Stargate Archives

Chupacabra vs The Alamo

On the latest Stargate Theatre we take a look at the 2013 tv movie “Chupacabra vs The Alamo” aka Beast of the Alamo which stars Erik Estrada and Julia Benson with Aleks Paunovic, Zak Santiago, Nicole Muñoz and a few other faces we’ve seen in Stargate. The movie was made for the Syfy channel and is set in and around the Alamo in San Antonio as a rash of deaths beginning with the slaughter of some cartel members puts extreme pressure on DEA agent Carlos Seguin (Erik) and his new partner Tracy Taylor (Julia).

Investigating the strange deaths leads to the discovery of a strange canine like creature and while those in power (including Carlos) dismiss the idea of the mythical Chupacabra being responsible after the death of Agent Perez (Aleks), Agent Taylor along with Dr. Michael Fielding (Matthew Harrison) continue to gather evidence. The Chupacabra pack then attack a party on the high school grounds and then directly attack the home of Carlos and kill his daughters friend and leaving Sienna (Nicole) in hospital. With more reports of animal attacks coming in and the National Guard a day away from deploying Carlos goes to his estranged son Tommy (Jorge Vargas) who leads his own criminal crew to ask for help (men and guns) to protect the people of San Antonio, for family Tommy agress and the group are bolstered by off duty DEA and SWAT personnel led by Commander Wilcox (Zak).

They track the Chupacabra pack and engage them in a derelict building but the humans have walked into a trap, battered and with over 50% casualties the group evade and then barricade themselves in the Alamo where Crockett (Chad Krowchuk) allows them to use the vintage weapons to defend themselves along with one or two grenades and C4. Faced with overwhelming odds the humans fight to the last with only one chance to defeat the vicious pack with no guarantee any of them will survive.

Chupacabra vs The Alamo was an entertaining movie but not a good movie and the lack of budget ($2 Million) for certain aspects was jarring but they didn’t skimp on acting talent even for smaller roles. Erik naturally is perfect for this role, an alpha male with some charisma with the rest of the cast being big players in the Vancouver acting community and it was great to see so many faces from Stargate including David Nykl in a very small role. The green screen for showing Erik riding his motorbike was poor to say the least, I suspect insurance and production complexity limited the shots they could get with him and the bike and while a double was used we did see Erik doing his thing in a few scenes. The Chupacabra design was uninspiring and the CGI pretty poor but the animation merging with the stunt work was very good and they used some fast movement and editing to good effect. Overall this is worth a watch and spot the actor.

Thanks for visiting the site and listening to the show, if you want to join me on the podcast to talk Stargate or a movie with Stargate links then please get in touch, I normally record just audio using skype and a headset so a pretty easy process. At time of writing I have yet to decide what I will cover next but lots of DVD’s to sort through and always Prime which is packed with “b” movies.

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We’re back with Stargate Theatre and Morlocks aka Time Machine: Rise of the Morlocks which was a production for Syfy and released in 2011, it starred David Hewlett and Robert Picardo with Christina Cole and Daniel Caltagirone in supporting roles. The story takes its inspiration from the H.G. Wells Time Machine novel but fails to live upto the excellent 1960 movie starring Rod Taylor but no one would be surprised about that.

