Mandrake (2010)
Directed by: Tripp Reed
Written by: David Ray
Starring: Benito Martinez, Betsy Russell, Max Martini
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Mandrake (2010)
(15) Running time: 90 minutes
Director: Tripp Reed
Writer: David Ray
Starring: Max Martini, Betsy Russell, Benito Martinez
Reviewed by: Matt Wavish, official HCF critic
Here is yet another SyFy production, and while it is very obvious by now that none of their films will ever reach into the realms of greatness, there are a few that border on good, or play perfectly by the “so bad they are classic” formula. Mandrake, a horror film with a ton of ideas is ever so slightly bordering on good. It is not a film I can happily admit to hating, and I don’t feel it deserves to be labelled as rubbish, there are a few moments here which will delight fans of low budget horror and b-movie creature features. However, I am not saying that Mandrake is actually any good, let’s just say it’s one of those films that will happily pass 90 minutes, should you be in the right frame of mind.
The film is full of clichés, and interestingly, there is more than one villain, or should we say bad guys. The set up is this: a rich businessman hires mercenaries, archaeologists and scientists to go on an expedition to the jungle to find and retrieve some precious dagger. The rich businessman is one of the villains, acting how you would expect a rich, horrible businessman to behave in one of these films, all he cares about is the dagger, no one else, and you will very quickly take a dislike to him. His expedition is lead by Sgt McCall (Martini) and for a film if this low budget, it is strange just how much he becomes likeable. Martini pretty much acts his socks off while the rest of the cast do their best to remember their lines, or know when to scream. Martini gives the whole thing a level of quality unexpected in these sorts of films, and he is cautious at every turn through the jungle. However, danger rears its ugly head as the group end up hunted by a local tribe that live in the jungle. Thoughts of films like Cannibal Holocaust will initially enter your mind, but once you get a good look at the actors playing the tribesmen, you will probably be thinking more of the atrocious Cannibal Terror. These actors look nothing like tribesmen, and do not convince as they ridiculously hunt the group and attempt to throw spears at them!
You can forget any thoughts of actual cannibalism too, there isn’t any, and we begin to wonder just what other threats this glorious jungle has in store. Fear not, for as the group get closer to the dagger the tribesmen are pathetically trying to protect, we learn of another horror lurking in the jungle, a tress monster! Yeah!!! We are treated to some quite wonderful scenes later on as the tree monster comes to life and starts attacking everyone, it even wraps its branches around an unfortunate lady at one point and pulls her in half (while the most annoying character looks on screaming like a baby). It is the tree monster that makes this film hard to dislike because the director’s desperate attempt to pull off something brilliant pretty much works. The effects are crap, but highly impressive at the same time. It is good old fashioned cheap effects that you would have seen in the late 80’s and early 90’s, effects that appear so out of place they actually give it a rather cool effect.
There’s all sorts of ideas going on here, however the acting is awful and the story ends up dragging as the director clearly got himself in a bit of a pickle. However, if you watch this with the right head on, and you are not expecting anything half decent, you just might enjoy it. It’s pretty dire, but the big bad monster almost makes it all worthwhile, because we all love monsters now don’t we?
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