GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

PhilipGHarris Wraiths starts off at speed and the viewer feels that since it isn't going to take itself too seriously besides being "inspired by actual events". This is especially clear when it starts to stray from any basis of fact in the first five minutes.This is a made for TV Movie but has been well produced and budget has been used to great effect. The acting isn't bad, although some of the English accents do leave something to be desired. Scenery shots are pretty and music is exactly what you would expect for this type of fare.Unfortunately the internal plot just doesn't gel and I found myself getting annoyed with what would have otherwise been a passable little bit of nonsense.Rarely in this type of movie we are given the fact that all characters seem to know there is something seriously wrong but who refuse to talk to each other about the implications. Well not until a great way through the film, when of course it really is too late.Wraiths are not meant to be able to cross water – except they can if wooden trellis bridges are laid down. Or possibly if a man outstretches his arm or even for no particularly explainable reason. At least they give up mumbling in a foreign language so the people in the camp understand them.Our hero also seems to have an astonishing knowledge of Norse mythology and language that he picked up where? A vague explanation is given but really fails to hang. People go into what is described as hostile areas solo, especially at night without allowing the gate to be closed behind them. There is a wholly unjustified attack on the natives and it is really helpful that they seem to have a good technical knowledge of the occult. Oh and grenades.Much of the script stinks as well and lines where guards ask if it is unusual to have this much fog within the walls or when in the thick forest and Ananias calls for them to, "Burn it all down!" really fail to make sense.No-one seems to understand the chain of command as well and there always seem to be more guards to die than ever arrived at the settlement in the first place.I don't want to nit pick but these and others are blatant flaws in the plot that could have been resolved and moves this film from a 6 to a 4.

shannonphoenix I wouldn't be so hard on this film. No one has ever been able to give a good account of what really happened, and the whole mystery is there to speculate and to guess and write stories about. Sci-fi channel has had it's good stories and dull ones, and this is not at good as I was hoping for, but I don't believe it was half bad. It could have been better if they had a seasoned director and producer who is use to doing mystery/suspense thrillers, but I don't think that was the case. I wonder what George Lucas could have done with it or someone with a little more imagination. Besides, think about it, we didn't see the entire movie, we saw the edited version and I willing to bet that it would have been a lot more scarier and would have made a lot more reasonable sense if those parts were in there. Sometimes I wish when they came out with movies on DVD, they would give you a choice of seeing the extended version with the deleted scenes or the theater movie.As for the acting, the movie, just like X-men III, it seemed very rushed and I am sure they were times constraints. However, actors do a better job when they have more time to get into the part and make some suggestions of their own and I am not sure that happened. I think they were just given the part and told to "do it!" which also does not make for a good movie. But, you can't blame the actors who are given a script that they can only do so much with and I think the actors did the best they could and were not able to live up to their talent.I also think if just a little bit more money was put into it, it would have been a better picture. I hate it when things "happen" and there is a reason why they may be happening, but no one tells or says what it is. You see that in a lot of horror movies. People want to know background history, legends, etc. I thought a halfway descent effort was made for this. But like Eddie Murphy says, "Why do white people stay in a place that is haunted?" I am white but I would have gotten the HE** out.The whole incident is a bit haunting itself. It is very hard to really know how many Native American nations and tribes there really were. Many died out before the settlers came and some were dying off about that time. But, the word on the tree, "Croatian" (SP) does seem familiar and I do believe it was the name of a Native American tribe that may have befriended the colonist and took them into their tribe and that word was put on their so that the coming settlers would know where to find them. But, instead, the just left it a mystery and may have wanted to on purpose because they may have wanted a plan or something to scare people about in the event of any indigenous people in the area they wanted to get rid of. I mean, look what happened after wards? I believe that those colonist did not want to return and stayed with the Croatians since a lot of tribes were nomadic during the seasons. That is just a theory with no scientific backing. But it beats thinking that they were slaughtered because the Native Americans were blamed for a lot of things they didn't do and we nearly committed Genocide.

Tanuccoon Scifi channel has a reputation for picking up awful B-listers to fill out its empty Saturday nights. Unfortunately, Wraiths of Roanoke is no exception. Within the first ten minutes, the acting will tip you off that this'll be an unimpressive title; indeed, the acting is very similar to such mid-budget series as Stargate SG1 and Painkiller Jane. Of course, the fault doesn't lie entirely with the actors, only so much can be done with the stale and entirely trite dialogue.The story isn't much better. The basic outline involves British colonials, who intend to inhabit an island, finding their old garrison "abandoned" (read: dead). The Native Americans (Croats) give vague warnings about some mysterious danger, only clarifying things when the first people die. From then on, the settlers (who can't abandon the island for a few reasons, some of which are inconsequential given the threat) are forced to contend with evil spirits.It's supposedly based on true events, which seems to be a big selling point. However, given the film, I can't imagine how many liberties were taken. I imagine the only truth involves the abandoned fort--which could've just been sacked or what have you. Wraiths happens to be one of those films where you can see budgetary constraints in everything and it suffers for it.

Jack In the 1500's, a group of English settlers arrive at the island of Roanoke, only to find the soldiers left to guard the fort have all gone missing, save for one who has hung himself. A cryptic message written in ancient Norse is left scrawled in his own blood, warning the settlers of dangers in the woods. Having little choice but to stay, the settlers try to make the best of their situation, but one pregnant woman begins having nightmares of horrible creatures taking her baby. Soon these creatures start appearing and attacking the settlers, and a life or death struggle ensues over the course of the movie.Overall, this was surprisingly un-retarded for a Sci-Fi Original. The atmosphere of the small colony was quite nice and made me feel as if I was actually in the 1500's trying to survive against all odds. The special effects were adequate, I've seen better but I've seen much, much worse. Acting was also adequate, though character development was severely limited and left me feeling little connection to any of the settlers. And there lies the problem, with little connection to the characters, I had only moderate interest in the story, so the movie can't really be given more than a 5/10 average rating. Still, if you're looking for a satisfactory waste of two hours that won't insult your intelligence with childish editing gimmickry, atrocious acting and comically absurd story elements like so many other Sci-Fi Originals, then this film wouldn't be a bad choice.