The movie has a cold start with a number of US soldiers scanning an area for survivors, we are not told where they are but when they are attacked by strange creatures and only two soldiers escape and make use of a portal to appear moments later in a lab. We then meet James Radnor (Hewlett) who is an author and former scientist, he once worked on a top secret time travel project and after a failure in the project he abandoned his research and left the project. The dead soldiers and two survivors are the result of a further failure which forces the projects leader Colonel Wichita (Picardo) to send James’s ex-wife Angela (Cole) to sweet talk him back. It takes some doing by James finally agrees and along with a squad of soldiers ventures into the future to recover “the latch” the device which anchors the two time zones together making travel possible. Colonel Wichita we learn is operating well beyond his remit, his son is dying from cancer and as he learns that the Morlocks have superior regenerative abilities and is desperate to get DNA samples regardless of the cost even if it means the lives of those under his command. We see that this future world is broken and populated by strange beasts, human civilisation seems to have long gone but the soldiers soon encounter a strange large bird like creature, very aggressive and the soldiers go through their ammunition very quickly. They get unexpected back up from highly camouflaged soldiers who it’s revealed were the last survivors of the initial project failure which caused James to leave thinking he was responsible for their deaths. Together the two teams fight off the beasts and later return to their camp in the remnants of the lab (moved through time but not space). Alas the Morlocks breach the barricades and a bloody firefight erupts, not everyone escapes but they continue to track the latch to an old dam where the Morlocks spend their day resting being nocturnal. Blood once again is spilt in securing the latch and returning to their own time but with an open portal the Morlocks follow forcing humanity to fight for its survival many many years before they were due to vanish from the Earth…

Morlocks took its inspiration from an excellent story and really required a larger budget to do this version some justice. The CGI is perhaps the weakest element of the production followed closely by the main research complex set which however looks far better in the future with so much destroyed. The cast however is very strong, two very competent leads and excellent supporting actors who all deliver and that can make all the difference in getting a viewer to become invested. Overall an average scifi tv movie which is a must watch for fans of David Hewlett or a die hard fan of the genre.

Many thanks for listening to the latest Stargate Theatre and I am always looking for guest to talk Stargate or indeed a Stargate related tv “b” movie so feel free to get in touch if you want to join me on the podcast. We are on social media with twitter being our most busy portal and if you want to rate or review any of our episodes we would appreciate that. Next time well not sure, have yet to decide but I do have some movies in my DVD collection and Prime is a huge resource for “b” movies. Take care, keep watching and sharing all things Stargate.

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The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon from 2008 is the latest movie I am taking a look at under the Stargate Theatre banner, the movie stars Michael Shanks and Shannen Doherty with JR Bourne and others who will be familiar to Stargate fans.

The movie begins with an archaeological expedition led by Professor Sam Jordan played by Duncan Fraser which is being pursued by native warriors who do not appreciate their society being plundered by outsiders, there are deaths but events take a twist when a beast appears and attacks both groups. We then cut to a base camp deep with the canyons which is being overlooked by the Professor’s daughter Susan Jordan (Shannen) herself an archeologist along with fellow experts Jacob Thain (Shanks), Marco Langford (Bourne) and Hildy Wainwright ( Heather Doerksen ). A group led by Susan go in search of her father and eventually find themselves faced with a huge canyon wall but with Jacob’s expertise they find a secret passage and find themselves in an Aztec society cut off from the outside world with their own very real deity who feasts on the hearts of sacrificed men and women. The group face many challenges in search of the Professor and just to survive, as one by one they fall to traps and capture it is left to Jacob to once again use his knowledge to sway the High Priest and the people when he faces down their god.

As you can imagine that was a brief synopsis, the movie is more complex but not terribly fast paced which doesn’t keep the viewers interest. That said the acting is fine, the script is nothing special but the production is not bad at all and even through the beast/god CGI lacks finesse there are times the cinematographer and director make it look quite spectacular. Michael Shanks as Jacob puts in a good performance as there is certainly character growth and JR Bourne scene steals with the bad boy Marco. Shannen however has little to do and the rest of the supporting cast contribute to the extent of their roles. The movie could have been better if was faster paced but I think they had issues with runtime but if you are a fan of Shanks etc they by all means sit back and enjoy the mystery and adventure.

As always if you fancy joining me on the podcast to talk Stargate then pick an episode and we can arrange a time to suit everyone and chat via skype etc. Reviews and ratings are always welcome as is any sharing of the podcast on social media so keep on watching Stargate and those involved in bringing the show and the characters to the screen.

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Welcome to the new episode of Stargate Theatre part of the Stargate Archives podcast and this week I am looking at the 2009 monster movie “Wyvern” which debuted on the Scifi channel Jan 31st of that year. The movie is set in the small Alaskan town of Beaver Mills which is a couple of days away from summer solstice and the ending of two months of continuous daylight. Climate change is shrinking the glaciers and as one tumbles into the ocean the Wyvern is released, it seeks out a source of food and finds a feeding ground and nesting site around Beaver Mills.

