SAGA - Curse of the Shadow (2013) User Reviews

Better than expected

[LumosX · 6/10 · 16 June 2013]

I saw this film accidentally, with zero warning, so to speak. It looked as if it was interesting enough, so after watching the trailer and a bit of pondering, I decided to go and check it out. (Besides, I tend to enjoy watching bad films - I saw Uwe Boll's "Alone in the Dark" after reading all the bad reviews - so nothing could go wrong, right?) And yes, nothing went wrong, I actually quite enjoyed the film. Yes, it was a bit cheap and the (sparingly used) CGI weren't top quality, but that's quite understandable given the film's limited budget. The music was very nice, and the costumes were spot-on, with the orcs looking quite good. (Fun fact: There were more fantastic races in this film than there were humans.) Speaking about the races though, the film certainly reminds more of WarCraft III than of Tolkien, but it only "reminds", nothing more. We didn't see a lot of dwarfs, unfortunately. The story was reasonably good and the action scenes were abundant. I'd have loved more character development and more introduction to the world (the first 10-15 minutes of the film were mostly swordfights), but it works as it is. The film is gripping and interesting enough, and worth a watch. Just don't expect something too amazing. It seems to be based on a video game and I've heard rumours about other films (or TV series? I'm not certain, sorry) in the same universe, which I'd certainly give a shot to as well.

A solid 6/10 from me, but it's very near to the 7.

NB: Note that there is some blood and a bit of gore in this film, which some viewers might find displeasing.

Nice to see more in this genre but...

[outkastpharaoh-734-457064 · 5/10 · 9 July 2013]

I will watch just about anything with swords, dragons, and magic. So I was kind of curious to see what this movie was. I was mildly entertained because right off the battle scenes were poorly choreographed. Storyline fell short of what I would have liked it to. But as a writer that is what gets me naturally. I think they just kind of took a bunch of elements together and threw it into a pot and called it a story. Dry cereal.

But if you are into sword and sorcery like I am then you can say this movie has not progressed since the same movies in the genre of the 80s. Still worth a watch if you aren't lactose intolerant because it comes with cheese.

I will say they had a nice element with the green screen and the makeup was nicely done. Honestly visually for a Bmovie I was into it, but somewhere the story fell short and the flow of the action wasn't there.

Watchable Low-Budget Adventure

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 23 November 2014]

Somewhere in time and space, there is a battle between the evil and the good. The Prophets of The Order are trying to restore civilization while The Shadow is trying to revive the God of Death.

The female elf bounty hunter Nemyt Akaia (Danielle Chuchran) fights against the criminal Fangtor Bloodmoon (Adam Abram) and kills him. However she is cursed by him with the Shadow mark on her wrist. When she goes to the nearby castle to collect her reward, she is arrested because of the mark and sentenced to death. Meanwhile the human Ambassador of Light Keltus the Wanderer (Richard McWilliams) chases the dwarf Gyarmuck (James C. Morris) to find the real intentions of the Shadow and he learns that the orcs have a powerful vessel that they will sell to the Shadow representative. Keltus heads to the castle where Nemyt is imprisoned and he finds that she has discovered where the orcs are going. He brings her with him to seek out the horde of orcs and promises that the Prophetess would help her to get rid off her mark.

On the beginning of their journey they find Kullimon the Black (Paul D. Hunt) that was left behind tied up to two trees by his former horde after being betrayed by the orc Mulgrut (Kyle Paul). The unlikable trio teams up in a journey to avoid that the God of Death returns life and destroys civilization.

"SAGA – Curse of the Shadow" is a low-budget adventure in a magic world of elves, orcs, dragons and forces of light and shadows. The story is rushed in the beginning certainly due to the budget constraint and the screenplay is uneven. The choreography of the many fights is terrible, the repetitive music score is annoying and the acting is reasonable only. But the flick is watchable in a rainy day afternoon. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "SAGA – A Maldição das Sombras" ("SAGA – Curse of the Shadow")

Better than most Hollywood movies

[proxy55 · 22 June 2013]

This movie was surprisingly good. The story is relatively simple, but the interesting characters (especially the orc, Kullimon, "ha ha ha") along with great music and pictures made it work.

