FILM REVIEW: Dragon Lore: Curse of the Shadow

Dragon Lore: Curse of the Shadow is a 2013 Fantasy Film directed by John Lyde and stars Danielle Chuchran, Richard McWilliams and Paul D. Hunt.The film was released on the 12 August 2013 and is 100 minutes long. The film is also known as SAGA – Curse of the Shadow and The Shadow Cabal.

PLOT

A ruthless elven bounty huntress (Nemyt) shoots down the dragon ridden by the fugitive orc shaman, Fangtor Bloodmoon. When Fangtor refuses to surrender quietly, the huntress must battle for her own life against the dangerous villain, and comes away with more than just his head.

WHY I BOUGHT IT

I think the last fantasy related film I watched was Dungeons and Dragons: The Book of Vile Darkness which was cheesily awesome. That was early last year which shows that there is a distinct lack of actual fantasy films out there that get released. Not including those ones which are just fantasy period monster movies which are ok but they are not proper Fantasy with lots of interesting lore and characters with a little depth.

WHAT I THOUGHT

Where have you been all my life Dragon Lore this was such a fun watch. I will admit to having low expectations as I had not heard of Dragon Lore or SAGA before and I thought it was just a low budget film that might be good for a laugh, either with the film or at it. It turns out that the film was so much more than a cheap rip-off of fantasy tropes it was a gripping story.

Have you seen similar stuff before of course, does this film take the time to do it in an entertaining way? It certainly does in a solid story that will keep you interested.

What I liked most about this would have to be the fight choreography, for the most part it was as slick as it was brutal in parts, I was very impressed by the female lead and the actor who played the orc, often in action scenes it is the stuntman/actors who do all the heavy lifting while the main cast just do a sort of fighting by the numbers that is certainly not the case here.

What I didn’t like was the small scale of the project though I fully understand that because they kept the story tight and controlled which meant that overall it never felt cheap or like a run of the mill B movie.

I look at this film and think to myself if these guys were to get hold of the Wacraft license and do a film based on that lore I have a feeling that I certainly would not hate it. This is a fine example of doing more with less as this is a much smaller budget than the summer blockbuster crowd.

So in closing if you’re like me and the idea of a pseudo sin’dorei running around with a huge sword sounds like an entertaining night then Dragon Lore: Curse of The Shadow will be right up your alley.