The movie begins with the first kill as the Wyvern munches on a local fisherman played by Dave Ward (our first Stargate actor) and then spends some time in Beaver Mills especially the local cafe introducing the bulk of the characters. Colonel Travis played by the late Don S. Davis is the next local to have contact with the Wyvern when a moose head falls into his hot tub. The lives of the townsfolk continue to come under threat as the Wyvern begins to feed and build its nest and Doc Yates ( David Lewis ) is the next to fall foul of the beast. To be honest the plot of the movie is pretty generic but works thanks to some good casting and acting as well as perfectly fine monster CGI, not great but good for the time. The choice to make this a small town helps in the story telling backed by the idea that a lot of the town goes south as two months of daylight is not great for the psyche. When they need locals to populate the festival crowd they spend the money to get them but hey there is a great big monster so the next scene there is just blood everywhere, it’s great when plot aligns wonderfully with production budget. The two leads of the movie Jake and Claire ( Nick Chinlund & Erin Karpluk ) work well together, definite chemistry there and Jake the outsider has a good if limited backstory which actually plays a part in the salvation of the town if not the world. Without going into too much detail townsfolk die often in gruesome ways, heroic attempts fail but eventually working together there are survivors although explaining the events of the last few days may be tricky for them.

Wyvern has a number of actors who we’ve seen in Stargate and the overall production is pretty impressive for a movie in this budget and genre. While the movie may not live beyond cult or genre fan range one thing it does have is the soundtrack which was composed by Pinar Toprak who went on to much bigger and better things including Krypton, Stargirl and Captain Marvel. I will highly recommend the movie for all the reasons mentioned and even the DVD is well presented but lacking features and a HD version has appeared on various streaming services.

Thanks again for listening to the show, I hope you check out the movie and if you do let me know what you thought. If you want to join me on the podcast to talk about a “b” movie with some Stargate connections or even a Stargate episode itself then get in touch and we can arrange a time to chat. You can find us on various social media platforms and podcasts portals so any ratings and/or reviews are always welcome. Take care and keep watching Stargate.

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Ferocious Planet

Well meaning scientists once again cause trouble in the tv movie “Ferocious Planet” which is the subject of this new episode of Stargate Theatre part of the Stargate Archives. This movie stars Joe Flanigan who recently spent a mighty fine five years playing Colonel John Shepherd on Stargate Atlantis and here he plays Colonel Sam Synn a discredited US Marine who is providing security for a research project at the Federal Science Institute.

A visiting Senator played by John Rhys-Davies and his party arrive to see a demonstration of the work being done by Dr. Jillian O'Hara ( Dagmar Döring ) which is revealed to be a form of cold fusion but which powers a device that has the ability to reveal alternate dimensions. The Senator is not impressed but Dr Karen Fast representing the White House is interested especially if this technology could lead to interdimensional travel and potential contact with other intelligences. However an energy spike causes the machine to hiccup and everyone is knocked unconscious and upon awakening this handful of people find themselves trapped in another world one that has little respect for humanity.

Colonel Synn attempts to protect the people and a recon of the immediate area reveals a number of very dangerous creatures which underscore their threat level by quickly munching on a number of the survivors. Dr O’Hara reveals the device is damaged but repairable but needs a lot of water as part of the cold fusion process and there is none in the immediate vicinity. The decision to explore their immediate world is undertaken and in the far distance a huge tower is visible indicating this world has technological life, Dr Fast intent on first contact convinces the Colonel to explore the option by splitting the survivors into two groups. One group takes the device and looks for a water source and the other heads towards the tower where they expect to find life or barring that resources including water. Naturally neither party has a stress free adventure and all involved end up fighting for their lives as the clock ticks down to the point where this dimension moves to far out of sync with the prime reality and return is impossible.

