Playing in recent festivals like Horroriffic at Romford, Lawrie Brewster’s THE REIGN OF QUEEN GINNARRA is an indie low-budget offering that takes us back in style to the likes of Albert Pyun’s THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER, Don Coscarelli’s THE BEASTMASTER and Matthew Robbins’ DRAGONSLAYER.
It appears that sibling rivalry was prevalent in Medieval Times and in THE REIGN OF QUEEN GINNARRA it is a battle for the throne of the kingdom of Aberon that is begat to the evil Ginnarra (Megan Tremethick in fine form) through her own desire to rule ultimately, thanks to assassinating her own father to achieve it.
Her brother, Prince Elderon (Andrew Gourlay) runs into exile, not dissimilar to that old fave Aragorn in that tale of a dark ring and suchlike, but he is somebody who has to deal with the inner and outer conflicts of his own fate. Determined to seal his fate, Ginnarra employs her only son, Crown Prince Raemin (Dorian Ashbourne) – with help from a few sorcerer’s specials (and a dragon or two from on high, always come in useful!). The scene is set for a battle to the end on the wastelands and grasslands of Aberon. Who will prevail….?
Although it does take its’ time to get going and there are several sequences that seem to be drawn out more than they need to be, the general atmosphere and visual style of the film compensates where and when required. Some decent Digital VFX help punctuate the context of the story and moments of action remind one of the Spartan-ic battles in 300.
Costumes, cinematography and production design are also strong assets in this film, which may not add anything new to the fantasy genre (how could it when Peter Jackson redefined the template with the LOTR films?), but overall it does provide an involving tale that fans of the genre will be more than advised to check out.
Running Time: 141 minutes approx.
Credits
Directed by: Lawrie Brewster
Written by: Lawrie Brewster & Sarah Daly
Producers: Lawrie Brewster & Sarah Daly
Production Companies: British Horror Studio, Hex Studios