Director: Gary Griffith
Release date: 2001*
Contains spoilers
*Actually shot in 1995 but not finding a release until 2001, this is a budget straight to video affair but, you know what, it was really enjoyable. A tad convoluted perhaps and the poor transfer and photography hid some of the excesses but, nevertheless, it had a certain something that punched above its weight.
As the film started the scene seems to be a hellscape with Satan, as per the title. Actually it seems like it was more a temple on Earth millennium past, where the demon god Jeramin (Kyle Derek) held court. Explained later was the idea that his high priest, Arcon (Andy Zeffer), betrayed him and so was skinned alive – he is the mummy-like figure we see – and Arcon’s love, Lenora (Alexia Kouros), was killed. Subsequently the other priests bled and banished Jeramin and, drinking his blood, became the progenitors of the monsters.
Dr Craymore (Thomas V. Powers) is a psychologist, parapsychologist and believer in monsters. He has been working with Gustav Markov (Arthur Cwik), a man with amnesia but whose re-emerging memories are about monsters. There is a claim that he can detect them and hunted them in the past. A nearby cemetery has been the scene of disturbances and the guard claims to have seen a monster. Craymore intends to test Markov’s alleged powers. Markov won’t be manipulated and used, he says, but the presence of Veronica (also Alexia Kouros, and later we discover she is Lenora’s reincarnation) persuades him.
He has already sensed the monster but, en route, he has a mental flash of a vampire with a woman – we later discover this is a memory. The monster is in a nearby cave and is a ghoul (Anthony Timpone), which they kill. Markov is torn by this, although he was a monster hunter once he now realises he (a warlock) is a monster (one of the blood) and does not want any part in killing them. As such he tricks the cemetery owner into looking in a crypt for treasure.
In the crypt is a coffin and, in the coffin, the preserved corpse of Elektra (Wendi Winburn). The grave robber clearly has never watched a vampire movie as he removes the cross laid over her breast and soon she is awake and feeding on him. Elektra was Markov’s lover, turned as revenge against him – he couldn’t bring himself to stake her and so trapped her with the cross. It was her, with the vampire who turned her, that we saw in his flash of memory. A bath in blood later and she restores her beauty.
Veronica wants to use Markov to find monsters and we get segments looking at them. There is a fishman, Brax (Chuck Szatkowski), held as a freak and (it is implied) gladiator who manages to escape but finds that the oceans are too polluted to return to. There is also the curmudgeonly, wheelchair bound Vietnam vet Stavros (Peter Papageorgiou), who is a werewolf (and thus has mobility when the moon is full). Veronica is able to summon Arcon, who is bound by love to obey her request to bring Jeramin back to earth in a rite involving the monsters.
Despite being a tad convoluted this was great fun. The print was horrible, and the photography betrayed the budget, yet despite this it remained watchable. The cgi would have looked pants when filmed and certainly does now, and yet it fit the aesthetic of the film – indeed that aesthetic is one that a modern budget filmmaker might try to ape but was natural to this. The practical effects were at times rubbish too (though the same aesthetic point stands) and yet some worked well – a regrowing hand that had been blown off was one where it was obvious how they did it but it still looked pretty cool.
The acting chops varied across the cast but Arthur Cwik stood out for me as the forlorn warlock. This, as I said at the head of the review, punched well above its weight. It should not be as enjoyable as it is, but it was a romp of a monster mash. 6 out of 10.
The imdb page is here.
On Blu-Ray @ Amazon US
On Blu-Ray @ Amazon UK
Release date: 2001*
Contains spoilers
*Actually shot in 1995 but not finding a release until 2001, this is a budget straight to video affair but, you know what, it was really enjoyable. A tad convoluted perhaps and the poor transfer and photography hid some of the excesses but, nevertheless, it had a certain something that punched above its weight.
 |
| Andy Zeffer as Arcon |
As the film started the scene seems to be a hellscape with Satan, as per the title. Actually it seems like it was more a temple on Earth millennium past, where the demon god Jeramin (Kyle Derek) held court. Explained later was the idea that his high priest, Arcon (Andy Zeffer), betrayed him and so was skinned alive – he is the mummy-like figure we see – and Arcon’s love, Lenora (Alexia Kouros), was killed. Subsequently the other priests bled and banished Jeramin and, drinking his blood, became the progenitors of the monsters.
 |
| Thomas V. Powers as Craymore |
Dr Craymore (Thomas V. Powers) is a psychologist, parapsychologist and believer in monsters. He has been working with Gustav Markov (Arthur Cwik), a man with amnesia but whose re-emerging memories are about monsters. There is a claim that he can detect them and hunted them in the past. A nearby cemetery has been the scene of disturbances and the guard claims to have seen a monster. Craymore intends to test Markov’s alleged powers. Markov won’t be manipulated and used, he says, but the presence of Veronica (also Alexia Kouros, and later we discover she is Lenora’s reincarnation) persuades him.
 |
| the ghoul feeds |
He has already sensed the monster but, en route, he has a mental flash of a vampire with a woman – we later discover this is a memory. The monster is in a nearby cave and is a ghoul (Anthony Timpone), which they kill. Markov is torn by this, although he was a monster hunter once he now realises he (a warlock) is a monster (one of the blood) and does not want any part in killing them. As such he tricks the cemetery owner into looking in a crypt for treasure.
 |
| vampire awakens |
In the crypt is a coffin and, in the coffin, the preserved corpse of Elektra (Wendi Winburn). The grave robber clearly has never watched a vampire movie as he removes the cross laid over her breast and soon she is awake and feeding on him. Elektra was Markov’s lover, turned as revenge against him – he couldn’t bring himself to stake her and so trapped her with the cross. It was her, with the vampire who turned her, that we saw in his flash of memory. A bath in blood later and she restores her beauty.
 |
| Alexia Kouros as Veronica |
Veronica wants to use Markov to find monsters and we get segments looking at them. There is a fishman, Brax (Chuck Szatkowski), held as a freak and (it is implied) gladiator who manages to escape but finds that the oceans are too polluted to return to. There is also the curmudgeonly, wheelchair bound Vietnam vet Stavros (Peter Papageorgiou), who is a werewolf (and thus has mobility when the moon is full). Veronica is able to summon Arcon, who is bound by love to obey her request to bring Jeramin back to earth in a rite involving the monsters.
 |
| bathing in blood |
Despite being a tad convoluted this was great fun. The print was horrible, and the photography betrayed the budget, yet despite this it remained watchable. The cgi would have looked pants when filmed and certainly does now, and yet it fit the aesthetic of the film – indeed that aesthetic is one that a modern budget filmmaker might try to ape but was natural to this. The practical effects were at times rubbish too (though the same aesthetic point stands) and yet some worked well – a regrowing hand that had been blown off was one where it was obvious how they did it but it still looked pretty cool.
 |
| Arthur Cwik as Markov |
The acting chops varied across the cast but Arthur Cwik stood out for me as the forlorn warlock. This, as I said at the head of the review, punched well above its weight. It should not be as enjoyable as it is, but it was a romp of a monster mash. 6 out of 10.
The imdb page is here.
On Blu-Ray @ Amazon US
On Blu-Ray @ Amazon UK
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