Before watching this film I had to avoid reading any reviews on it, because the press had not been kind to it. Going in blind, I began by looking for a plot very thin, but it was there, although I had the whole film figured out in about 5 minutes.

Beowulf (Christophe Lambert) arrives at a dark and mysterious outpost, where the occupants are at war with influences from both sides of the walls. Many of them harbour secrets that they prefer to keep to themselves, as does Beowulf. At night a demon roams the halls, killing without remorse, but once Beowulf arrives, the killing begins in the daylight hours, as if it knows he is there.

Many of the questions that are posed during the film are never answered but I will know where it is coming from and why as Beowulf prepares to wait for the Beast. The only characters that show any emotion are Kyra (Rhona Mitra), whose angst at having murdered her abusive husband is plausable and Roland (Gotz Otto) who hates the newcomer Beowulf for replacing him in Kyra s heart.

Christophe s portrayal is wooden, with little emotion in word or face and when he does laugh, it is out of place. The action double used for the fight sequences shows up so obviously in slow motion, that I get the feeling the editing was done by amateurs; in fact the whole film could have been done by a hack with a digital vid-cam. And as for throwing in a girlie-mag pin-up as the beast/mother of the beast how can we possibly take this seriously?

One highnote was the music similar in style to Mortal Kombat, but with Hindu overtones, while another were the action sequences, although a few less backward flips and a little more sword play would have been nice (so I m a Connor fan ..sue me>;-).

Unfortunately, the total result was tragic, not just for the audience, but for the actors and it was sad to watch (but in the wrong kind of way).

FilmCritic's Score 
29-05-99