The Alfred Hitchcock Hour was a popular television series that aired in the 1960s. One of the most memorable episodes of this series was titled "The Magic Shop". This episode was based on a short story written by H.G. Wells. "The Magic Shop" tells the story of a young boy named Oliver and his father, Mr.
Dungeons & D-Listers: Curse of the Dragon Slayer (2013)
Life can be challenging as a fantasy fan. Sure, we’ve got the best games, sure we’ve got the best books, and we’ve even reared our heads in the film industry with celebrated movies like Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. But, outside those few blockbusters, seeking out a really excellent sword and sorcery movie can be… well, hard. When I log in to Netflix to see if the fantasy section will actually offer something new and exciting, I don’t actually expect to find something. A few things will pop up with the word “dragon” in the name, they’ll inevitably feature some washed-up side character from Battlestar Galactica, and most importantly, they will be terrible.
This is what I was expecting when I came across Curse of the Dragon Slayer on Netflix’s instant watch. I didn’t instantly recognize anyone from Battlestar Galactica but it was safe to assume they’d be there, the synopsis mentioned something about an elf and a cult and blah blah blah. I was pretty certain it was gonna suck.
I was wrong. It was awesome.
I’d like to first address that this film has at least four different titles. If you see a film with any of these titles:
- Curse of the Dragon Slayer
- SAGA: Curse of the Shadow
- SAGA: The Shadow Cabal
- Dragon Lore: Curse of the Shadow
Then it is the same movie. Considering that the film does not prominently contain any actual dragons, I find that the second title is the most accurate. As such, from here out I shall be referring to this movie as Saga.
Note for the confused and curious: Despite a similarity in names, starring the same actor, and having been released two years later, Curse of the Dragon Slayer is not a sequel to the film Dawn of the Dragon Slayer and is in no way related. How about that?
This brings me to the movie itself. Saga was a breath of fresh air – an independent fantasy film with a budget that, amazingly, exceeds “shoestring.” All of the major characters have subplots that tie together into a significant story. The characters are distinct and multi-layered. The morality is complex. The sets are beautiful. And the world itself is an imaginative blend of fantasy genres that leaves the entire thing both familiar and satisfying.
But that’s speaking in broad terms. Let me back up.
Saga gives us three central characters. Each of them is enjoyable in different ways, each has their own motivations and storyline that ties in together with the rest of the movie as a whole. Let’s take a look at them one by one.
The first character introduced is Nemyt Akaia ( Danielle Chuchran ), a young high elf bounty hunter. To my estimation, she is Chaotic Neutral. While she portrays herself as a renegade with a justified vendetta, Nemyt is a greedy, sociopathic, racist murderer. Weren’t expecting that in a main character, were you? In her youth, Nemyt’s homeland was wiped out by the invading orc tribes – they killed the men and the women, but they spared the children. Now a grown woman, Nemyt becomes a bounty hunter, determined to slaughter every orc she encounters. She does not consider them worth sparing or worth honor. It is in her hunt for orcs that the story begins – the orc she encounters is a shaman, and a disciple of the Shadow, a death-worshipping cult. When she kills him, he passes on the “mark,” a mysterious black tattoo that appears on her wrist. This will end up being quite significant.
Next we have Keltus the Wanderer ( Richard McWilliams ), a human zealot. He is described as a “cleric” at one point, though he uses a sword and is more of an interrogator/inquisitor/crusader than anything else. Keltus is Lawful Neutral (though moves towards Lawful Good by the film’s climax) and follows the orders of “The Prophetess,” a mysterious woman that he visits in a strange dreamscape when he meditates upon her. The Prophetess wants Keltus to bring down the Shadow, and she doesn’t care how he does it. In fact, her advice is usually awful – Keltus is not encouraged to hold any loyalties or treat anyone with respect or honor. He will kill, torture, and betray as he sees fit to continue his quest in destroying the evil of the Shadow. He meets up with Nemyt when she winds up in a city dungeon – turns out that the tattoo on her wrist is well-known by everyone as a mark of the Shadow, and she gets locked up after a brief struggle. He plans to use her as an infiltrator to seek out the cult, in exchange for freeing her from the dungeon and having the Prophetess remove the mark on her arm.
