Gargoyle: Wings of Darkness (2004)

I'll say it right away: I'm a sucker for monster movies. Also for the bad ones. Yes, even the really bad ones. And technically and theoretically "Gargoyle" is a bad one. No doubt about that. Hey, Jim Wynorski directed this one, so what can one expect, right? But I've started to like this guy a lot over the recent years. He made great campy horror-flicks during the 80's ("Chopping Mall", "Return of the Swamp Thing"), and during these last years I saw some of his newer, nonsensical monster movies. And I had loads of fun with them. Great thing with his newer monster-flicks, is that he puts so many crazy ideas and subplots in them, that you never get bored. Okay, most of the time it doesn't lead to anything, but it's still fun. Plus, he often even rips-off various plot elements or characters from his own movies, to re-use them in new flicks of his. These are the mysterious Ways of Wynorski. Anyway, here we got: Ancient Gargoyles with their offspring being born from "Alien"-like cocoons, a Roumanian setting with lots of castles, two CIA detectives investigating the strange goings-on and mutilated bodies, a terrorist-kidnapping, a drug-lord running a sinister voodoo-nightclub, rival drug-dealers, a Dracula-worshiping cult (mentioned only), two competitive priests (of which one has a secret agenda), a gorgeous-looking cutie with a degree in history/folklore/archeology (or something), Michael Paré, a spectacular car-chase with continuity errors, Michael Paré cranking up a smile at the end while laughing at a joke, one final "this ain't over"-shot. And some other things. So how can you not have fun with it? The CGI used for the gargoyle is surprisingly tolerable and even reminded me at times of those good old stop-motion effects back in the old days. Thinking about it, this film is a far better movie then, for example, "Pterodactyl" (2005) - another one of those flying CGI beasts of terror movies - because in "Gargoyle" at least there's an attempt at a story. Hell, put "Gargoyles" next to the recent, utterly abominable "Harpies" (2007), and you'll see "Gargoyles" for the genuine Wynorski Masterpiece that it is. Of course it's complete nonsense. But it's Wynorski-nonsense, and that's about the same as pure fried gold.

This movie is like porn with all of the good parts removed. It's like all of the porn stars that didn't want to fulfill their obligations banded together around this awful, trite, useless piece of gargoyle abstinence.This is a helpful movie if you're in the mood to torture a loved (or no longer loved) one. It's important that, if you choose to use this movie as a method of torture, that you put in earplugs and put on a blindfold to keep yourself from going insane.If I had a choice between this movie and The 700 Club...I'd choose Girls Gone Wild.Overall, better if you've been drinking. But only because it becomes a drinking game of epic proportions.

I was surprised by this work. Although told poorly, this video venture features an intriguing, well-developed story. Quite frankly, the film quality was poor; the CGI was choppy and ineffectual; the dialog ranged from campy to crappy; the performances were cute but inexperienced; and what was supposed to be witty repartee between the two CIA agents came off as glib and overdone.So why watch this? Purely for the story. It draws you in and wraps you up in its membranous gargoyle wings. It entertains. It amuses. It tries, without trying too hard, or ever taking itself too seriously, which enables you to find the humor in it without feeling the need to laugh at it, and allows you to enjoy it without feeling the compunction to add it to your "guilty pleasures" category.All in all, we had fun with it, though it is NOT a Friday/Saturday night movie. Watch it when it rains and all is dark.It rates an 8.2/10 on the B scale, which is somewhere around a 5.4/10 on the A scale, from...the Fiend :.

This is yet another Gutter grade "B" movie, exactly the type I like.The CGI is a bit better then average for this style of campy low budget movie, and certainly watchable. The gore is minimal but effective. This movie has a real great car chase in the opening 15 min, and the Church sets are mouth dropping beautiful,Romania must be a beautiful place.Michel pare is a bit wooden in this but watchable (I always thought we would make it into the big league...oh well). The rest of the cast are watchable and capable actors, the dialog can be a bit stiff, but who cares? The story was fun and pretty fast paced.The action good, and the gargoyles, for the budget just fine.Worth a watch.