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Hydra

Hydra (2009) Movie Poster
USA  •    •  94m  •    •  Directed by: Andrew Prendergast.  •  Starring: George Stults, Dawn Olivieri, Michael Shamus Wiles, Alex McArthur, Texas Battle, Polly Shannon, James Wlcek, Ricco Ross, Roark Critchlow, William Gregory Lee, Dwayne Adway, Jana Williams, Paul Rae.  •  Music by: Gregory Tripi.
        Former Marine Tim Nolan has been kidnapped with three convicts, transported to a deserted island and forced to participate in a deadly game. The super rich pay a fortune to hunt human prey. But the island isn't deserted - it's home to Hydra the Beast!

Trailers:

   Length:  Languages:  Subtitles:
 1:18
 

Review:

Image from: Hydra (2009)
Image from: Hydra (2009)
Image from: Hydra (2009)
Image from: Hydra (2009)
Image from: Hydra (2009)
Image from: Hydra (2009)
Image from: Hydra (2009)
Image from: Hydra (2009)
Image from: Hydra (2009)
"Evil Elvis" director Andrew Prendergast and "Blind Injustice" scenarist Peter Sullivan have appropriated the venerable manhunt plot from "The Most Dangerous Game" and bolstered the danger by adding a Hydra, the chimerical, multi-headed snake from Greek mythology, to their contemporary horror epic. In "Hydra," three unfortunate men and one woman serve as the hunted on an uninhabited island while four wealthy safari hunters, who've anted up $10-million a piece, stalk them for the thrill of the kill. "I think whoever comes to this island is going to be in for real surprise," one of the four hunted observes with insight. This line of ominous dialogue exemplifies the effective use of dramatic irony. Essentially, dramatic irony means that the audience knows more about what is going to happen than the characters. Sadly, Sullivan's screenplay suffers from the loquacity of too much exposition about each character, the island and their respective predicaments. Most of the dialogue sounds amateurish. Not even seasoned performers can make much out of this gabble.

"Hydra" opens with four archeologists exploring an unknown island. A simmering volcano triggers tremors repeatedly and eventually these four encounter a gigantic reptile with three heads that assuages its appetite for human flesh. The beast dines on one of the four archeologists. The lone survivor, Dr. Valerie Cammon (Polly Shannon of "Snowboard Academy"), plunges into the jungle. The scene shifts to a tramp freighter named the Aegeas somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea. Four egotistical big game hunters have paid Vincent Camden (Alex McArthur of the "Desperado" movies) $10-million dollars each to hunt convicted criminals. Each of the hunters has experienced heartbreak of some kind because a criminal deprived one of their loved ones of life. When the island that Camden has plied the seas for disappears, Aegeas captain, Mr. Sweet (Michael Shamus Wiles of "Fight Club") and his second-in-command, Mr. Winters (Dwayne Adway of "Soul Plane"), plot a course for another island.

The uncharted island that they locate and schedule the hunt on is the home of the Hydra. Camden has kidnapped three convicted killers. Gwen Russo (Dawn Olivieri of "Heroes") killed her abusive husband with a shotgun. Ronnie Kaplan (Texas Battle of "Dragonball Evolution") tanked up on booze and killed a woman in an automobile collision. Bob Crick (James Wicek of "Steel Magnolias") raped three Auburn University students. Mr. Sweet added a fourth, Tim Nolan (George Stults of "Super Capers"), a former Special Forces soldier, who was under his control in Iraq. Camden believes that a higher justice will be served by killing these four for sport. What he doesn't know is that Mr. Sweet has a grudge against Nolan. They release the prisoners the night before the hunt commences on the island, and Nolan assures his companions that they have to work together if they hope to stay alive.

Meantime, four of Mr. Sweet's hired help encounter the Hydra. Each time they blast away at it without realizing the trouble they have setting themselves for up. Additional heads replace the blasted heads, and the henchmen die. Nolan sets up several booby-traps and one of the four hunters, Williams (Paul Rae of "Coach Carter"), trips one and ends up with a stake through his thigh. When the four hunted wander up, he shoots the worse one-'Bob Crick--and then the Hydra appears and finishes him off. Interestingly, Crick had tried earlier to rape Gwen, so he gets what he deserves. Clarence Elkins, Sean Trotta (Roark Critchlow of "Shark Swarm") argue after they discover Williams' shredded, blood splattered remains and Elkins decides to contact Camden. Trotta smashes the radio with his rifle butt and Elkins tries to get back to the ship.

Meanwhile, the archaeologist who survived the first attack tells the hunted that the island showed up on a satellite mapping three months ago and they launched an expedition "in hopes that this might be the location of a fabled lost temple." She adds that they were hoping to find the Sword of Hercules. What they did find was the Hydra and the Hydra never stops hunting and it hunts humans better in the cold of night because it is attracted to body heat. Nolan repairs the damaged walkie and challenges Sweet to find them. This is when Nolan learns to his chagrin that each of them has been implanted with a chip so the hunters can track them with a GPS device. Valerie agrees to help them because she doesn't have a chip in her body. However, she demands that Nolan help her find the fabled Sword of Hercules. They can cut the heads off the Hydra and kill it permanently, but they have to use the sword. She warns Nolan that he will have to face a test of faith to accomplish something impossible so that he can get the sword. Nolan has to thrust his arm in a fiery hole to retrieve the sword. When the Hydra attacks them, Valerie shields Gwen and dies when the snake eats her. He slices off all the Hydra heads, except one. Predictably, the Hydra is back in the game. By now, Nolan and Gwen have made it back to the freighter. Nolan has to battle the snake again after it has eaten Camden and his sexy, show-off wife Dixie.

The special effects are what you would expect from this Sci-Fi Channel entry. There is one questionable scene when the Hydra slithers aboard the ship and Camden and Dixie get away from it. The acting is rather lame, but when you consider the terrible lines that they were given, you have to make some allowances. Composer Gregory Tripi must have loved the soundtrack to the recent James Bond movie "Casino Royale" because he imitates it to the point that it sounds like copyright infringement.


Review by zardoz-13 from the Internet Movie Database.