The third, last, and best central character that Saga offers is Kullimon the Black ( Paul D. Hunt ), an orcish ex-warchief. Before I go into further detail on him specifically, I need to briefly mention some developments on the orcs themselves in this setting.
Saga‘s orcs resemble, visually, the orcs in Lord of the Rings (Actually, a lot of things do. Nemyt’s sword is an exact replica of Arwen’s, and a later antagonist has a replica of the Witch-King’s sword – I recognize them from catalogs. Yes, I’m a dork.), though they’re slightly larger and slightly greener. The interesting bit is that they actually take a glance at the orcs’ culture in this, and it finds a sort of strange balance between the savage, psychotic “classic” orcs and the more shamanic, honorable “Klingon-style” orcs that we saw later on in settings like Warcraft and Warhammer. The shift is done cleanly, being expressed with a clash between two leaders – the peaceful, honorable one is Kullimon, whereas his rival, who ends up betraying and usurping him, is warlike and brutal. Whether this was done accidentally as a way to make the orcs seem more interesting, or was done specifically as a sort of study on the orc culture, I’m unsure. But either way, it’s appreciated.
Anyway, back to Kullimon. He is Neutral Good and is absolutely fantastic, standing out strongly as my favorite character of the bunch. He’s boisterous, funny, noble, and determined – after he is betrayed and loses leadership over his tribe, he is beaten, exiled, and crucified. When Keltus and Nemyt find him (and after Keltus prevents Nemyt from slaughtering him where he kneels, unarmed) he insists that he travel with them… after all, the relic they’re seeking (what, you didn’t think they’d be seeking a relic? It may be a good fantasy flick but it’s still a fantasy flick) lays with his old tribe, who are turning towards evil and falling into the clutches of the Shadow.
And so, our merry band forms. Each seeks out the Shadow for their own reasons, and after Nemyt has some secret plans explained to her by a kooked-out Shadow cultist (he saw the tattoo on her arm) they have to find some items and do various things with them. The exact nature of their little quest is entertaining but doesn’t stand out, but the story is entirely character-driven. Each character has their own motivations and different plans on how to best carry them out – Nemyt holds no loyalty to either of them (and in fact wants to kill Kullimon by virtue of being an orc at all), Keltus plans to use Nemyt as an infiltrator and then dispose of her (in his defense, she is kind of a freak), and Kullimon himself, well… actually he’s just a pretty cool guy about the whole thing. While he isn’t beholden to his new comrades, he is grateful and loyal to them, treats them with respect, doesn’t try to get in their way, and is all-around helpful. This is reflected at one point – when the sub-Baddie of the film uses an area of effect to put the mark of the Shadow on everyone nearby, the only person it doesn’t effect is Kullimon. While he’s violent and tribal, he’s so good-natured that the death god (Goth Azul) can’t get a hold on him. He remains untainted.
So, what else is there to say? The action’s good, the costumes are good, the acting is solid enough to support the strong characters and dialogue, and the film’s three (!) villains are all exciting and worthwhile, ranging from personal (the other chief), to globally significant (Goth Azul and the dark rider), to just random and awesome (the dwarf maniac). The ending is satisfying, and, perhaps most importantly…
…It contains a zombie Minotaur.
A zombie Minotaur.
A Minotaur that’s also a zombie.
I can die happy now.
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Curse of the dragon slayer
Whether it’s playing Elder Scrolls Online, re-watching the Lord of the Rings movies or discussing the latest Game of Thrones episode, I always find a way to get my high fantasy fix, so interviewing John Lyde, director of the Curse of the Dragon Slayer was no different. The Curse of the Dragon Slayer is an independent film set in a similar world where 3 heroes, a human, an elf and an orc must team up to fight against the Shadow Cabal, a cult seeking to unleash the God of the Undead. But it’s not an easy alliance as the human, Keltus is a knight of the Order, a human organization created to destroy evil while upholding certain principles above all else, Nemyt is an elf who is used to working on her own and is filled with rage since she received the mark of the curse, and Kullimon is an orc who was once leader of his pack of orcs until he was betrayed and left for dead. It was an enjoyable movie and I had to pick John Lyde’s brain for more insight into the movie and what went on behind the scenes.
