Mandrake

A really silly little movie that I might have liked more as a teenager I guess. It has the wife of Jigsaw in it, that's a plus, no? Of course it's not, although I really do like her. Another character is pretty neat (imho), but the whole plot is a mess. It doesn't make much sense, the CGI isn't helping either.

But since this is a Syfy production (and you probably know them from their other mostly creature feature ... features), you should know what to expect... and what not to expect! With that in mind, you can enjoy the silliness of it all or just stop watching after the first couple of minutes, because you ain't going to like it any better along the ride.

In a fictitious Latin American country, the soldier of fortune Sgt. McCall (Max Martini) leads the Vargas Expedition sponsored by the powerful Harry Vargas (Benito Martinez) and formed by the archaeologists Dr. Felicia (Betsy Russell) and Lin (Wayne Pere); the local Santiago Zavala (Nick Gomez) and a baggage carrier through the jungle. In the base, Carla Manning (Jon Mack) gives support to McCall's team and is the liaison with Harry, who is obsessed for a dagger.

When they reach a tomb facing south in a sacred ground, they open the tomb and finds a dagger with a ruby craved in a skeleton and Lin removes weapon from the grave, accomplishing the objective of their assignment. Dr. Felicia advises them that the tomb has a warning advising to not remove the dagger. Soon they discover that nature and the Yamballi tribe are chasing them; further, the previous expedition sent to the forest to retrieve the dagger has been slaughtered.

"Mandrake" is a TV movie released in Brazil on DVD. The story is absolutely predictable and the adventure of the expeditionary team is not scary. In the end, watching this film was a waste of time in a Saturday afternoon. Better off if I had taken a nap. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "A Raiz do Mal" ("The Root of the Evil")

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.

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 wanted to like this movie, filmed in Shreveport, La. including a better cast than some of these SyFy movies have, but NO. Andre Stevens of Dallas fame and b-movie star produced this film it has some good special FX, and production values, yet the script never works, the actors never capture their characters. Watch it you sit thru the whole thing thinking wow this looks better than most Saturday Night flicks, even the monster is fairly cool looking, and when its over you'll think what happened to my last two hours. The actor from the Unit isn't bad but you just can't seem to connect to anyone in the film. A few inventive moments nothing more.