Ferocious Planet was an entertaining action scifi movie with some solid but not spectacular performances from an above average cast. Joe Flanigan was easily capable of a more dynamic performance given a better script and John Rhys-Davies was wasted but credit to the talent of the Irish acting community which the movie drew upon to fill the majority of the roles, many of the cast have excellent resumes. The majority of the location shooting was competent but as is often the case the CGI fell short but we kinda go into movies like this not expecting to be blown away. The movie is well worth a watch and while not original more then keeps you interested.

Many thanks for visiting/listening to this latest Stargate Theatre offering, if you have a “B” movie featuring a Stargate actor you would like to chat about I would love to hear from you and definitely if you have a favoured Stargate episode you would like to discuss. I’ve got an itch for a dragon type movie next but at this time still a few consideration, stay tuned and subscribed to find out. Ratings and reviews on your podcatchers are most welcome and social media sharing most welcome.

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Stargate Theatre

Stonehenge Apocalypse

Stonehenge Apocalypse is the latest movie I am taking a look at under the Stargate Theatre banner and this made for tv movie stars Misha Collins and Torri Higginson along with other notable actors we have seen on Stargate including Peter Wingfield, Michael Kopsa, David Lewis and Aaron Pearl. The movie premiered in 2010 on the US Syfy channel and globally on the Syfy platform over the next few years along with DVD releases in 2010 and 2011.

Far below the town of Waterstone in Maine a well armed and guarded mining operation is underway led by the archaeologist/scientist Dr Joseph Leshem ( Hill Harper ), a wall is found covered in pictographs and hieroglyphics and when he takes a golden Ankh from a case it embeds itself into the wall and an energy discharge takes place. Meanwhile a group of tourists are visiting Stonehenge in England when the central altar begins to glow and the stones start to revolve, lightning is discharged between the stones and as the people flee a pulse of energy is released which vaporises them. Dr Jacob Glaser ( Misha Collins ) a discredited yet brilliant scientist is hosting his conspiracy themed radio show when he hears about the events at Stonehenge and the fact that the army has cordoned off the area. He contacts his former colleague (Joseph) who remains timelipped over his specific discovery but armed with nothing but the desire for the truth Jacob heads to Stonehenge.

Dr Kaycee Leeds played by Torri Higginson and Dr John Trousdale ( Peter Wingfield ) are heading the team who are investigating Stonehenge and they discover that the soil composition has changed and Kaycee barely escapes with her life as once again the energy pulse discharges from the monoliths. Jacob is apprehended in the vicinity and his research is discovered, he believes that there are huge primordial energy conduits that span the globe with certain places on Earth that can access this energy marked buy constructs built by ancient societies. The pyramids at Giza, Yucatan Peninsula and Java are such sights along with Stonehenge and many more and Jacob believes they could elements of a terraforming system which made out world so many millennia ago and may once again be gearing up to cleanse the planet and begin again…

Stonehenge Apocalypse is a fast paced and fun disaster movie with an impressive and respetable cast of actors who bring life to a wide variety of characters who for the most part suite the narrative perfectly. Misha is great as the driven but disgraced scientist and Torri the one who puts aside her rigid beliefs and is willing to listen. The Military characters are as stubborn as you would expect but even there we see some flexibility as the events unfold and Dr Trousdale is wonderful played by Peter. The downside of the movie is that well location shooting was very good the CGI used for the pyramids and surrounding areas were pretty poor, it may be a choice to spend money on the cast or location shooting and just go with basic CGI elements but it hurt the movie. All in all though a fun movie and well worth sitting down to watch, even more so if you can kibitz along because ain’t that what a “b” movie is for?

My thanks for listening to my take on Stonehenge Apocalypse and if you would like to join me to discuss a movie with Stargate actors links or a Stargate episode itself then please get in touch. Any ratings and reviews are welcome on Apple podcasts or where ever you listen to your podcasts, sharing and liking our social media posts is also appreciated. The next episode from the podcast has yet to be decided but I am leaning towards another monster themed movie, I hope you tune in and find out.