Me: Curse of the Dragon Slayer starts off action-packed with one sequence after another so I have to know if the actors performed their own stunts and if so, did they have to undergo additional training for that?
John: All the actors did perform their own stunts. And for example, Danielle (Nemyt), I met her when she was real young and she was about 11. And whenever I asked her to do something she always picked it up super fast. And as she got older I said you should start doing fight training. So she actually (went) with my buddy who teaches MMA, and then my wife would go, a couple of other friends and then Dani would go as well, and they would all train and put together fight scenes. So training beforehand but then knowing we wanted to make action packed movies. Plus it’s always more fun to have the actors do their own stunts, if they’re willing.
Me: The 3 heroes make up an interesting combination with a human, elf, and an orc. What went into the decision to make an orc one of the heroes when they’re usually cast as villains, and what made him so different from other orcs?
John: The writers, Jason (Faller) and Kynan (Griffin) wanted an orc hero. Originally he was supposed to have a smaller role, kind of a comic sidekick but as things started to play out we realized how much fun of a character he was and how we could make him unique and different. Still he’s gruff and willing to kill anyone and anything but he’s the character with the most honor, and we thought that would be unique and fun for an orc character. And he’s the one that no matter what will do the honorable thing.
Me: A character stated to Keltus early in the movie, “A hero is known by his deeds but judged by his heart, who has your heart” and that plays a key role in the events that occur later. What was it about his life that made him so devoted to the Prophetess and the Order?
John: I think in general most people are looking for something to devote themselves to (in order) to be passionate about and that’s what he picked where he got to the point where he didn’t even question the methods. And I think he went past the point where he was so devoted he no longer questioned what he was doing so long as it came from (the Order). And that probably stemmed from him learning from a young age that once you’re devoted to something you stick to it but at the same time because he was so dedicated it actually hurt him when he was blindsided and unable to see what he was doing until he was hurting.
Me: That makes sense. I know at times people throw themselves deeply into something they feel has a greater meaning in life.
Me: I know it’s almost cliché to have prequels for movies but have you considered a movie that elaborates on the history of the characters or the world the movie is set in?
John: We wanted to explore it further. There was a script written for a sequel but the budget was way too high. So if this one does well we definitely want to explore this world more because I think it has so many possibilities. There are multiple prophetess, multiple goddesses and I think the characters are so much fun that we can definitely find more adventures for them to go on.
Me: Nemyt was a very interesting character, can we expect to see her in future movies?
John: We have a script for her with the next one and we have the 3 of them teaming up again to go on an adventure. That opening scene with her was the first scene we shot (in this movie). Before there was a script even written we shot the opening scene, and then based on her performance there and anything that happened, that was the catalyst for the writers to go out and make the script.
Me: There is some very beautiful scenery in the movie so where was it filmed?
John: It was shot entirely in Utah all over the state. In southern Utah is where we shot the opening with the rocks and the unique desert look. And then everything else was shot in central and northern Utah at the salt flats. That’s where the flashbacks with the Prophetess are. That’s where they shot the Pirates of the Caribbean 3. And so everything was within 4 hours driving distance to all of these different locations in Utah.
Me: Did it have to be done at a specific time of the year?
John: The opening scene was shot in January because we wanted to see what happened with it and from there we wrote the script. And then shot the entire film in August.
Me: It seemed like there was a change in the visuals and it went from being dark at one point to very vibrant at a later point in the journey. Can you elaborate on that?
John: Part of it was the color correction. So what we did with the color correction is once the 3 heroes are together, at first their journey is all (dark because) we had it at night. We had it in a dark misty forest so we tried to keep the tone blue and darker green, very murky. And then as the journey continues on and they get to know each other more and they get to trust each other more and they get to trust one another, I had things become more bright and vibrant (with) some yellow and orange in the sky. And then at the end things go darker and they fight. With the bad guys at the end we had to go dark green, and grey and blue again.