It's not as "shiny" and overdone as Hollywood products and I think that's its biggest strength. Special effects (which are very good for a low budget production) were kept to the scenes where it makes sense and not used carelessly. The landscape and scenery are so much better than anything you're used to from big movies, because it's actually real and not 50% CGI. It doesn't look oversaturated and edited, but really natural, which adds a lot of immersion that most movies are lacking nowadays.

Overall it's a really nice movie and I can definitely recommend it to people who like the genre.

I wish I could give it a good rating. I really do.

[thimage · 2/10 · 18 August 2013]

I know. I should be tolerant: This is a low budget movie. The photography is quite good, and the attention to detail in makeup, props and clothing is actually better than I expected. But I resisted only an hour before I turned it off. I never could believe and transport into the story. The elf girl snarls all the time and all of them act as if all their stereotype words had a profound meaning. The music is Wagnerian even when actors climb a little hill or pass the salt. The screenplay just hops along as a succession of badly sewed scenes. I think there is potential. I really do. But the whole crew and cast need honest feedback to be able to correct their shortcomings. They should be encouraged, but they're far from being there yet.

Drag-on Bore: Curse of the Budget

[bloodtoxin88 · 4/10 · 3 October 2013]

I'll say this right off the bat: This is a low-budget film, and it can't be entirely faulted for that. The kind of pitfalls you would expect from a low-budget movie are all here: Cheesy effects, poor makeup, limited sets, over-processed visuals (as a result of limited sets).

Normally, these things would be forgivable if the acting, story, choreography, and cinematography outshine them. In this case, they simply do not.

Everything you see in the first 5 minutes lets you know exactly what you're in store for. A terrible CGI dragon is being ridden by an orc in very unconvincing makeup. The orc is shot down by an elf with the cheapest color contact lenses this side of your local mall, and a fight scene ensues. This is where you see the combination of poor direction and framing coupled with extremely inept choreography. Hell, there's a point in the first fight scene where you can CLEARLY see the elf MISS her kick to the orc's face by about a foot, and he still grunts and flies backwards as if it connected. That's the kind of thing you either re-shoot or cut in post.

This is the kind of quality you might expect to find in a feature-length YouTube production -- though that might be insulting to some of the more accomplished YouTube content producers.

Definitely not a recommended watch

[X_amelia · 2/10 · 2 August 2013]

Started watching this movie and was already disappointed with it within the first 10 minutes. However I was determined to see it through to the end hoping it might pick up and get a bit better. I was wrong. The scenes are boring, and clearly shot on the same set with minimal changes. The story line is difficult to follow and thought the movie it is unclear what they are actually trying to achieve. The only thing we know is they are trying to defeat the 'dark shadow'. This pretty much includes a whole bunch of staged fights which are very unexciting using a lot of careless spins and tricks instead of it actually looking like a proper fight. Kudos to the outfits they may be the only good bit of this movie. I would definitely not recommend this, even if you have seen lord of the rings, stick to that for a fantasy thriller.

Better than average, much better than expected

[thoughton71 · 7/10 · 6 July 2013]

This was much better than I expected it would be. I was expecting a trashy B movie but this was much better than that. The first 15 minutes are a bit of a whirlwind, you get thrown right into the story, this could be a good thing, but also to an extent you kind of feel like you are watching the second half of a film and have missed the scenes where they introduced these characters.

The main Orc was excellent - he was by far the most physically convincing in the action scenes, and had some of the funniest lines as well. The CGI was budget limited but was perfectly acceptable. The hero and the elf were both acceptably done. The acting in general was much better than you'd normally get in this genre of film.

Fantasy "Saga"

[kosmasp · 4/10 · 16 October 2013]

It's as another user described it much better than expected. That doesn't make it really good though. The expectations were low and it didn't fall below them. Since the movie does not have a lot of money (see CGI), it does do the neat trick of keeping most of the story on the road. Or in the woods would be a better description, where you have the possibility not to show any technology at all.

