Sunday, June 14, 2009

Rip-Off Theater: Doctor Mordrid

Have you ever wanted to do something but simply waited too long? What did you do? In the case of Charles Band and Full Moon Studios, they just made shit up. Intrigued? Read on to my review of...
Okay, here is what you need to know. Band had purchased the rights to produce a film based on Marvel's Doctor Strange. The project stagnated for unknown reasons and the rights transferred back to Marvel. Band, never deterred, said 'Fuck that, we've got Jeffrey Combs. Let's make a movie anyways!"
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The film revolves around our titular hero, who lives in a TARDIS-esque apartment that is larger on the inside than the outside. He also has one of those giant monitoring centers that is right out of The Super Friends or Birdman. Her runs into a nice young woman in his apartment building who is intrigued by his distance and lack of interest in her. Who wouldn't be?
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Problems are lingering about. A mysterious prison in another dimension is attacked. Its 'bear'-like guard is dispatched and the lone prisoner escapes. Boy, is he ugly! We learn in a bit of back-story that both him and our hero were trained together in the mystic arts. Sure, why not? Naturally, the villain turned to the bad magic and was locked up later by Mordrid. What does he want now? To kill Doctor West!
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The battle between Mordrid and his rival is full of special effects. Well, okay, it is full of special effects as far as Full Moon can muster. He throws his costume on and goes to work. The big battle involves our two leads, the female co-star and a stop-motion dinosaur. Do I really need to tell you how this ends?
*
This movie is fun, but very forgettable. I watched the film this year and needed to refresh myself on the plot. The idea that it used to be about Doctor Strange is really evident. On the plus side, Combs is in it, so it's not all bad. On the negative side, their stop-motion effects feel right out of 1933's King Kong. You should really aim higher, guys! I'll do you a solid though: here is the movie. You're welcome.
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Do you think Japan has the lock on giant monster movies? Think again. Stay tuned...

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