Me: There’s another movie you’re currently working on called One Shot, and since I’m a sci-fi fan I’m curious about this movie. Can you give me more information about this movie and when it’ll be released?
John: Since Curse of the Dragon Slayer I shot two more movies and One Shot was one of them. That one was with almost the same crew and a few of the same cast members. That one is about a sniper on another planet. And so it takes place slightly in the future where this alien race has pummeled our planet and in return we have soldiers on their planet. And the film follows the sniper who was stranded and trying to survive on the planet. So that one was quite fun to do shortly thereafter. And recently we did one with Kevin Sorbo called Survivor. And in that one the lead role is played by Danielle Chuchran, the female elf in Curse of the Dragon Slayer. That’s more of a sci-fi film on a planet in the future where a station crashes and her character is trying to find the survivors while battling these creatures. That one should be available within the next couple of months, the same as One Shot.
Me: You directed 2 Hunger Game shorts, the Second Quarter Quell and Katniss and Rue, are you planning on any future Hunger Game shorts?
John: Um, I’m not sure because the first one we did, Katniss and Rue, we found out they were doing the Hunger Games films so the first one was actually an audition piece for Danielle Chuchran. A friend of mine had a contact at Lionsgate. So I just shot that video in one day and I wanted her to have a chance to speak with the casting director. My friend, I asked him to show it to people at Lionsgate but he lost the contact. So I put it online and what happened was it became an online hit with all the Hunger Games fans since the (movies) weren’t out yet, and from that the casting director saw it and ended up having Danielle go out and meet with Gary Ross for Katniss.
Me: You said that you started working with her since she was 11 years old and I notice that she’s in a few of your movies. What is it that you think she brings to her characters that make you cast her in a lot of your films.
John: She’s so easy to get along with and she’s so talented acting wise and being able to cross over into the physical world. And she has high morals and strong values, which I like. She’s like a younger sister so she’s great that she’s pursuing acting and she’s super talented. And the fact she’s always prepared, always has her lines down, always puts her heart and soul in it, and the fact she can do her own fight scene as well.
Me: Yeah I can see how that makes it a lot easier and they’re very good fight scenes.
John: Remember the training (I mentioned), she dislocated my jaw once. She did a move, hit my jaw and popped it out. (laughs)
Me: What other future projects do you have in the works now?
John: You can look up a trailer called Crimson Skies, Under Mainstay Productions on Youtube. We’re doing all the visual effects first and that one fantasy wise I think will be a lot of fun. Basically on this island, a volcano goes off and a bunch of dragons come out of the volcano and the navy has to fight off these dragons over the Pacific. So that one we film in Utah in June but we’re doing all the visual effects for it first. And we’re also doing one in May called the Christmas Dragon, which is another fantasy film. But it’s in 16th century Europe where a bunch of orphans try to figure out why Father Christmas stopped coming so they end up running away from the monastery to look for Father Christmas and in the process they save this dragon and in turn it helps save Christmas. It will be released this Christmas. And the Crimson Skies won’t be released until 2015.
Strange Sightings in the Netflix Basement: Curse of the Dragon Slayer
I had good fantasy movie ju-ju with Scorpion King IV, so I decided to press my luck with this one. Curse of the Dragon Slayer turns out to be a self-serious action-fantasy that seems inspired by some dude’s Dungeon and Dragons campaign. Shall we venture forth to check it out?
Curse of the Dragon Slayer (2013)
I had to do a tiny bit of research to find out anything about this movie. IMDb has no movie listed with the title Curse of the Dragon Slayer. According to them it’s called SAGA: Curse of the Shadow. So this movie has two totally generic, forgettable titles. Director John Lyde has written/directed/edited and produced about 30 low-budget features and shorts, so I give him a ton of credit for getting this movie made and shown on Netflix. But I won’t give any credit for mediocre plotting and dozens of repetitive orc fights.