Acting is decent for what the movie is. The story of a group that doesn't really belong together but has to stick with each other is old, but has some charm. If you rent the Disc make sure to watch the Outtakes, it's obvious they had fun making it and I think it would be too harsh and unfair to criticize the movie too much

A very watchable Movie

[ooeagleoo · 7/10 · 2 September 2013]

Dragon Age Dawn Of The Seeker was quite a good movie, for its Budget it has much better Special Effects than some of those horrible Sci-Fi movies being released lately, the cinematography of the landscapes and scenery was amazingly beautiful, you really do not expect it for the budget, the Elves, Orcs, Dwarfs, Mermaids, Sirens, Dragons and the rest where very good, their make up was pretty Amazing, the Orcs look similar to the Orcs in Lord of the Rings and they even carried over the Orc music from Lord of the Rings with a few differences, probably to protect them from Copyright. The acting in this movie was Fair to Good, the combat and Melee fighting scenes were pretty poor, but you can get passed the poor fighting scenes as the movie is engaging and you do still want to watch it till the end.

It all fails with the bad writing

[roska-posti · 4/10 · 23 October 2014]

I really wanted to like this film. It could easily have been a rather good movie. Unfortunately, the writing was so bad it ruined it all.

Doesn't surprise me the movie was written and produced by the same men: Jason Faller and Kynan Griffin. These guys shouldn't write movies. It's not even bad in a good way, like in some funny and enjoyable B-movies. There is no tongue in cheek. It is not a parody. It's not even a hong-kongish marshal art film. The solutions are just incredibly bad and the plot is thinner than an elven maiden's hair. The final battle with the avatar summoning is fittingly the unholy crowning of this: the elf who was just a moment ago captured by these orcs, can now join the worshipers and then is suddenly realized as an assassin, the failed distraction the orc and the paladin were supposed to create, the unbelievably lame slaying of the avatar with an unexplained ability of the paladin, the unbelievable death of the whole orc horde but the heroes staying alive, it's all so insanely bad I wanted to pull my hair and cry.

The movie has beautiful scenes, nice camera shots and magical moments. The orc and the elf were actually rather good characters and the actor and the actress played them good.

Very entertaining Fantasy B-Movie.

[sven-49-694776 · 9/10 · 20 June 2013]

"Don't expect a blockbuster" ... that is the main comment I have read now in the last days about SAGA. That is true, but you should simply not care, if you like Fantasy and Independent Films like me. With the low budget (I would really like to know how much it was?) the producers did a great job. Arrowstorm Entertainment and Mainstay Productions are small companies: They are making movies for fans, all sorts of short movies in different genres and offer young talents a chance to contribute their ideas. Originally SAGA was considered as a Webseries and they did a short movie, which is now the first scene. That was a test for the concept, shot in one day with almost no budget in Snow Canyon State Park. It worked out and they collected enough money (also from fans via Kickstarter) to make this movie. And it is very entertaining with even some funny moments. The costumes are very good in my opinion, especially the ones for the orcs. I like the music and also the fighting scenes. I would really like to see a sequel with our heroes. So give it a try! You will like the ears of that blue-eyed sword swinging elf. For me it's a 8/10, including a bonus for the elf, the main orc :-) and for the fantastic evolution of this project.

A pleasant surprise...

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 8 July 2014]

Considering that Curse of the Shadow was shown on the SyFy Channel, expectations were relatively low. However, while Curse of the Shadow is no masterpiece in any shape or form, for a low-budget fantasy movie I found it pretty good and by far one of the best movies aired on the SyFy Channel in recent memory. It doesn't look bad at all for low-budget fantasy, the scenery is colourful and really quite gorgeous, the special effects are not overkill and are well-modelled and easy-moving, the costumes certainly don't look cheap-fancy-dress-quality and the make-up is very good especially for the Orcs. With the photography too it was mostly fluid and does evoke a sense of wonder, apart from some slow-motion overuse. The music is rousing, haunting, beautiful, energetic and mysterious on numerous occasions, not quite perfect mind as it does have a tendency at times to be too loud and drown out the dialogue. The script was better than anticipated, the dialogue at least wasn't too simplistic or too wordy and apart from the odd awkward-sounding moment understanding what was happening- especially compared to a lot of other low-budget movies of this genre and others seen recently- wasn't so much a problem. In fact the interplay between the central characters was quite witty, though the coolest lines came from James C. Morris' character. The story was engaging, the fantasy world was both wondrous and foreboding, the numerous fantasy creatures were really fun to spot and were well-designed, and the witty dialogue and likable characters- Kullimon being the most interesting- keep things moving along nicely. True, it is not the most original story on the block but it didn't seem too carbon-copy, and there were few if any scenes that felt irrelevant, while lengthy the prologue did get to the point. The action sequences, all of which were reasonably well-paced, were mixed execution-wise, some had spirited choreography, suspense and passion, others were let down by characters after being wounded acting very soon like everything's all right and some random, cyclical placement. The climax did feel a tad underwhelming, again it was spirited and passionate but also rather drawn-out pace-wise and the lack of believable peril diluted the suspense, if it was more epic and less convenient it may have helped a little. The characters are likable at least and while not fully-fleshed out the movie does do enough to allow us to care for them, the pacing flows well generally and the directing is credible. The acting isn't perfect with the female having the odd one-note occasion but is still reasonably good, Paul D. Hunt is very enjoyable as Kullimon. Overall, not great but a very pleasant surprise. 7/10 Bethany Cox

