Wyvern

Well done monster flick in a small town of the Great Northwest

An Alaskan hamlet is attacked by some sort of dragon-like creature, recently awoken from its long frozen hibernation.

Released to TV, "Wyvern" (2009) was directed by the great 'B' monster flick director Stephen R. Monroe, who also did "Sasquatch Mountain," "Ogre", "It Waits" and the remake of "I Spit on Your Grave" (2010).

I liked how the story is taken seriously without being dead-serious. The characters seem real and three-dimensional. One of the main roles is Claire, played by Erin Karpluk, one of the most winsome girl-next-door types to walk the face of the earth.

Meanwhile the dragon isn't just causing havoc without rhyme or reason; it has a plan. The CGI is effective enough considering the budget and time period.

The ending is an obvious homage to Spielberg's excellent 1971 TV flick "Duel."

So if you enjoy contemporaneous monster-in-the-woods flicks like "Goblin," "It Waits" and "Ogre" you'll likely appreciate "Wyvern," which is on par with "Goblin" but a bit better than the other two.

The movie runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was filmed in Vancouver, BC.

GRADE: B