The movie starts with a bog-standard fantasy movie world narration. The backstory can be boiled down to, “You’ve seen Lord of the Rings, right? It’s like that, but with fewer castle sets.” The movie opens with an orc riding a dragon. Cool. I like dragons in movies. Then to dispel any wonder and excitement for dragons, a mysterious warrior shoots the dragon out of the sky with a crossbow. In this world, dragons are annoyances and money-sucking special effects that must be avoided at all costs. But since there is the word “Dragon” featured in the title, it’s probably worth the 100 bucks of graphics compositing to include one.
So the warrior takes off her mask to reveal she’s a blonde elf with silly, long, rubber ears.
Arrowstorm EntertainmentDespite falling hundreds of feet off of a plummeting dragon, the orc is unharmed, and they have a sword and kung fu fight. This movie has a lot of Xena:Warrior Princess style fighting where there’s a lot more kicking and punching than using weapons. I would suggest it’s more effective to shove a three foot long blade into a dude’s neck then punching him in the face, but what do I know? I’m not based on someone’s super rad D&D character.
After the elf decapitates the orc Mortal Kombat style, with a splatter of CGI blood onto the camera lens, his dark essence flows into her. Or something. She will be suffering from this affliction for half the movie, making grunts and groans as she resists the awesome power of the dark smudge on her wrist. She also uses the cursed rune like a freemason hand sign to try to infiltrate orc gatherings. She does this at several points. It’s like the orcs were saying, “Hey, clearly non-orc sexy chick, since you know our secret password we can let you into our dark orc cabal. We have coffee and maple oat scones.”
Then we meet our bland hero who is named Keltus the Wanderer, but I will call him McStudly. McStudly is mountain climbing in full armor and gauntlets. So at least the movie is realistic.
Arrowstorm EntertainmentMcStudly finds a rubber-faced Gnome Tinkerer who fires a gun at him. Then they sword fight. You can almost see the 20-sided dice rolling when they were writing this script.
After losing, the gnome whips out a bomb and says, “Now you die,” and throws it at McStudly. McStudly casually tosses the bomb back to the gnome who can only stupidly look at it and utter the two word line everybody utters in bad movies right before they blow up. The first word is “Oh.”
So the cave explodes, but despite standing within bomb-chucking distance of the gnome, McStudly is completely unharmed. That must’ve been a terrible bomb because later even the gnome has survived.
Then comes a horrible scene where an orc warlord with an axe is betrayed by other orcs and there is a clumsy orc insurrection, and all dialogue is spoken in a goofy orc language with subtitles. I am getting a serious whiff of nerd juice coming from this film. And I am pretty sure the filmmakers got the orc armor, weapons, and make-up from Peter Jackson’s garage sale, because damn if that isn’t copyright infringement territory.
McStudly has a scene in a dry lake bed where he talks to a sorceress and we learn the theme of the movie is that McStudly has to believe in himself because he’s the vessel for some sort of holy magic. Honestly, I don’t remember him doing a single good or noble thing in the entire movie to justify this power.
Arrowstorm EntertainmentThe story carries on with lots of fantasy events but little in the way of drama or tension. There are many, many more orc fights, a tussle with a rubber river monster, and a demon fight that in no way reminds you of the Balrog battle in Lord of the Rings. This is the kind of movie with character named Nemyt Akaia, Kullimon the Black, Fangtor Bloodmoon, and Mulva the Mermaid. Seriously, there’s a character in this movie named Mulva the Mermaid.
A lot has been done with an obviously low budget, so again I give the filmmakers credit for getting this made. There is a ton of latex monster make-up, a trove of armor and weapons, some camera trickery to make the Utah landscape look more fantasy-like, and there’s a fair number of so-so CGI monsters. But I cannot support a movie this dumb and generic. Nemyt the Elf is captured and needs to be rescued several times, even though she’s proven herself to be a bad-ass fighter. Because she’s a girl in a fantasy story, and girls always need to be rescued several times, I guess. Kullimon the orc encounters the mermaids who try to lure him to his doom. “I don’t play with fish,” he quips. Instead of using a clever strategy to defeat the mermaids he merely stabs poor Mulva with his knife and they all swim away. McStudly, or should I say Keltus, has a terrible swordfight with a Dark Lord of the Sith wannabe. Keltus loses and the Dark Lord reminds him, “You don’t have enough faith,” and then the Dark Lord walks away without killing him. Why does he let him live? Because the movie would only be an hour long. And we wouldn’t have met Mulva The Mermaid.