LARPers with a budget

[lord_orsum · 5/10 · 14 April 2022]

This film is a guilty pleasure. If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be 'earnest'.

What we have here is a group of people who wanted to make a fantasy epic with a very limited budget. The special effects are passable, and the costumes and choreography make up for the other limitations.

The acting is at best so-so. The elf, Nemyt is pleasing on the eyes and is certainly athletic in the fight scenes, but has very limited acting range (if you want 'suppressed rage', she is your girl).

The script is lifted straight from the D&D cliche book. I laughed out loud when the cleric/paladin says "out of the way, old crone" to the quite obviously beautiful young women with a shawl over her head. Other memorable lines include "this was always the plan" and "we meet again - for the last time". It all feels so familiar, like a comfortable pair of slippers.

I cannot help but respect a film that takes itself so seriously. I came away with a silly smile on my face, and so I must recommend it to all fantasy enthusiasts out there.

A nice entertaining movie.

[x-lycoss · 23 June 2013]

A pretty well done fantasy film of mythical characters and magic powers. The actors played their roles nicely. With suiting effects and suiting costumes the movie introduces the viewer in that world of legend. I would say the movies was better than most Hollywood movies. The whole crew that done this movie did a very well job; The orcs looked vividly orc-ish and the elf girl has played her part well. And of course the human hero was no less impressive. The story was not amazing, but was good enough thanks the writers. I will give it a well deserved 7 out of 10. Despite the low budget the movie was surprisingly decent.

absolutely atrocious

[dylanotgash · 2/10 · 22 June 2017]

i am halfway watching it now and i cant help myself. first point is that i notice it has multiple names in multiple countries (may i ask why this is ? ) the story is as well structured as a bridge made of soft licorice built by a blind and amputated weasel , the action scenes are lacking GREATLY and special effects are a meh , i cant help but notice also that most of the masks of the orcs are LITERALLY COPIED STRAIGHT FROM PETER JACKSON'S LORD OF THE RINGS (but more on that later ) the characters are also as thin as a sheet of A5 paper and have no motivation to the plot and are devoid of all personality , it took me half an hour to realise the "elf" girl was the same person at the start of the film who sucked the naughty smoke out of the dragon rider bloke , also where are the dwarfs ? why is there only a dragon in the background at the start ? why is the CGI hideous ? , something i will commend it on is its lack of special effects , but to be honest that was the only positive i can think of . The masks i do believe were bought from the company who produce the costumes for the lord of the rings , but i also probably think that they bought the mould and used cheap latex . so in conclusion 2/10 is my rating and i hope to never watch this again

Was Actually Fairly Impressed.

[dbryn · 5/10 · 4 January 2014]

I'm not one for low budget sci-fi, but Arrowstorm Entertainment is filling a Hollywood void with good ole Dungeons & Dragons fantasy and I had to see it.

Truthfully, my expectations were fairly low, and the movie exceeded my expectations. I thought the cinematography, costumes, and make-up were pretty d@mn good! Not sure what the budget was, but from having seen plenty of 'behind-the-scenes' clips, stunt choreography in someone's living room... it's gotta be low. Kudos to all involved in giving this film the fantasy 'look'! The acting? Well, whatever. One shouldn't expect an Oscar winning performance from a relatively unknown low budget sci-fi/fantasy film. I think the acting exceeded the dialogue in the script. I particularly enjoyed Danielle Chuchran and her fight sequences. She's extremely graceful and deserves a lot of credit for keeping the film interesting.

