Dungeons and Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God

This is the second of the "Dungeons and Dragons" trilogy of fantasy films. Made in 2005, directed by Gerry Lively and starring Bruce Payne, Mark Dymond and Clemency Burton-Hill. 

One hundred years after the end of the story in the first film, Damador is awakened from the dead, and he obtains a magical sphere named the Orb of Faluzure. With that he could become powerful and bring down civilisation once and for all. Meanwhile a mountain is disturbed by the sleeping black dragon, threatening the lives of everyone in the nearby city. A group of people are selected to go on a mission to locate the artifacts to stop evil.

There's a lot of references to the game in this film but non-players wouldn't notice it. The ancient writing used come from zodiac signs and Futhark runes that are found in a game "Runequest". The individuals sent out on a quest includes Lord Berek of the Kings' Guards, Ormaline the elf wizard, Nim the rogue, Dorian the cleric, and Lux a barbarian woman. There are more monsters and other races in this but doesn't have the mega fantastic city of the first film, in fact it looks smaller. It's got magic and comical elements too but intrigue, tension and brilliant storyline twists. The ultimate dragon is frightening and awesome. 

I give this a whopping 9/10

Blood Strawberry

Dungeons and Dragons (2000)

 

This is a fantasy film made in 2000 and was directed by Courtney Solomon. The stars includes Justin Whalin, Jeremy Irons, Zoe McLellan and Bruce Payne. 

Set in the Empire of Izmar, ruled by a peaceful and fair empress, the country is about to enter war because a tyrant named Profian is also a powerful mage. While the empress has a lot of power including an entire army of dragons, Pofian seeks magical relics to overthrow her and establish his own brutal government. While politics gets darker, two young thieves find themselves caught in the madness when they steal from a school run by mages. 

There are cameos with Tom Baker (former Dr Who) and Richard O' Brian (former presenter of The Crystal Maze). The film is loosely based on the animated TV series of the same name, but not the storyline. Dungeons and Dragons is a franchise of games, novels, magazines and it originated from a 1970's tabletop RPG game. There's lots of magic, tons of dragons, humour, romance, fighting and even gruesome scenes. I found this film a hidden gem as it's not very well known. 

I rate is a smashing 9/10.

Blood Strawberry 

The 9th Guest

This is a horror mystery film from 1934 and it was directed by Roy William Neill. The stars includes Donald Cook, Genevieve Tobin, Hardie Albright and Edward Ellis. 

Eight people are invited to a party at a penthouse suite, and they all show up wearing their finest and all feeling somewhat curious about it. No one knows who the host of the party is, and they begin eating their food and getting to know each other. It soon becomes clear that they were picked for dubious reasons. Then the radio comes on and talks directly to them, making them listen to an unfriendly voice that sends chills. 

For it's time, the film was pretty shocking and even scary. The film is loosely based on the 1930 novel The Invisible Host by Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning. The alternative name of the film is "The Ninth Guest." It was also another adaption of the play "The Ninth Guest" by Owen Davis. It's similar to Agatha Christie's 1939 novel And Then There Were None.  I rate this old elegant thrill a 6/10.

Blood Strawberry

The Legacy

 

The Legacy is a 1978 gory horror film directed by Richard Marquand. The stars includes Katherine Ross, Sam Elliot, Charles Gray and Roger Daltrey. 

An American couple, Margaret and Pete, visit England for an exciting job offer. After enjoying some time in the English countryside, they have a road accident and end up meeting a strange man who invites them over for tea. They agree to go and find that the house is a castle with interesting staff including a nurse all in white. Cats appear everywhere although things become horrific when various guests arrive. 

The house Ravenhurst used in the film belonged to Roger Daltrey, who agreed to let them film it and give him a part to play. Boyfriend and girlfriend are married in real life. The film was planning to be filmed in an abandoned hospital in the USA but they decided to keep it in England for budget reasons. Although this is a gothic horror with plenty of gorgeous decor and sets, the writer didn't want it to resemble a Hammer Horror, which really gives it a lot of charm.

Very nice scary weirdness. It gets a 9/10.

Blood Strawberry   

The Attic

"Some secrets are better kept in the dark." 

The Attic is a 2007 horror film directed by Mary Lambert. The stars includes Elizabeth Moss, Catherine Mary Stewart, Jason Lewis and John Savage. 

A family moves into a house with a sinister past, and their daughter Emma becomes obsessed with seeing phantoms of her twin sister, that never existed. After a fall, Emma encounters a paramedic, who later returns in another uniform where he claims to also work some shifts as a police officer. He seems to be the friend she's wanting. When her brother appears from a trip, things get darker for the family when certain ghostly activities happen.  

There was a lot of confusion with the plot and the decline of Emma's character as she became more withdrawn and mentally unstable. Certain scenes were horrific and inappropriate, but there was a creepy atmosphere. Emma is often the damsel in distress even wearing thin nighties all of the time, and colouring her hair so that she appears different to her twin. There's a number of errors in this, but easily overlooked if you notice them. 

The film could've been a 6 but it feels like a 5/10.

Blood Strawberry