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Welcome to another episode of Stargate Theatre part of the Stargate Archives podcast, this episode is taking a look at the 2001 scifi/horror movie Jason X which featured Stargate actors Lexa Doig and Chuck Campbell. This movie is the tenth in the Friday The 13th franchise and didn’t do well critically or at the boxoffice but for me it’s easily the most enjoyable “jason” movie.

The movie opens with Jason secured at the Crystal Lake Research Facility however the military are intent on taking him for their own research, naturally he escapes and butchers everyone apart from Rowan ( Lexa Doig ) a scientist/administrator at this facility. Jason plays cat and mouse with Rowan before she leads him into a trap and he is frozen in a cryo chamber seconds after compromising the seal which floods the room with gas and also traps a wounded Rowan. Nearly 5 centuries later the long abandoned Earth is visited by a salvage/archaeological group who discover Rowan and Jason, their technology will revive Rowan but Jason is no more that a very well preserved museum piece.

As you may expect when they return to their ship in orbit of Earth all hell breaks loose, they fix Rowan and when she learns they also have the body of Jason she informs them that he can not be killed but it’s too late, the killing spree has begun. The Marines onboard make a valiant effort to stop Jason but one by one they fall leaving only a handful of people left including the android Kay-EM 14 played by Lisa Ryder and her better half Tsunaron played by Chuck Campbell. In the tradition of slasher movies the kills are bloody and in some cases very inventive and we even get a Jason vs Android battle which was entertaining but even then as Jason is defeated it lays the groundwork for his return bigger and badder. We then get one of the best moments in the movie as the survivors use the ships hologram system to emulate Crystal Lake allowing Jason to experience the original era including two young women eager to ply him with beer, weed and premarital sex. As is the norm the movie wraps with one or two survivors and in theory the bad guy vanquished but maybe just maybe there is a way back for the force of nature that is Jason.

Jason X is such a fun movie, more in the realm of “b” movie it has to be said but they spent the budget reasonably well and cast the movie appropriately. Most of the sets were very good, the CGI was hit and miss but there was some very respectable playback visuals and a very good title sequence. Give this movie a go if you are into scifi and like a little cheese in your slasher flick, there are certainly worse examples of the genre out there.

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On this episode of Stargate Theatre I am taking a look at the 2012 Corin Nemec starring movie “Sand Sharks”. Corin plays Jimmy a slick piece of work who returns to his home town with the intent to organise a spring break music festival. While the Sheriff isn’t happy to see Jimmy back the Mayor (Jimmy’s Dad) is delighted with the plan which would bring in lots of revenue to a depressed economy. Naturally the first few deaths are not attributed to a shark let along a sand shark but it soon becomes apparent after the arrival of Doctor Powers the evidence of a predator and an unusual one at that is too strong to ignore. Jimmy of course looks to get the beaches back open and fakes a shark capture, that is derailed once again by Doctor Powers ( Sandy played by Brooke Hogan ). However as luck would have it as the power cabling to the island is being worked on the sand shark attacks and is partially vaporised by the electrical current, happiness abounds and the beaches are back open and the festival gets underway.

Jimmy is delighted but if you’ve seen a shark movie then you know it’s not all over and yes the shark that was killed was just one of many and a feeding frenzy gets underway thanks to the abundance of partiers on the beaches. A hail mary idea is dreamt up and the sharks are drawn into a trap, will it work and if it does will any of our heroes survive?

Sand Sharks is a well produced “B” movie with an appropriate budget which has been well spent on one or two good performers and plenty of good location shooting. That said the CGI is a let down although there isn’t that much of it and do we really want realistic CGI sharks in this sort of movie? The biggest upside is Corin who chews up all he scenery and the biggest downside is the very limited role Gina Holden undertakes. At the end of the day this is an entertaining shark movie.

As always I would love to hear from you, feel free to get in touch via social media etc and if you want to come on the podcast and talk Stargate or pick a movie for this Theatre feature I would love to hear from you. Up next is… you’ll have to wait and find out but it is a favourite of mine and part of a long running franchise.