It is unfortunate that what I enjoyed least about the movie is the only major component to the film that is NOT dependant on budget. The script/story itself. So often when you have a producer(s) that writes his own script, no one's really in a position to give them a reality check on something that doesn't work - our heroes are attacked by one-armed dwarf dude (who was actually one of the coolest characters... who sort of didn't matter at all in the story... I guess they just really wanted a cool dwarf dude?) and our heroes say "What is that... some kind of magic?", and 5 seconds later "Quick! He's reloading!". So, Kullimon is now fully aware it's a gun? What? Let me start with dialogue and subtext... there was so much 'on the nose dialogue' in this script, I'm considering comping both Mr. Faller and Mr. Griffin a class on subtext at The Writer's Store. For example... poor Nemyt has been shot multiple times, and slashed/cut-open and lies still on the ground. Kullimon cradles her and is forced to say the line... "she's dying".

The character development was kind of there, although all three protagonists from the get go weren't allowing audiences to bond or feel for them. Nemyt for instance is the crude bounty hunter that likes to spit on people. Once, perhaps... but I think she did it three or four times? So why do we care that she's been cursed, other than the fact that she's cute, and the audience knows that she's supposed to be the protagonist? Moving along to the story itself... I think I was at about one hour before I thought... where the heck are they going exactly? The only thing I clued into was that Nemyt wanted rid of her curse. I know there's some evil God that's going to rise up, but there's really no sense of urgency or timing on this event. The demon God just appears as our heroes arrive out of convenience it seems. In fact, most of the plot occurred out of convenience. "Oh look, here's Kullimon tied to a pole right in front of us... we could use another hero, come with us." There were a few scenes that added nothing to the plot, and they had the worst special effects - the first big bad dude that kinda sorta looked like a minotaur? Don't know who he was, exactly, or why he was there... but that was the worst SFX in the movie, when I was pretty impressed with the other effects that were pulled off.

I really wish they had worked harder on the story, or had a professional writer. IMDb indicates the movie scores a 4.7/10. For me, with a better script this movie could easily be a 6/7. Again, it's a shame the greatest weakness was NOT the budget. Having said that, I was entertained and I enjoyed the movie because I was impressed at what Arrowstorm achieved with the resources they had.

A Little More Budget

[premkishan-k · 5/10 · 6 July 2013]

Yes, I am right….somewhat nicely done movie, OK OK script, OK OK actors but amazing locations….with a little more budget, the movie would have been better (better graphics and make up…which are very essential for such kind of a plot)

I am not recommending this flick as a must watch…..but is you happen to see it you will feel the same and sad for the movie. The girl (Danielle Chuchran) did a good job.

One thing that I can say that you will feel sorry for the movie but you will NOT get bored.

Watch it if you are a fantasy fan…story is good.

Surprisingly good

[anymouse2 · 6/10 · 20 June 2014]

So, netflix suggested this, and Im a sucker for fantasy.

First off, as the negative ones have noted, its low-budget. If you cant be bothered to see anything that doesn't come with a hundred million dollar plus price tag, this will disappoint. If you know how to enjoy films for the creativity, and forgive new companies for not being richer than most countries, you might like this.

Fight scenes: as a martial artist, trained in many medieval weapons, the fights actually are fairly historically accurate to various styles of real Earth. Of course, to people that have never seen a fight without Wire-Fu, CGI, and such, this will seem boring and "lame".

Scenery: Absolutely gorgeous. I was surprised to find out this was all in Utah. I really was expecting to see New Zealand and Australia from the look of some of the shots.

CGI: yeah, that needs work. But, they are new. they'll get better.

Actors: the main 3 were good to better. The rest were fair to good. About what you'd expect from a company just starting out. Each tried to add some quirks to make their character stand out. Make-up was very good; managed to catch the iconic essence of the races instead of looking like "LotR" rip-offs. Unless Lord of the Rings is all you know about fantasy.

Script: If you know fantasy, this is old hat. No surprises, no twists. Id guess a new company already had their hands full without trying to write an opus on top of just trying to get their foot in the door.

All in all, a good watch and highly recommendable.

Horrible Screenplay, but beautifully filmed!

[phaylen · 3/10 · 23 April 2016]

This film is available on Netflix under the title "Curse of the Dragonslayer." One of four titles the film in known by. When a film has this kind of identity crisis, not knowing what it wants to be, you can predict it will be a bumpy ride through B-Film hell. Not that I particularly mind, I quite enjoy campy, cheese, low budget fare if it's fun!

