Hydra

Hydra

Hydra

Another feeble variation on the classic film 'The Most Dangerous Game' which was released in 1932 but has still not been surpassed. Particularly by this film. A group of millionaire hunters go to a remote island to hunt kidnapped people. Unfortunately on the island is a monstrous hydra that likes eating people. It's mainly people running around but shot in a boring way. As for the hydra itself, well it's pathetic CGI and looks scary as a dormouse. In fact I've seen scarier dormice. In the cast Alex McArthur is entertaining as the organiser of the hunt but the rest of the actors are colourless. The guy playing Captain Sweet seems to speak his dialogue in a blank monotone that is probably meant to express villainy but comes out as comical. Cinematically there are no visual treats, apart of course from Jana Williams in a bikini.

I have witnessed a lot of films in my time. Originally scored for the SyFy channel on television and released on DVD, this film is embarrassing. The scenery is pathetic, editing is sloppy and my god the acting performances are forced and generic. The Hydra monster is a critical piece in the story and falls off the grid in originality. The story has a similar ring to it as 2007 The Condemned where people are taken prisoner and hunted for sport so to speak. A very "C" style script with no real creativity. I yawned most of the way through the film 1/10

This film would have been better without the monster. An uninspired retelling of The Most Dangerous Game, it benefits from attractive locations and technically competent film-making - good lighting and frame composition etc. OK, so the acting's no great shakes, but it would still be an OK thriller. Except that someone messed up quite a lot of the movie by putting this really bad CGI Hydra in it and then requiring the cast members to act as if it was really there while the special effects people integrated the really bad CGI Hydra into the shots. Really badly. I can't emphasise enough - the Hydra itself is poor. Shame, really.

As much I want to like it I didnt last 10 minutes, really not worth it.

What is it with the Skiffy Channel and giant snake like things? The plot- We open with an expedition to a Greek Island where the male participants are all gruesomely eaten by the cheap CGI Hyrda. The lone female participant survives to watch the ship that brought her there sink in an equally cheap CGI sequence. Okay, after the Opening Credits, we get to the meat of the story. Four rich guys have paid 10 million each to hunt down four convicted felons. Except three of them are actually NICE felons. One is an ex-Green Beret who organizes them into fighting back. Except a little problem. The Hydra is on the Island, too. The encounter the surviving scientist girl, who looks pretty good considering she hasn't had a bath or change of clothes in two months. She tells them she'll help them escape if they find the Sword of Hercules (and any good student of Greek Mythology knows it's Heracles, but never mind.) We get lots of shots of the Hydra eating heavily armed goons. Another observation. Two female characters are killed in the course of the movie. Is there some Hollywood rule that women have to be killed less graphically then men? All the guys are literally torn to pieces with lots of blood and gore. (Okay, bad CGI blood and gore, but never mind.) The chicks are killed out of frame. Not that I want to see that kind of thing, really, but why the double standard? Okay, this is better than MOST Skiffy channel snakes eat lots of people movies, but that isn't saying much. It really doesn't take any chances, the people you expect to get killed are and the ones you expect to survive (the ones where the script has built sympathy for) do. Come on, Skiffy, come up with some original ideas!

Hydra starts as four complete strangers wake up in a dark room chained up, they quickly deduce that they have been kidnapped, are on-board a ship & the only thing they have in common is that they have all spent time in prison for serious crimes. It soon becomes clear what is going on, a guy named Vincnet (Alex McArthur) & US army Captain Sweet (Michael Shamus Wiles) have organised a hunting trip for four ultra rich businessmen who have had some aspect of their lives ruined by criminals in some way & the four kidnapped cons soon find out they are what the rich blokes are going to hunt & kill for sport & satisfaction. The four unwilling hunt participant's are dropped off on a seemingly deserted & uncharted island but they & their hunters quickly realise that the island is home a huge multi-headed Snake like creature from Greek mythology know as the Hydra & it has a liking for human flesh... Directed by Andrew Prendergast I have to say that Hydra turned out much, much better than I thought it would & is actually the first half decent Sci-Fi Channel 'Creature Feature' that I have seen in absolutely ages & I've seen quite a few of the things. Don't get me wrong, Hydra is no masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but I did actually find it quite enjoyable. For a start the plot has slightly more to it than usual & plays out like a cross between The Most Dangerous Game (1932) & Turkey Shoot (1982) with it's organised hunt with human prey plot, an Indiana Jones film with it's fantasy archaeological angle & your typical Sci-Fi Channel 'Creature Feature' with the title beast which is a lot better & cooler than most. In Hydra we get a giant multi-headed Snake like creature that rips people to pieces on sight which is good enough for me although it's never given any sort of back-story & is merely presented in the film 'as is'. The character's are alright, the dialogue serviceable & it moves along at a decent enough pace with enough kills & action to keep ones interest. I didn't like how this giant Hydra creature could just appear out of nowhere without anyone hearing or seeing it coming, the story could have been more developed & more could have been made of the hunt & the cons fight for survival since that aspect of the plot seems to just be there to get a group of people on the island & not much else. The production values are alright, it looks a little cheap at times but it's not too bad. Usually these Sci-Fi Channel 'Creature Features' serve up some of the worst CGI computer effects imaginable & while the effects in Hydra aren't exactly amazing they are better than usual with a fairly fearsome & cool looking central monster. There's some gore here, several people get ripped apart, there's a severed hand, someones head is bitten off & there's a decent amount of blood. With a supposed budget of about $700,000 this looks quite good compared to a lot of low budget horror out there. The acting is alright but nothing special. Hydra is yet another Sci-Fi Channel 'Creature Feature' with a CGI central monster, an isolated location & various character's for it to kill but the main difference with Hydra is that it works quite well & is fairly watchable if you know what to expect. Better than I had anticipated & actually quite good.

The movie is amusing in most parts of it. The plot is OK for a TV movie, but the movie could've been more amusing if the creature was something more ghostly or mysterious, instead of the bad CGI and his rapid inorganic movement speed. The characters buildup was not that properly orchestrated, makes sense to me with all these characters around, but at least the lead character must have got special treatment, there. Acting is pale. Blood is not real, and camera shooting angles – my son could've done better job. I wish most of the killing were done by the hunted, which may have made the movie more plausible. Also I don't know how the scientist survived the bare island that long. And she was in good shape when she found them. I don't know how long she had to endure this monster chase and the island conditions. Will guys I watched this flick till the end for one reason: the ladies were nice to watch acting :)