Mandrake (2010)

Mandrake is a 2010 horror film made for television. Directed by Trip Reed and the cast includes Max Martini, Betsy Russell and Benito Martinez. 

Archaeologists search for a dagger in the middle of a jungle, but it's full of man-eating plants. The dagger itself is a legendary relic that is much needed by a wealthy businessman called Harry Vargas who believes that it belonged to one of his ancestors, a Spanish conquistador. However, stuff gets really problematic for a group of scientists when they fall into the deadly roots inside the jungle. People go missing and a lot more horrors going on.

The name of this film is Mandrake but that particular species of plant is only native to Eurasia although this film is set in a  South American jungle. It was the conquistadors that introduced this plant to the Americas. There are some other factual errors found in this film including the dressing of a wound being wrong, as pointed out by a viewer on Internet Movie Database. I rate this a green 3/10.

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Ator the Fighting Eagle

 

This is a 1982 Italian fantasy flick directed by Joe D'Amato and the stars include Miles O' Keefe, Sabrina Siani and Dakar. 

A boy named Ator has been born with the mark of a hero that has been a prophesy to end the rule of a tyrant. He's taken far away to a village and fostered there until he grows to adulthood. The evil spider overlord demands that anyone of the line of Torren should be killed, and sends out his army to destroy the village of Ator. His foster parents are murdered and his beloved Sunya is kidnapped. Ator needs to rescue his bride and then destroy the spider king once and for all. 

There are many interesting characters that give sparkle to the film including the warrior woman Roon, the cavern witch and most of all the cute baby bear. The scenery is beautiful and the costumes and sets are pretty, but it has some gross elements. There are also some cuddly tarantulas too! It has a sequel named "Ator the Invincible" made in the same year. It's considered to be a bad film, and was part of a "SchleFaz" ("worst films ever") series of films aired on German TV. However despite the scoffing and fun poking, this is quite a nice entertaining family fantasy film. Disney should be jealous! 

I give this a whopping 6/10.

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The Terror (1963)

"The Terror" is a 1963 horror mystery directed by Roger Corman, Francis Ford Coppola and Jack Hale. The stars Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson and Sandra Knight.

A French soldier called Lt. Andre Duvalier is lost but there's a woman at the beach who disappears. He finds her again and she tells him that her name is Helene. A strange  bird attacks him and he's woken up in a dwelling of an old woman who nursed him. What's more strange is that her own pet bird is the same one that attacked him, and it's also called Helene. Andre recovers and is eager to find out who the mysterious Helene is. 

This film has plenty of gothic atmosphere and lovely scenery of the coast and woods. The sets are beautiful and spooky. There is a dreamy quality to the film also in many scenes such as when the old woman mesmerises Helene with a colourful light. There is some gore and shocks that seem to be quite nasty for its time. I rate this quaint little horror flick a nice 7/10.

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Bed Rest

 This is a 2022 horror film made for TV. It was directed and written by Lori Evans Taylor. The cast includes Melissa Barrera, Guy Burnet and Edie Inksetter. 

"Fear never rests" is the quote from this film. A couple move into a house while its being renovated, and among the dirt is discovered a bracelet, which has interesting initials. Julie is pregnant and both she and her husband are still grieving the loss of their first child who was stillborn. Certain strange things go on in the new house, including whispering voices and footsteps. They set up a baby monitor in the nursery and their pet cat is hissing at things which are not there, while the mystery of the place deepens.

This appears like a ghost story with some scares and very gothic atmosphere, including the thunderstorm. The house that they move into looks the part with a scary theme to it. It covers mental illness such as post natal psychosis. As this is made for television, it's going to be quite tame and also nice. This wasn't a bad film, in fact it was very entertaining and almost like a dark fairy tale. 

I rate this a 7/10.

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