La fureur des gargouilles

Stuck with writer's block, an American architect in Paris falls victim to a series of incidents around the city that is eventually realized to be a loosened gargoyle resurrected and running loose in the city forcing him and a reporter to find a way of stopping the creature's rampage.

This one was quite an enjoyable and entertaining creature feature. One of the strongest parts here is the fact that there's a lot of fun to be had with the creatures' history-based backstory which is quite well-detailed. Taking full advantage of the strong connections possible with the city's deep connection to these creatures as well as the information given out during the visits to these locations there's some nice work here of this one utilizing the strong history of gargoyles in French culture. Likewise, there's a great connection with the creature here and the absolutely chilling locations found here as the main church where the action takes place is just as good with the crazy architecture coming along to give this a fine Gothic features that are highly chilling alongside the statues and depictions of other historical events that are placed around the catacombs later on which all gives this one a lot to like. That also leads into the strong action scenes which are quite fun and manage to include the usual standard Sci-Fi Channel series of attacks that range from the short, quick attacks as in the opening down in the basement, the different attacks on the lone individuals out on the city streets and the great encounter at the hotel where the chilling run-ins with the stone gargoyles before leading into the actual encounter here all being quite nice examples. In conjunction with the other rather fun longer attacks featured as a part of this as the opening attacks in the church basement, his colleagues encounter with the creature in her apartment where the creature chases her onto the rooftop for a great sequence as well as the great sequence at the TV station where they come face-to-face with it for the first time is quite the overall fun time here. As well, the finale in the catacombs makes for a gloriously fun sequence where they do battle against the creature leading to the numerous situations in the underground as well as up in the main section of the church for a blazing, high-action finale. Along with the great design and some bloody kills, there's a lot to really like here. It does have a few minor flaws here, namely in the fact that there's no real need for the film to go for the doubting authority to the degree it is in here, which really stretches disbelief in the way he sticks to the guilty reasoning despite the evidence about the claw showing that something inhuman is in the city limits which makes the insistence a little questionable so late into the film. As well, there's the traditional flaw present in these films with some really lousy effects for the title creature, for its design is cool but shoddily rendered in the usual Sci-Fi Channel style of flaws. These here are all that's really wrong here.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.

Not the worst in the genre and not the best. The acting is better and I personally like Eric Balfour. The story is silly but reasonably well written. The visual effects are OK for the few there are. A little bit long at times, somewhat dull toward the end. No surprises. Still, I could stick with it to the end without too much will power. Usually, with this kind of movies, if I do watch them, I can be heavy on the fast forward control on the remote. Those evil glowing eggs are far from subtle. The movie could have worked as well without the glowing. The church looks derelict enough. (Here, I shall refrain from making a comparison with the real organization.) Once you've seen this flick, that's it. No more ever. Not that good.

What is the one thing featuring in movies that are set in Paris? The Eiffel Tower, of course! So, movies that are supposedly taking place in Paris but do not feature the Eiffel Tower prominently - or, like here, only feature it briefly in nightly pan shots of the city - are probably shot elsewhere to save money! In case of the "Rise of the Gargoyles" it's Romania, but the exterior shots are camouflaged with French-sounding street names and fake license plates. Sneaky!

In the country where I live, "Rise of the Gargoyles" was released as part of the "Maneater"-series. That is rather odd, because (almost) all the other titles in this series revolve around killer animals (like a tiger, a squid, a grizzly bear, ants, spiders...) and you can hardly refer to the gargoyle as an animal. Originally a grisly piece of architectural decoration, the gargoyle developed into a horror monster thanks to its monstrous looks, myths, and its resemblance to the Golem. In this film, there's a gargoyle on the loose after construction workers desecrate its resting place underneath the ruins of an old church. Our nasty critter enjoys lifting people into the air and dropping them hard on the concrete, and also chopping off heads with its wings.

The casting director certainly had a sense of humor, because he/she cast Eric Balfour as an archaeologist and novelist of science books! This must be the most implausible and most laughable casting choice since I watched James "Dawson's Creek" Van Der Beek as a marine biologist in "Eye of the Beast" (another "Maneater" classic). Balfour tries - but fails - to look mature and say intelligent things, and he's not exactly helped by the rest of the cast that speak English with atrocious French accents (especially the police detective) . In fact, there's nothing to recommend here, unless you like tacky special effects, mad-raving priests, or oddly glowing eggs.

And not in the good way!

I saw the title of this and thought "hey lets give it a go" and saw Eric Balfour's name and that gave me hope.

Sadly not as the movie started it wasone of those ones where they use sounds and shrieks to mask the fact you never actually see anything in the first hour of the movie. But ok that is Scifi Channel standard so I am willing to forgoe the special effects but as soon as the French cop opened his mouth and began speaking in Franglais it was truly a tragic French accent more akin to Renee in Allo Allo and made the film just a joke.

Not withstanding the puerile acting and storyline, characterization, plot and almost everything else just made this an awful exercise in low budget pants horror and even Nick Mancuso looked like he was in it for the pay cheque!

It is not even worth the old film on a wet Sunday afternoon fair!

RELEASED TO TV IN 2009 and directed by Bill Corcoran, "Rise of the Gargoyles" chronicles events in Paris when a brutal gargoyle is released from an inner chamber underneath an ancient church. A discredited Professor who specializes in mythic creatures (Eric Balfour) has a close call with the gargoyle and teams up with others to destroy it and its numerous eggs.

While this has similarities to 2004's "Gargoyle" and 1972's "Gargoyles," it's easily the least of the trio due to: (1.) dubious camera work that seems a notch below the typical Syfy movie; maybe they had crappy equipment, I don't know, (2.) a lousy third act and (3.) a CGI monster that looks more cartoony than the one in the 2004 flick. Furthermore, there are dull parts here & there; and they coulda done better on the female front.

Nevertheless, the European city and catacomb locations (or sets) are great and the ending of the first act features a shocking sequence that is extremely well-done where a woman is chased to the roof of her apartment building and… (I'm not going to give it away). Tanya Clarke really gave it her all in this scene as she truly looks terrified.

THE FILM RUNS 94 minutes and was shot in Bucharest, Romania, & Paris, France (the latter I presume was just used for establishing shots). WRITER: Andy Briggs. ADDITIONAL CAST: Ifan Huw Dafydd plays the skeptical inspector while Caroline Néron & Justin Salinger play tabloid reporter/hacks. Nick Mancuso appears as the over-the-top priest.

GRADE: C/C- (4.5/10)