Would it surprise you if I said the movie ended with a 15 minute orc fight on a random hillside somewhere outside of Salt Lake City-zania? You know what would’ve been more creative, daring, and made this a more awesome movie? If they let McStudly die and a female elf, an orc, and a gnome tinkerer have to defeat the evil demon at the end. I’d happily watch that movie.
BOTTOM LINE: I haven’t seen too many movies that whole-heartedly embrace the nerdiness of a Dungeons and Dragons style hack and slash adventure like this one does. I guess there is a niche audience made up of people who like brutal violence and kung fu but don’t want an interesting story, good dialogue, or excitement in their fantasy adventures. If you enjoy movies with dialogue like, “Kullimon, so we meet again… For the last time,” then you will probably love this one.
"The Magic Shop" tells the story of a young boy named Oliver and his father, Mr. Cave. One day, while exploring the streets of London, Oliver stumbles upon a unique shop that seems out of place among the more traditional shops in the area.
The shop is owned by an eccentric old man who claims to be a magician. Intrigued by what he sees in the shop's window display, Oliver convinces his father to enter. As they enter the shop, they are greeted by a variety of strange and mystical objects. The old man, who goes by the name Mr. Vandeleur, offers to show them some of his magical items. Throughout the episode, it becomes apparent that Mr. Vandeleur's magic is more than just an illusion. Oliver witnesses a series of inexplicable and sometimes terrifying events, including objects floating in mid-air and people disappearing and reappearing. As the episode progresses, Oliver becomes increasingly curious about the source of Mr. Vandeleur's powers. At one point, Oliver's father becomes concerned about the effect that the magic shop is having on his son and decides they should leave. However, Oliver is captivated by the allure of the shop and refuses to go. As the episode nears its climax, Mr. Vandeleur reveals that the true power of his shop lies not in his magical objects, but in the human mind. He explains that by believing in the magic, people can convince themselves that the impossible is possible. Oliver finally realizes that the magic is not real and that Mr. Vandeleur is a fraud. "The Magic Shop" is a thought-provoking episode that explores themes of illusion and the power of belief. It challenges viewers to question the boundaries between reality and fantasy and highlights the dangers of falling prey to deceit and manipulation. Overall, "The Magic Shop" is an excellent example of the kind of suspenseful and engaging storytelling that Alfred Hitchcock was known for. It captivates viewers with its mysterious premise and thought-provoking themes, leaving them questioning what is real and what is not..
Reviews for "Exploring the Subtext of 'The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: The Magic Shop"
1. Jane Doe - 2 stars - I was really disappointed with "Alfred Hitchcock Hour: The Magic Shop." The story was predictable and lacked any real suspense or thrills. The acting felt forced and stiff, with none of the characters being particularly compelling or believable. The dialogue was also filled with clichés and unnatural lines, making it difficult to fully engage with the plot. Overall, I found this episode to be quite underwhelming and not up to the standards I expect from Alfred Hitchcock's work.
2. John Smith - 1 star - I found "Alfred Hitchcock Hour: The Magic Shop" to be extremely boring and uninteresting. The plot was slow-paced and dragged on without any real payoff or resolution. The story lacked originality and failed to grab my attention or create any sense of suspense. The characters were one-dimensional and lacked depth, making it hard to care about their fates. In my opinion, this episode was a complete waste of time and did not live up to the quality of Alfred Hitchcock's previous works.
3. Sarah Johnson - 2 stars - "Alfred Hitchcock Hour: The Magic Shop" was a letdown for me. I expected a captivating and thrilling mystery, but instead, I found myself bored and unengaged throughout the entire episode. The pacing was off, with too much unnecessary exposition and not enough action or suspense. The plot felt disjointed and confusing, leaving me with more questions than answers. The acting was also quite mediocre, lacking the intensity and charisma I associate with Hitchcock productions. Overall, I was disappointed with this episode and would not recommend it to fellow viewers.