Having just premiered a movie about a killer ice monster stomping around the Arctic Circle, Syfy is now off to greener pastures – the jungle to be precise – with their next offering, Mandrake (originally titled Unearthed). Syfy has just made available three clips showcasing Betsy Russell (Saw III-3D), Max Martini (“The Unit”), and Benito Martinez (“The Shield”) in the jungle battling bloodthirsty tree monsters.
B-movie actor-producer stalwart Andrew Stevens and Tripp Reed (director of those Walking Tall DVD sequels that starred Kevin Sorbo) are behind Mandrake, premiering on Syfy September 11th at 9/8 Central, with the usual replay at midnight-ish. After watching these snippets Syfy has provided, I’m now actually looking forward to Mandrake. The effects look fairly solid, and we’re long overdue for a fun killer tree monster flick. Been too long since the likes of Navy vs. the Night Monsters, The Woman Eater, and Maneater of Hydra.
Anyone that ever watched “The Shield” already knows that Aceveda would do whatever he had to save his own skin, and that legacy of conniving continues when you see what he does to an unfortunate female in this first scene from Mandrake.
Murderous vegetation continues to have it in for the fairer sex in the second clip. This scene showcases restless natives sacrificing a female explorer by tying her to a monument that appears to have been erected in honor of Golden Bat as killer tree roots slither forth in a manner that led me to believe they were seriously considering some tentacle rape action.
No killer plant action in the third clip. Just 64 seconds of natives killing white people while ransacking a base camp. I probably wouldn’t have posted this scene if I were making the call.