Mandrake

An obsessed millionaire hires archaeologists, anthropologists and mercenaries, one of which does not exactly belong. But unfortunately, ancient tribesmen, some plant monster(s) and even their own boss eventually stand in their way.

Apparently Syfy films have been around for long enough for nostalgia as the natives will seem familiar to those who only hoped they could forget "Snake King"

But it doesn't end there! Because they added another villain; those who have witnessed such why-couldn't-it-be-forgettable films as "Cerberus" and "Raptor Island" will non-consentually feel a familiar feeling with the introduction of a heartless rich man, willing to murder his troops should they even consider getting in his path, slowing him, or on occasion not being the closest to the monster!

Ultimately many people die as you would expect, and naturally everyone you'd expect to die dies. The plant monster itself is an interesting idea but didn't contribute much more than, say, another giant or crocodile.

The beginning of this made-for-Siffy movie starts out with a lot of promise, as far as Siffy Original movies go. The production values are high (comparatively speaking), the acting is good, the sound is synchronized with the video, there aren't any glaring, amateurish CGI effects, and the actors' names may tug at long-forgotten memories of low-budget movies you've seen in the past. Usually, in the first two minutes, I can tell if made-for-TV movies are worth watching or not, and, frankly, most of them aren't. The production values and special effects maintain their comparatively high standards (approaching the quality of a ST:TNG episode), but the acting, directing, and, especially, story end up dragging down the score substantially. I can't really blame the actors, because their characters were written to be really stereotypical, barely-developed fodder for CGI monsters. There isn't much you can do with that. I'm not sure how much of the blame lies on the director, either, because he, too, probably did the best he could with the material he was given. How do you make a movie about a CGI monster that hunts down a ruthless CEO and his nameless mercenaries, without it becoming one huge, boring cliché? I'm surprised the CEO didn't try to personally burn down the Amazon rain forest just for laughs, like a Captain Planet villain. Seriously, this movie is a live-action Captain Planet episode, with the same heavy-handed moralizing and 2D villains.

Oh well. With a better script, maybe this movie could have been good, but it's still watchable. Barely.

This film opens with a woman running through woods (being chased by a mainly unseen being). This is never a good sign. If you've watched pretty much any handful of random horror films, you'll know that 'woman running through woods' is possibly the most overused cliché of the genre (with perhaps the teenagers having sex and dying being a close second).

That opening is a kind of warning of things to come. Some films thrive on having a low budget. The lack of money behind the picture forces the film-makers to use new and more subtle techniques to tell the story. Not here. This film has no budget and it shows in every scene.

It's about a team of archaeologists, sent somewhere in South America (like the location really matters!) to retrieve something for someone (again, such details are kind of pointless in the scheme of things). However, this 'South American' jungle looks suspiciously like some nice grassy fields in America. Plus the 'natives' also look a little Caucasian, considering they are supposed to have lived in the hot jungle all their lives.

The acting isn't all bad, but the dialogue is. Just because the film is set in a wood (sorry, jungle), the writers seem to want to make the characters talk like they're out of Predator. Yes, there's something hunting them, but whereas Predator used a monster that was actually there, the makers of Mandrake spent the entire $2.50 budget on some 'creepy' CGI tentacles. Woo.

If you like cheesy monster-munching movies, then you probably know plenty out there which will amuse and entertain (try things like Deep Rising, Tremors, or Grabbers to name but a few). Mandrake is not one of them.

I had no I idea if this movie would be worth watching or not, but me and my mom decided to get it. When she was reading to me what it was a bout at the Red Box I told her to get it.

The cast was amazing! Top notch acting I believe. They all had my attention and I found there characters all very likable, even the ones that I didn't think I would like eventually I found likable. Not to say there ain't ones you may not like.

You'll see the scenery in the movie is beautiful. It takes place about in mid South America, but was really shot in Louisiana. This creature you will see in the movie looks pretty amazing. This wasn't no typical SyFy movie. Give it a watch, its worth it!

After have seen a production from The Asylum, The Terminators, it was back again time to see a SyFy production. If you ever have seen a SyFy flick you will never forget it because they are mostly really bad. This one here was an average flick but again the cheap CGI teared it down.

As always the beginning is rather good and I thought, hell, this is going to be something in the Predator genre. But no, once the creature attacks it's just cheap CGI. The whole cocoon scene looked promising but of course they always did the killings off-camera. You do see some blood splattering here and there but it is never that frightening. Overall it looked like a flick to watch with the family on a Saturday night.

But this time they added a big name on the list, Max Martini from The Unit. The second main lead was by Betsy Russell, another big name from the Saw franchise but I was never involved with their characters. I couldn't care less if they were hurt or going to die. Storywise it was also a bit simple and you could see clearly what was going on.

I have seen worse, especially from SyFy but still, not a good movie.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5