero was no less impressive. The story was not amazing, but was good enough thanks the writers. I will give it a well deserved 7 out of 10. Despite the low budget the movie was surprisingly decent.