After his father's death, a young man finds that the long-lost sister of his girlfriend has resurfaced with the needed part to a map to a great treasure only to find a strange creature raised and targeting the group forcing them to deal with it while finding the treasure.
This here was quite the fun and enjoyable offering. What really makes this one work is the fact that it displays quite a lot of impressive elements familiar with more traditional offerings. The opening here, where the creature is seen roaming the underground catacombs gives this a solid start while leading nicely into the need to capture the evil magician, as well as the rescue of the kidnapping daughters, sets this off on a rather fun action-packed note with a bit more of a truly international flair. The search for the treasure out in the wilderness comes off rather fun with the multitude of fist-fights against the henchmen and their initial struggles in getting to the mansion for safety require them to run into the creature in the underground catacombs while the whole affair taking place during a raging thunderstorm gives it a chilling atmosphere that's incredibly impressive. That carries on into the first exploration of the caves where they come into contact with the creature for the first time who launches several great strikes against the two groups which make the scenes rather fun as well as getting the atmosphere from the creepy location. There's also the great fun of fighting the creature inside the temple, where it leads several really chilling encounters against the villagers trying to stop it as there's plenty to enjoy in the extended one-on-one fight with the friend or the numerous tactics of the villagers to stop it which make for a thrilling finale as they utilize quite an inventive technique to finally stop it. As well, the fact that this one doesn't indulge in as many other fabled elements from the genre here where it doesn't really indulge in useless tangents to add on to the running time, only has two musical numbers and really tones down the silly, slapstick comedy really give this a boost. That makes for a universal feeling here where it still has plenty of local flavor but isn't strictly trapped in with so many elements as to make it strictly identifiable as belonging to that region. Along with the great atmosphere here while at the hotel or underground in the caves, these here really make this one feel quite international in approach which gives this a fun and appealing style. While these here make it work, there are a few minor flaws here. The main issue is the fact that there's little need for the lecherous companion here as his storyline doesn't amount to anything other than the repetition of the same thing over and over and even manages to cause the film to run in circles which causes the film to run a little too long as it has to deal with his storyline that really didn't need to be there. The other small factor here is the confusion over the creatures' origins, which is given two distinct possible origins and very little of the film makes it clear what he's supposed to be. Otherwise, this one was quite the impressive effort.
Rated Unrated/PG: Violence.
