‘They come for blood’
Rise of the Gargoyles is a 2009 Canadian made-for-TV supernatural horror film directed by Bill Corcoran (Vipers; Friday the 13th: The Series) from a screenplay by Andy Briggs. It stars Eric Balfour, Caroline Néron and Justin Salinger.
In Paris, two workers find a hidden chamber while digging in the underground of the Saint Jean André Church. They find valuable objects but while collecting them together but they are attacked by a creature.
Meanwhile, discredited architect-historian Professor Jack Randall, who wrote a book about gargoyles that was ridiculed by his peers, is encouraged by his friend Carol Beckham to investigate the old church. They sneak in the site during the night and while Carol is collecting some artifacts, Jack is recording with his camera.
Suddenly, Jack sees a winged monster coming towards him and he flees from the location with Carol, but breaks his camera. They go to a bar and a huge stone falls over his car. Jack takes a cab to his boarding house and Carol is attacked and beheaded by a gargoyle at her apartment…
Buy: Amazon.com
Reviews:
” …a somewhat watchable little movie while also being completely disposable. Though we don’t get to see the gargoyle much, it is still always there, if only in spirit, making weird sounds leaving eviscerated Parisians in its wake and glowing rocks all over the place. Yes, we only see the gargoyle do one little beheading, but it was a cool beheading and we are thankful for that.” Christopher Armstead, Film Critics United
“You can see everything coming long before the limp script gets to the plot point. The special effects were few thanks to the lack of gargoyle screen time. And some of the dialogue (“Jack, give this story a happy ending”) can make your eyes roll. But for all of that, I didn’t hate Rise of the Gargoyles.” KillerReviews.com
“Not the worst in the genre and not the best. The acting is better and I personally like Eric Balfour. The story is silly but reasonably well written. The visual effects are OK for the few there are. A little bit long at times, somewhat dull toward the end. No surprises. Still, I could stick with it to the end without too much will power.” Michel Vega, IMDb
Choice dialogue:
Inspector Gibert: “You would be surprised what atrocities a man can commit.”
Main cast:
Eric Balfour, Caroline Néron, Justin Salinger, Ifan Huw Dafydd, Nick Mancuso (Bloody Blacksmith; Death Ship; Nightwing), Tanya Clarke, Constantin Barbulescu, Gabriel Spahiu, Lucian Ciurariu, Alexandra Buza, Flaviu Crisan, Paul Niculita, Florin Busuioc, Mihai Diaconu.
NB. Ifan Huw Dafydd was dubbed by Benoît Rousseau.
Filming locations:
MediaPro Studios, Bucharest, Romania
Paris, France
IMDb | Related: Gargoyles – architecture | Gargoyles (TV movie, 1972)
