Lost Colony: The Legend of Roanoke (2007)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

1587. A bunch of men and women from Britian land on Roanoke Island in Virginia to establish their own settlement. The group encounters an ancient supernatural terror residing in the nearby woods that threatens the safety of everyone in the colony. Director Matt Codd, working from a fresh and intriguing script by Rafael Jordan, relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, does an ace job of crafting a spooky atmosphere which becomes more increasingly eerie and unnerving as the gripping plot unfolds towards a harrowing conclusion, tosses in a few nice bits of gore, offers a vivid evocation of the flavorsome period setting, stages a few action set pieces with flair (a surprise raid on a neighboring Indian camp in particular is very lively and exciting), and maintains a dark and grimly serious tone throughout. The sound acting from the capable cast helps a lot, with especially praiseworthy work from Adrian Paul as resolute and sensible leader Ananias Dare, Frida Farrell as Dare's worried wife Eleanor, Rhett Giles as the brave and loyal George Howe, and Michael The as sage Native American chieftain Manteo. Moreover, the wraith spirits are genuinely creepy, the CGI effects are acceptable, and the Norse mythology explaining the wraiths is different and inspired. Anton Bakarski's sharp cinematography gives the movie a pleasing picturesque look and boasts several cool overhead camera shots. John Dickson's shivery score does the spine-tingling trick. A worthwhile fright film.

I'm not going to give you a background on what this movie is about being as you can read that much for yourself. I hate it when people do that, spend three or four paragraphs summarizing a movie when the summary is already available for the reader.So, what I will say is that while based on actual history (which I love being a huge history buff) I only watched this movie because I am an even more die hard Adrian Paul fan.The historical part was just icing on the cake.Adrian Paul and Rhett Giles put in fabulous and well pulled off performances as Ananias Dare and George Howe, respectively.However, other than nice costumes, a semi believable setting and a good performance by Michael T. (for some reason the comment form is auto correcting the correct spelling of his last name and making it "The") as Manteo, that is where the good ends and the mediocre take over.Producers can't expect two people (Paul and Giles) to pull off an entire movie for them...which was what it seemed was happening.I also have to take issue with conveniently forgetting history. Allow me a small tangent.Now, while I do love history and movies made about historical subjects, and do allow leeway on the facts if the movie is strong enough to support it, I have to sadly say that this movie was not strong enough on its own merit to leave out such an important part of history.Women were NOT outspoken in the 1580's (and certainly not in England, whether they'd just arrived in America or not) and so Frida Snow's character of Eleanor Dare was completely and utterly unbelievable.For *that* time, she was far too outspoken about her feelings on their situation and Ananias, no matter how much he loved his wife and wanted to impress her father, doubtfully would have tolerated her questioning his decisions.Nitpicky, I know, but that is the danger of making a movie based loosely on historical fact, but then picking and choosing what facts you stick to.Women were little more than a husband's property back in those days (good for breeding, cleaning house, tending children and cooking) and though I would not have wanted to see a movie filled with male chauvinism, what I would have preferred to see would have been a more realistic exchange of words and more developed dialogue from Ananias and then between the two Dare's. Oh and before anyone gets all bent out of shape...I'm a woman and have studied history enough to know that whimpering men wanting to placate a wife, especially in a new country filled with promise but also danger, is not realistic.I'm simply saying that while some parts of this movie were good, there was far too much drama and not enough expanding on what could have been done with a good storyline of families in a new world and the problems and promise and ultimately the fate that befell them all, to make it any more than overall...mediocre.

"Wraiths of Roanoke" is a horror film based on the true story of the Lost Colony, where the first 117 settlers mysteriously disappeared on Roanoke Island, North Carolina in 1587. In this film, the audience is presented with the possibility that evil wraiths left on the island from the Vikings was responsible for the colonies disappearance. Surprisingly, this is a pretty good film in the long line of Sci-Fi Channel Films. The cast and crew do a fine job of creating a terrifying, exciting film. Adrian Paul of "Highlander" fame is terrific as Ananias Dare, the leader of the colony. We see as he struggles to find an answer to the mystery, and falls apart when he begins to feel that he has failed the colonists. The supporting cast does a terrific job as well, including Frida Show, who plays Eleanor Dare, Ananias' daughter. The plot and story are in good form, and the visual effects are nearly flawless, save for a couple of scenes. Overall, this is a fine fantasy/horror film based on a true story. Fans of of these kinds of films will surely enjoy this film. Grade: B+

Scifi channel has a reputation for picking up awful B-listers to fill out its empty Saturday nights. Unfortunately, Wraiths of Roanoke is no exception. Within the first ten minutes, the acting will tip you off that this'll be an unimpressive title; indeed, the acting is very similar to such mid-budget series as Stargate SG1 and Painkiller Jane. Of course, the fault doesn't lie entirely with the actors, only so much can be done with the stale and entirely trite dialogue.The story isn't much better. The basic outline involves British colonials, who intend to inhabit an island, finding their old garrison "abandoned" (read: dead). The Native Americans (Croats) give vague warnings about some mysterious danger, only clarifying things when the first people die. From then on, the settlers (who can't abandon the island for a few reasons, some of which are inconsequential given the threat) are forced to contend with evil spirits.It's supposedly based on true events, which seems to be a big selling point. However, given the film, I can't imagine how many liberties were taken. I imagine the only truth involves the abandoned fort--which could've just been sacked or what have you. Wraiths happens to be one of those films where you can see budgetary constraints in everything and it suffers for it.