IMDb > Basilisk: The Serpent King (2006) (TV)

Basilisk: The Serpent King (2006) (TV) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
3.8/10   478 votes
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Director:
Stephen Furst
Writers:
Wil McCarthy (writer)
Chase Parker (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Basilisk: The Serpent King on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
25 November 2006 (USA) more
Genre:
Action | Horror | Sci-Fi more
Tagline:
An Eclipse Awakens An Acient Monster Whose Gaze Turns Flesh To Stone...No One Knows How To Stop It...But One Woman Knows How To Control It
Plot:
full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
The Opponent rolls, cast announced
 (From Fangoria. 13 July 2009, 10:34 AM, PDT)
Robin Hood: Monster Slayer in Tights?
 (From Dread Central. 12 February 2009, 2:38 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Entertaining monster film more (9 total)

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Jeremy London ... Dr. Harrison 'Harry' McColl

Wendy Carter ... Rachel Donegal
Cleavant Derricks ... Colonel Douglas

Griff Furst ... Rudy Skeeters

Sarah Skeeters ... Sierra

Stephen Furst ... Professor Carlton

Yancy Butler ... Hannah

Doug Dearth ... Brock

Bashar Rahal ... Bedoin leader
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Daniel Ponsky ... Guard (voice)
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
Runtime:
Brazil:88 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Certification:
USA:TV-14
Filming Locations:
Bulgaria more

Fun Stuff

Goofs:
Factual errors: The armored personnel carriers driven by the American soldiers are in fact Russian BTR60s or BTR80s. more

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User Comments

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15 out of 21 people found the following comment useful.
Entertaining monster film, 26 November 2006
Author: slayrrr666 (slayrrr666@yahoo.com) from Los Angeles, Ca

"Basilisk: The Serpent King" is an incredibly enjoyable Sci-Fi Channel original creature feature.

**SPOILERS**

On a dig in Persia, Professor Harry McCall, (Jeremy London) and his team Rudy Skeeters, (Griff Furst) and Sierra, (Sarah Skeeters) find a series of ancient statues depicting soldiers and a large unknown creature. Meeting up with fellow scientist Rachel Donegan, (Wendy Carter) they attend a party honoring the discovery, and during an eclipse, the creature statue comes to life as a Basilisk and goes on a rampage. While trying to escape, they find Col. Douglas, (Cleavant Derricks) and his National Guard unit fighting the creature. When they realize that the only way to fight the creature is a scepter held by thieves Hannah, (Yancy Butler) and Brock, (Doug Dearth) they race to get it back before it continues it's rampage.

The Good News: This one really surprised me by how good it was. A giant snake loose in a major city is one of the few ideas left in this series, and here it works magically. Rather than just having out in the middle of nowhere with very few targets, the snake is loose inside an urban center, which holds the possibility for tons of damage and tons of fun, which this has plenty of. The snake itself goes on a major rampage, biting off limbs, decapitating a couple, having objects crushed when they collide with them, and even the requisite number of people turned to statues. Those are handled very well, not really looking very CGI at all and looking quite natural. The various action scenes are all nicely paced and quite exciting, keeping it moving forward and always on the move. There's very little down-time between pretty much anything, as the pace moves along very rapidly from once scene to another. The snake itself is out and about very rapidly as well, coming out very early and staying that way for most of the most of the movie. The reawakening is a great action set-piece, with tons of bodies flying everywhere and a general mass panic. The mall sequence features some great action parts as well, making it a real highlight. The fact that the mystical creature gets explained in here with some factual evidence gives this one some more weight to it that most don't really have in the science background, and really sounds quite credible. Though it does look quite fake, the snake does have a rather creepy look to it in certain scenes, with a snake-like body mixed with a crocodilian jaw and a set on horns along the side of the body. Far better film than it should've been.

The Bad News: It's getting very tiresome to call these films on the very badly-done CGI, and this one is no exception. Here, the same applies. Very rarely does the CGI used to make the creature look anything close to being believable. The CGI is apparent on the creature whenever it moves for a period of time, but when it doesn't really move is when there's a believable appearance, but it's still pretty easy to tell it's not a real creation. This is a common problem, and one that really doesn't show a lot of signs towards ending, and must really be endured more so than most other films. However, this is the one main problem with this. It's really not all that bad.

The Final Verdict: Far better Sci-Fi Channel original than it had every right to be, this falls into the upper echelon of their pantheon of films and features a lot to like about it. Sure, there's the fact that it doesn't look real at all, but that is becoming par for the course with these films and is now a given. Fans of the past films should see this one immediately.

Rated R: Graphic Violence and some Language

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Yancy Butler at Big Apple Con NYC June 13! zorikh
The Three Brothers Furst JossIsham
That Guy Sounds Just Like.... DrankyDrank
Saw the trailer... hmckiel
Saw it, so stupid xSailorSenshix
Cleavant stole the show! jrregan
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