Earnest performances, good pacing and a surprisingly impressive central creature all help make WYVERN one of the very best Sci-Fi Channel-originated CG monster movies. That may be damning it with the faintest of faint praise, but it really is a decent movie in its own right, so credit where its due.
In the Alaskan community of Beaver Mills, a fisherman’s blood revives the monster, which the movie shows in full in the very first few minutes – typical of this era of monster filmmaking and perhaps the movie’s only real significant flaw. There are just two days left of the midnight sun and the town’s Solstice festival is climaxing. Nick Chinlund grabs a rare nice guy role as a well liked local trucker / handyman dogged by back-story of his brother’s tragic death. He becomes crucial to everyone’s survival when the Wyvern, an ancient evil Nordic dragon cast out by Hel (that’s one “l”) and unleashed now thanks largely to the melting ice caps, swoops down on the town.
Much of what unfolds here is hackneyed in one way or another, but that does not stop it being appealing and good natured fun. Its also got a more colorful and entertaining ensemble than you normally get in this sub-genre. There is an amusingly dumb female deputy who wanders into the busy local diner with a severed arm from a recent victim. Don S Davis (in his last film, its dedicated to him) is a Roswell-referencing wacky old Colonel who thinks an invasion of reptilian aliens is afoot. The police chief himself vomits and faints at the sight of cadavers, and a crazy old lady acts like a distaff Crazy Ralph by ranting about Revelations and uttering the phrase “You’re all doomed!”. There is also a sweet waitress and a sexy femme DJ, though no one wants to cancel the festival in the best JAWS tradition, even after the messy severing of the local doc’s arm.
Competence on every level keeps this movie above average for its type : it moves briskly and has a healthy sense of humor about its own absurdities, as captured by the moment in which the deputy assures everyone to remain calm, failing to notice the massive dragon swooping behind her to relieve her of her head. At this budget level, the CG monster FX are very decent, and the climax – with Chinlund and his truck versus the beast, plus Sat Nav commentary – pretty impressive too.
– Steven West
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
