Le rocher de l'Apocalypse

This one is a perfect example of 80's cinema squirming its way into 90's cinema. The story involves an architect whose unrequited love signs him a pact with the Norse demon Fenrir, who takes control of his body. Werewolfish Fenrir can only be destroyed by a Christopher Lambert-esque clock maker and a well-read teenage boy. David Newman's (Heathers, Frankenweenie) melodramatic score makes this movie stand up a notch above the rest. This one is a winner for fans of movies like Warlock and Bad Moon.

Just another monster on the loose feature, no surprises abound and routine as ever but remains entertaining for while it lasted. Never have I heard of it, until just recently. You could possibly see why. Far from memorable, but it's well made and its stark-like b-grade material (adapted off a novel) is quite polished. Fans of "The Relic" or even "Rawhead Rex" might get something out of it. Where I give it props is the origin of the mythological beast, Norse (Viking) folklore and the creation was something like a werewolf crossed ape design. Formidable in appearance, while it goes about tearing flesh, taking bites and for most part staying in the shadows. Even with this ancient prophecy background, some things felt a little unclear (like that of Alexander Godunov's mysterious stranger clockmaker character) if too black and white. The plot follows that of an archaeologist who uncovers an ancient Norse artifact; a power stone and returns to New York with it. However this stone possesses an evil which projects itself into the archaeologist, transforming him into a vicious beast that goes about terrorising the people of New York. Now it's up to an archaeologist and his artist wife to begin to investigate the threat and figure a way to stop it. It's as simple as that, but director / writer Willard Carroll's methodical handling is stylishly glassy and well-paced in its clichéd structure. Creating some moments of suspense, with grisly jolts and dark atmospheric encounters consisting of brooding lighting amongst its urban framework. The performances are strongly delivered with the likes of Peter Riegert (providing touches of humour) and Joan Severance standing out. You also have character actor William Hickey and the always hard-boiled Lawrence Tierney in small, but important parts.

"I'm sure there's a logical explanation to all of this"

The Runestone is one of those early 90's efforts that relied on lighting effects to disguise the dreadful creature. It's a really messy feature that gets by barely on its decent cast.

Telling the story of a man who makes a deal with a Runestone and becomes the Norse creature known as Fenrir which lore has it is a fierce wolf yet in this appears more yeti-like.

William Hickey and Peter Riegert put on their usual excellent performances and the latter some much needed comic relief. Remember that long blonde haired head henchman from the original Die-hard film? Well he hams it up here as well and is almost as bad as the creature itself.

Generally features of this type from this period I found entertaining but this is an absolute mess from start to the extremely poor finale.

The Good:

William Hickey

Peter Riegert

The Bad:

Poor plot

Fenrir looks pretty damn terrible

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Modern art is not subjective it's stupid and pretentious

Giant monsters can easily sneak into the backseat of your car while you're in it without you noticing

At its core, The Runestone is a fairly routine '90s straight-to-DVD monster movie: an archaeologist examining an ancient Norse runestone releases Fenrir, the evil wolf-demon trapped within, and is transformed into the savage hairy creature for his trouble. However, the film has a distinctly askew vibe about about it that sets it apart from other creature features of the day, with awkward exchanges of dialogue, incongruous comedic moments, a few strange shots (the monster's claw moving past a full moon during a sex scene with no nudity), a notable lack of gore despite numerous deaths at the jaws and claws of the monster, and a thundering score more suited to a Bruce Willis action movie. Whether this off kilter approach was intentional, or simply the result of inexperience on the part of first time director Willard Carroll, I cannot say, but it makes the film a little more unusual and consequently more engaging.

The film reaches its crazy best during an exhibition at a fancy gallery, Fenrir invading a piece of performance art and tearing the participant to pieces, only for the violence to be admired by pretentious art lovers, although another scene in which the monster sneaks into the back of a police car and wears the cop's hat is almost as bizarre.

Joan Severance and Tim Ryan star as married experts Marla and Sam, and Die Hard heavy Alexander Godunov plays a mystical clockmaker, Sigvaldson, but Peter Riegert and Lawrence Tierney steal the show, Riegart as gum-chewing, Uzi-toting Italian police captain Fanducci, and Tierney as his gruff, ass-chewin' chief.

When I started watching this I thought it was going to be really boring and didn't pay much attention to what was going on. However, it seems that The Runestone is one of those films that improves as it goes on, because things seemed to pick up in the second half. The mystery surrounding the monster slowly sucks you in. The best scene is in the art museum, where a girl is doing some ironing (in a display box thingy) and people are watching her. Suddenly the monster bursts in and attacks her, and blood sprays across the windows. One of the people watching then says: "What's the artist trying to say?" to which another replies "Housework kills". The monster then bursts through the glass and attacks them too. This scene is priceless and definitely worth seeing the film for! There are a few other cool scenes after this which keep you watching. The acting is quite decent and better than most horror flicks.

Overall, The Runestone is worth a watch for horror fans who can tolerate a bit of cheese.