This film served well on the fun factor! It's actually really well directed with exquisite cinematography that transforms Utah into a lavish fairytale backdrop. The acting is well above average when it comes to the lower budget fare, with the exception of the lead actress, who is more like a college drama major who tries way to hard to take herself seriously as a rugged, vengeful elf with a bad attitude. She's a far cry from Kate Beckinsale or Cate Blanchett, and sadly her miscasting brings down the film a few notches.

The only other thing that really hurts the film is the terrible, beyond abysmal writing that make you laugh at how ridiculous it is when you know you shouldn't. The writers played one to many MMORPG's and borrowed every single trope you can fathom from Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot, World of Warcraft, Lord of The Rings and Dungeons and Dragon, including the stereotypical language which comes off as forced and painfully awkward. With a better screenplay, the film could be stellar, especially with the budget, which we call "low" but in fact is doesn't make you flinch once. The directors managed their special effects and costume makeup with incredible grace and style that is unique to low budget films.

It has incredible potential but fell short because of the poor casting of a pivotal role and the beyond clunky dialog that distracts the viewer, preventing immersion within the world they're trying to create.

But the score is absolutely astounding and rivals that of any Hollywood Blockbuster.

Middling good, nicely shot, low-budget fantasy adventure tale.

[suite92 · 7/10 · 10 July 2014]

Filmed in Utah, with lots of sand, caves, and huge rock formations.

Prehistory: the Gods, on some planet, at some time, have put down civilization for some reason, and killed a big portion of humanity. The Order, led by the Prophets, tries to restore civilization, while the Shadow rises and awaits the awakening of the God of Death. So, we have a familiar environment for swords, sorcery, battles, revenge, and conflicts on a dying world.

We open the narrative with a fight between the female elf bounty hunter Nemyt and the male orc thief Fangtor Bloodmoon. Nemyt kills Fangtor, but Fangtor curses her body as she delivers the fatal blow with her sword. The fight scenes here were absolutely terribly done. Meanwhile, Keltus interrogates a dwarf to discover the motives of the Shadow in the current conflict. The dwarf tells him of Kullimon's Raiders, who will deliver some artifact ('the Vessel') to the representatives of the God of Death. Among the orcs, Mulgrut and Kullimon have a bit of a disagreement. Kullimon loses, and Mulgrut takes leadership of the 'Horde' of ten orcs. Oi, totally disappointing.

When Nemyt goes to collect her bounty reward, she is imprisoned by the local magistrate because of the Mark that Fangtor cursed her with. Keltus, the Ambassador of the Prophetess, releases her in the hopes that she will aid him find the Bone Vessel. On the way, they meet up with Kullimon, who has been tied up, bleeding, and left for dead by his erstwhile allies. The absurd trio advance to get the Vessel, so that the God of Death (Goth Azul) is not awakened.

As they advance, they encounter difficulties, and best them, but usually with stiff prices. When Nemyt meets Mulgrut as representative of the Shadow, things get very dicey, very fast. The real representative of the Shadow appears, and the hopes of Goth Azul being kept contained slip away.

Will the trio reverse the disaster at hand?

-----Scores-----

Cinematography: 7/10 Rather good for this sort of tale. The costumes were a bit better than I expected, at least here and there.

Sound: 10/10 Amazingly good. I seldom experience fantasy films with such excellent musical accompaniment.

Acting: 5/10 The actors who play the three protagonists hit their marks and speak their lines, but acting? Not so much. The orc Horde was about as convincing as the Keystone Kops.

Screenplay: 6/10 Yikes. A story was told, and the plot moves along, but the dialog is stilted past the point of believability. Orcs taking the higher moral stances? An orc leader singing like he was on Wagon Train? An orc sounding like Yoda?

-----The film did grow on me, especially the last 15 minutes.

Who has your heart?

[nogodnomasters · 5/10 · 22 January 2018]

Nemyt Akaia (Danielle Chuchran) is a fiery elf who is a bounty hunter. She kills an orc and gets cursed. Keltus (Richard McWilliams) is a human wanderer because ranger has been already taken in LOTR. Nemyt has a strong natural resistance to the curse. This allows her to travel among the orcs and fallen elves. In addition to attempting to get the curse removed, it seems the whole world is about to come to an end with the release of the Shadow Lord or "he who which we don't speak." There are also dwarfs in this film who swap their allegiance to the orcs.

