Reign of the Gargoyles (2007)

To me, this movie is perfection.

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Powerful science fiction film from gifted director Ayton Davis, this is not the usual SyFy production. With careful attention to period detail and the creation of strong characters, Davis brings both the era and atmosphere of the Second World War to life. The special effects are extraordinary and some sequences are absolutely haunting in their imagery. The scene where an ME-109 is challenged with only a mortar is one of the most exciting ever filmed. Joe Penny gives one of his most effective performances in years as the battle hardened Gus, a man who has seen far too much combat but still answers the call of duty. The Germans are depicted as more than an enemy in this motion picture and it is made clear they regret deeply they have unleashed and uncontrollable and ultimately unholy evil.

This is one of these movies that gets frequently broadcast on the SyFy Channel . You can understand why someone might do their best to avoid watching it but as so often happens there's absolutely nothing else on so it was either REIGN OF THE GARGOYLES or having to watch a movie I'd seen several times before and had commentated on it on this site . After all I'm amongst friends at the IMDb and I can always share my opinions amongst my friends here The general consensus on this page is that REIGN OF THE GARGOYLES is better than most of the films produced by the SyFy Channel which is admittedly faint praise but some people have qualified this by stating it's almost a good film in its own right and contains a couple of good scenes . There's certainly contains the bare bones of a good film and one wonders if a film containing some downed pilots and SAS soldiers behind enemy lines during WW2 might have been better pitched to one of the major Hollywood studios . Indeed a cross genre mixing war and monsters starring Jeremy Renner , James McAvoy and Olga Kurylenko probably wouldn't break box office records but it'd certainly make a great night out at the multiplex . This SyFy production is let down by two major things First of all is the budget . You want flying Gargoyles , squadrons of planes and explosions . No problem for a Hollywood studio with a lot of cheque books , but a very big problem for SyFy who can only realise these sequences via ... go on guess ? I'll give you a three letter clue - CGI . The unfortunate thing because there's so many CGI sequences the budget for it is spread very thinly which means it's often worse than you see in this type of production . It also seems to bite in to other aspects such as sequences where characters fire their weapons is it's patently obvious that the actors are just shaking their props around The second thing is the amount of errors made concerning military matters and timeliness .Early a character talks of UFOs and flying saucers terminology that wouldn't have existed in 1944 . We also see SAS troopers with British Parachute regiment insignia and berets and over-sized B-17 Flying Fortress interiors where the crew have no need for oxygen and are happy to fly 20,000 feet in dress uniforms without suffocating or succumbing to minus 20 degree temperatures In summary REIGN OF THE GARGOYLES is a mediocre film but one recognises that with a bigger budget and a bit more thought this would have been a fairly enjoyable piece of pop corn entertainment . Perhaps if Hollywood is thinking of doing a mixed genre film featuring monsters and the war with an international cast they could watch this film seeing the obvious contrast in what works and what doesn't

Interesting to read comments about this film picking holes in the correct way for a WWII SAS officer to wear their beret when there are hundreds of (below average) CGI Gargoyles running around. A bit like having a go at Star Wars because Chewbacca does not have split ends. The film is straight to DVD/Sci-Fi Schlock and there are thousands of other similar movies out there which take themselves a lot more seriously and are more in need of being deflated. The film tries hard and does quite well considering it must be low budget. A more interesting goof is the comment that the holder of the Spear of Destiny was buried like a commoner and then watching the heroes breaking into his tomb - hardly the resting place of a commoner. Nice comment earlier about NAZI interest in the supernatural and mention of the excellent THE KEEP but add to the list RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and HELLBOY.

If I could give this a 0 then that would be too good for a movie like this. Most of the dialoge used is wrong. More for today then 1944 or 1945. When got dumb writers you get a dumb movie. Nazis animating anything would be a major event. I knew after 10 minutes this was pure Sci-Fi channel crap. I love the Sci=Fi channel, but their movies suck. They have a big build up and then show junk. Actors were cardboard, scenes were made up. It was just horrible to endure. Take it from a WW 2 historian they got it wrong in every way possible. It was just a throw together and hope somebody watches it. One of truly the worst movies ever made.