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Welcome to the first edition of Stargate Theatre as I watch and comment on movies (Theatrical and TV) that feature the regular cast members of Stargate or contain multiple appearances from semi-regular or significant guest stars. This format also allows me to do a single voice podcast as arranging for people to join me has proven harder than expected and we all have better things to be doing with our time.

On the premiere of this particular show format is the Michael Shanks environmental disaster movie “Arctic Blast” which was released in 2010 and is very much a “B” movie although truth be told is no worse than many big budget movies in the same genre, it just doesn’t look as good CGI wise.

So in Arctic Blast we have the scientist Jack Tate ( Michael Shanks ) who works for an environmental research group called ICRO (International Climate Research Organisation) whose ship alas for its crew are at the focal point of an atmospheric rift which allows super cold air to strike the surface of the planet and flash freeze everything in its path. This sets the scene for a hard working and often ignored number of individuals trying to do the right thing as innocents die and the powers particularly Walter Winslow ( Bruce Davison ) that be say they know best. As the death toll mounts and the rifts in the atmosphere appear around the globe it all comes down to the research and courage of a handful of people. Naturally a good amount of melodrama is thrown into the mix as Jack is on the verge of a divorce and his daughter is in conflict with him plus a hint of a workplace romance as well. You see what I mean, Arctic Blast is just 2012 or The Day After Tomorrow on a much smaller budget.

Overall this is perfectly acceptable disaster movie as long as you accept the limitations of the production. The script needed more work and certainly much of the CGI was not good but the location shooting was well done and they spent their budget well on military stock footage. The acting was perfectly acceptable, none of the major characters were lacking in terms of script delivery but only so much an actor can do with any dialogue but again you know what you are getting with a movie like this.

So that was Arctic Blast, worth a watch if like me you like the “B” movies and I’ll admit I will probably doing a lot of movies in this budget range, just saying that the Vancouver production area churned out a lot of such productions and drew on the same talent pool as Stargate.

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What appears to be a routine mission to a world that looks well lovely the team enter the gate and to them step out into the SGC, they find out that 15 hours have passed and they are immediately sent to the infirmary. Dr Fraiser discovers that each of the team have an alien device embedded in their brains and it is radiating energy and very soon they begin to hear someone talking to them and then a man appears (only seen by them) and introduced himself as Urgo (Dom DeLuise). They learn his some sort of alien intelligence that is learning and experiencing humanity throw them and thus while he claims he can control them he had a level of suggestion at his disposal. Sam of course comes up with a solution based on using an EMP device and after a few days of believing she has vanquished the entity he returns more annoying than ever.

Urgo is a very funny and entertaining episode made so by the having Dom DeLuise as the titular character and allowing him to have free reign with his lines, the guy was made for comedic improvisation and while we do have a DVD commentary much has been said in interviews to how difficult it was to work alongside Dom and keep a straight face. The humour aside the story proposes an alien race as desperate to learn about the galaxy as humanity but employs an avatar to search our knowledge. The idea that this AI could begin to search for experiences and answers for itself was well portrayed and overall added some more depth to an episode. A highly recommended episode but we know that the Stargate fanbase can be fickle and humour is selective.

My thanks to Jeff for joining me just before christmas to record this episode he chose and boy did we have some technical issues. Skype refused to work correctly and since Jeff is a teacher and has been using Zoom during the pandemic I downloaded and installed the app and used the recording function. I also ran an PC audio recorder as back up so was confident everything would be fine, it wasn’t. Zoom recorded only seven seconds and the backup only recorded Jeff so that left with the interesting task of recording my side of the conversation as I didn’t want to bother Jeff during the festivities. I think it came out ok but the length of the podcast is shorter than expected but a strong reminder, double check everything before recording.

As always thanks for listening and a review or rating on your podcast app is always appreciated as is following or interacting via social media. If you want to join me on the podcast and chat about your favourite Stargate episode feel free to get in touch and we can sort something out.

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