Yes, if you haven't figured it out, they did some wholesale stealing from LOTR including a night rider and several scenes that didn't involve more than 10 people. While the story boasts a shadow curse, it was a little light on dragons, as in none. If you are going to put dragon in the title you have to do more than talk about them and have them in one scene. The make up was pretty decent. Our elf wore cheap light blue contacts, but it looked good with her handlebar ears. The fighting choreography was noticeably bad in a few scenes. There were also too many poorly lite night time scenes. Kids should like it.

Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, nudity. Filmed in scenic Utah.

"They cursed the wrong Elf."

[Wiedergaenger · 8/10 · 3 July 2013]

I visit IMDb for several years, but this is the first film I really feel the urge to comment on around here. I stumbled about "Dragon Lore/Curse of the Shadow/The Shadow Cabal" by pure chance (I think it was the lead Elf's iconic mask that initially caught my attention).

The story itself isn't something to write home about, but isn't inferior to the stuff one gets served in most of the shiny Hollywood productions either. A High Elven bounty hunter, a human cleric/paladin and an Orc war chief team up -- more or less reluctantly -- to defeat the malevolent Order of the Shadow, which disciples plan to summon and materialise their demon master, the death god Goth Azul. Nothing new here.

No, the strong points of "The Shadow Cabal" (I'll stick with this title) lie within other fields.

In some parts the film is wonderfully trashy, but more than once we are granted well done sceneries, e.g. the vision sequences or the Orc's boating trip. It is also the Orc that is the trio's most entertaining one, thanks to the actor's solid performance. The Elf, Nemyt, is established as a likable "bad girl", albeit with an irritating habit for spitting (and sexy "Underworld" contact lenses). She has got an impudent attitude, indulges in animalistic hissings at times, but turns out to be loyal to the good side. Last but not least, she is pleasant to behold. Which leaves us with the paladin: He stays slightly anaemic, partly because he hasn't got as many strong scenes as the other two lead characters.

Digital effects are scarce, yet (or therefore) the final boss is rather impressive for an indie film. Furthermore, there is many a scene that sports a downright surreal atmosphere (for example the happenings at the Bleeding Stone). The locations are generally well chosen, but the footages of the Grand Canyon and other recognisable sites work against the immersion into a fantasy world. Make-up and props look good, often really good. However, the main Orc needs a nose job -- right now he reminds me of the Grinch. The fighting scenes are mostly solid and never overdone. To top it off, there are a lot of lovely details, such as Nemyt's aforementioned mask.

Unbiased, this film would get a seven. But the indie bonus makes it an eight out of ten, hands down.

Released in the UK as Rise of the Shadow Warrior

[daniel-mannouch · 6/10 · 7 June 2020]

Sword and Sorcery coming at us from 2013, otherwise known as SAGA: Curse of the Shadow. Rise of the Shadow Warrior has good cinematography, art direction and has a screenplay that is committed to it's Tolkienesque threadbare lore.

The acting is ok, nothing great, but nothing terrible as well. All of the cast know what kind of film they are in and adapt accordingly. Maybe they could not carry a TV series worth of material, but then again they were not chosen to do so. The actors were chosen because they are photogenic and act well enough.

A generic score underwhelms and diminishes the immersion that other elements of the film were doing well towards achieving. Other than that, good cast chemistry, exemplary colour grading and an overall commitment to the fantasy genre makes Rise of the Shadow Warrior an enjoyable time waster that is a solid six out of ten. If an undemanding fantasy film is what you're looking for, then look no further.

Cheap fantasy flick

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 25 April 2018]

RISE OF THE SHADOW WARRIOR is another cheap fantasy flick that heavily rips off Tolkien's LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and in particular the look, feel, and style of the Peter Jackson trilogy. The setting is a world of dwarves, elves, and human warriors, not to mention a bunch of orcs who look EXACTLY the same as those in THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. A dark undead god or some such is trying to come back and take over the world, so a female elf has to go on a quest to save everybody. Expect cheesy martial arts action scenes, some cheap gore and splatter effects, wooden acting, and not bad make-up. The whole story is shot out in the woods somewhere and feels very cheap at times, although there's plenty worse out there in this genre, sad to say.