Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

GL84 Working on a mission during the Iraq War, a squad of soldiers finds their orders complicated when a vengeful Iraqi insurgent brings a legendary creature to life who begins a rampage of terror across the landscape including the rest of the squad and must find a way to stop it.This one here turned out to be another decent Sci-Fi Channel original feature. One of the best aspects of the film is that it takes place during the recent wars in Iraq, which is quite timely and gives it a topical relevance that few have ever done. It's a refreshing change from so many of their films that were just creatures on the loose. To have some other meaning to their action is a nice idea that scores some points. This makes for some good action scenes with the creature, including the resurrection ceremony in the sacred chamber which results in their resurrection before the eventual rampage against the gathered believers, a really entertaining rampage against the townspeople as it sticks to the shadows leaving decimated bodies along the way, a spirited series of confrontations out in the desert as they slowly realize what they're up against as the brief blurs and quick confrontations offer up some fun times. The scenes early on as the squad battles a team of Iraqis is pretty decent and balances out the creature action as the shadowy creature begins attacking them on the outskirts in some decent surprise attacks makes for a wholly enjoyable time. As it leads into the thrilling action in the second half where the dwindling group confronts the creature in high-energy confrontations, especially the last thirty minutes when the team becomes trapped inside the village and are under constant attack as stalking, killing and more big scenes occur within a small area of the village, which provides it's best action scenes and allows it to really leave with a sense of satisfaction. Coupled with the fine monster design and fine gore with a huge body count and this one turned out to be pretty good. There really wasn't a whole lot wrong with this one, but what's there deserves to be mentioned. That comes from the usual Sci-Fi Channel problems with this one as there's really no instance where it looks like anything other than a really, really bad CGI creation, and that continues throughout the film as the creature utterly fails to convince that it is a living being. There's also the problem of the shaking camera during a lot of scenes where a character was running not being chased by the creature that's really distracting and doesn't serve any purpose other to give the viewer a headache. Speaking of which, trying to figure this one's back-story out be a real challenge. Normally, these are pretty cut and dried affairs, but the need to include several different back-stories into this and tie them all together got a little confusing. Thankfully, it dropped this whenever the creature was on-screen, but otherwise, this didn't make a lot of sense. Otherwise, expect the usual Sci-Fi channel problems with this one.Rated R: Graphic Violence and Language.

MartianOctocretr5 The same story line has been used many times, and not just on these Sci-Fi channel assembly line quickies. This flick will certainly not alter the course of cinema, but it has its moments and is OK for a viewing when you haven't got anything else to do.Military with enormous fire power in the wilderness somewhere: check. Closing in on enemy troops, but finding a monster instead: check. Obnoxious civilians (represented here by a loudmouth TV journalist): check. Shooting useless guns at the thing: check. Blood, gore, high body count: check. Religious zealot in love with the creature who preaches spiritual legends about it: check. The story lacks originality, but the acting is decent. One glaring problem is the animation and design of the creatures. They just don't look evil or scary enough, and their movements are not 3-dimensional.However, this movie has a few well shot scenes, and the level of action rarely lags. The plot is illogical in places, but the movie can entertain if you turn your brain off.

Eventuallyequalsalways The makers of original movies for the Sci-Fi channel must feel like red-headed stepchildren if they ever bother to read the reviews of some of their viewers and posters on IMDb. If I had relied on their advice, I would have passed this movie by, and as a result would have missed a fine piece of movie-making. So it may have been low-budget, so what? They did a lot with the budget available to them. Who really judges a movie's worth by how realistically a helicopter blows up? Small minds reared on a steady diet of cartoons and sit-com TV, that's who! The makers of this fine film took a good "what-if" premise and explored the idea that Weapons of Mass Destruction really exist in Iraq in the form of the "Manticore", a monstrous creature with the body of a lion and a fearsome head of human/tiger/Satan blend. The winged creature has a scorpion-like tail which ends in a ball filled with poisonous darts. The creature is capable of firing the darts at victims or simply devouring them. It's appetite is ravenous and legend tells how victims are devoured completely, even the bones and clothing, so that the victim simply vanishes. In this respect, the movie-makers chose to stray from the actual legend of the Manticore because obviously they wouldn't have as much gore and blood to film whenever a body is left behind after an attack. Of course, we all know it's make-believe, but the scenes involving the soldiers as they pursue an evil enemy through the sandy streets and adobe huts are thoroughly believable. Just ask some of the guys and gals serving in Iraq today what it is like to go house-to-house in search of an enemy hell-bent on destroying them, and then ask them if this movie captures some of the tension and fear, and I think their answer would be positive. Overall, this movie was made seriously by the cast and crew, the acting was certainly plausible, the effects should have been good enough for the audience if they were willing to suspend their criticism so that the budget didn't have to run into the millions. The movie follows a well-written script with a dose of mystery and suspense thrown into the mix. Two hot chicks ought to tempt the teens away from their video games long enough to see what it might be like if they decide to go over to Iraq and spread a little freedom and democracy into a desert country which detests their invasion. Let's give the Sci-Fi producers some respect; if they keep making movies as good as this one, I'll be the first to give them a standing ovation.

johnsamo-1 After watching crap like Raptor Island from the scifi channel, I had shall we say, LOW expectations but was pleasantly surprised. Despite a no name cast with the exception of Jeff Fahey, the acting was solid. In terms of plot, it was REAL DIREVITAVE of James Cameron's Aliens, and a had a few moments from other classic action movies like Predator. But as a low- budget knockoff, it was done quite well. I know a lot about the limitations directors have on low budget action movies. WIth little money or time, its hard to make an action movie that is as slickly made as this movie is... The FX weren't that good however but that's largely the problem of the budget, not the director.