Doctor Mordrid

Jeffrey Combs, who won genre acclaim for his work in RE-ANIMATOR and BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR, stars as the titular sorcerer, a being from another dimension who maintains an Earthly facade as the landlord of a Manhattan apartment building. As the story opens, he receives word from the all-seeing Monitor that his nemesis, Kabal (Brian Thompson), has escaped from imprisonment in his home dimension and is plotting to use black magic to take over the world. The glowering villain has, in fact, been appearing at various points around the globe, staging robberies of alchemic materials (platinum, diamonds etc.) that he needs to further his plot. He's also taken up with a pair of amateur satanists, Adrian (Keith Coulouris) and Irene (Julie Michaels), the latter of whom he kills after seducing her, whereupon he drains every drop of blood from her body.

While planning his counterattack against Kabal, Dr. Mordrid has become friendly with Samantha (Yvette Nipar), who works as a consultant to the police on occult matters and just happens to live in Mordrid's building. A relationship begins to develop, and when Irene's body is discovered, she has her policeman friend Tony Gaudio (Jay Acovone) visit with Mordrid for help--but Gaudio recognizes a symbol on one of Mordrid's talismans as the same one found on Irene's body and has him arrested. At the same time, Kabal has granted Adrian the gift of immortality, whereupon the punk gets himself arrested so he can strike at Mordrid; Samantha helps Mordrid escape before this can happen, though. He reveals to her that he and Kabal are brothers, each devoted to one of the opposite extremes of the potential of magic.

Realizing that Kabal is about to put his plans into motion at a museum, and with no time to get there physically, Mordrid releases his spirit from his body, leaving Samantha to guard it, and confronts the villain. Kabal has already begun his preparations, and animates a tyrannosaurus skeleton to attack intruding security guards; but Mordrid brings a mammoth skeleton to life, and it fights off the dinosaur and skewers Kabal before he can complete his evil magic. Mordrid then returns to his body just as Samantha is fighting off another attack by Adrian; the thug boldly challenges some cops who arrive on the scene, but Kabal had lifted his protective spell before dying, and Adrian is shot in the leg and taken away. Mordrid bids Samantha goodbye; he must leave for his own dimension for a time, but promises to return again--which he does the following Christmas Eve.

Some observers in the comics world noted the similarities between the title character of DOCTOR MORDRID and the Marvel Comics hero Dr. Strange, a comparison that is partly explained by the film's genesis; it was originally conceived by producer Charles Band and Marvel writer Jack Kirby as "Dr. Mortalis," back when Band was still heading up Empire Pictures. After Empire collapsed and Band set up Full Moon, the project was revived under its current title. Given the results, though, this hero is not likely to see many more adventures.

Although the setup is promising and some of the settings look great for the low budget, DOCTOR MORDRID's storyline is underdeveloped and, even with the abbreviated running time, cluttered with superfluous elements. The material involving the police is tired, old-hat stuff, and the subplot involving Adrian being made invincible ultimately makes no sense, since Kabal robs him of his power before receiving any indication that Adrian has carried out his murderous mission. Clearly, grounding much of the story in the real world was motivated by budgetary concerns, but the time might have been better spent further developing the relationship between Mordrid and Samantha. Combs and Nipar make an attractive couple, and Combs in general makes a convincing Mordrid, but there's not enough for them to do. Once again, filmmakers attempting to launch a franchise have forgotten that the first film has to stand out enough to warrant one. (Violence, profanity, nudity.) leave a comment