Necropolis: Legion (2019) User Reviews

Echoes of Cronemberg.

[parry_na · 5/10 · 7 January 2022]

There are echoes of David Cronemberg in this offering from Chris Alexander, and Jean Rollin and Jess Franco too. An acquired taste certainly, but not a bad combination if you like that kind of thing!

This is very typical of Alexander's signature style however, even if the sexuality has been ramped up. Augie Duke is excellent as the unfortunate Lisa, kitted out in some less than flattering attire. Allie Chappell also features in some effective make up.

It's all very apocalyptic and pleasingly dark, occult and perverse. It doesn't quite convince in the way of Alexander's usual weird and dream-like setting, however. My score is 5 out of 10.

Not as good as the original but good

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 27 August 2021]

Necropolis is one of my favorite late 80s direct to video movies probably ever. How else can I do anything but become obsessed by a movie in which an evil witch - who looks like Tianna Collins or Lois Ayres - eats human brains to give the proper nutrition to her demon babies through her six breasts?

There's no way that this movie can live up to that one, trust me.

Instead, this film seeks to be a reimagining of that tale. Satanic vampire sorceress Eva (Ali Chappell channeling Cinzia Monreale instead of acting as a punk rock devil woman) frightens the villagers of the past so much with her sex magick that they murder her inside her lair. A hundred or so years later, occult writer Lisa (Augie Duke) movies into that home and soon becomes the body with which Eva will return to our world.

Director Chris Alexander was the third editor-in-chief of Fangoria and the co-founder/editor of Delirium. You may have seen his other films, Queen of Blood or Female Werewolf. Working from a script by Brockton McKinney, who has worked on several other Full Moon efforts like Blade the Iron Cross and Weedjies: Halloweed Night, he puts together a decent enough film, but the love in my heart for the original is so strong. That said, the psychedelic visuals are strong in this and they didn't skimp on the blood, the gore and the breasts with fangs in them, because isn't that what Necropolis is known for? Even better, Lynn Lowry is always a welcome sight.

I want more of this story*, however, and here's hoping that the end of this film isn't the last that we see of Eva or Lisa. I'm usually one for less is more, but at sixty-one minutes, I found myself wanting more.

Necropolis: Legion isn't going to replace the first movie and that's fine. It's still awesome to see someone else's vision, much less knowing that someone other than me has seen the original movie.

*There's also a comic book - available from Full Moon - that tells the origin of Eva.

Dreadfully Awful

[uturnfilms · 1/10 · 21 November 2021]

At 1 hour and 2 minutes, this film is somehow painfully slow. In addition to long credits, there is a lot of walking around, standing around, and laying around. Incredibly uninteresting and super low budget, don't waste your time.

A delirious hit of sensual melodrama!

[nigelparkin6 · 8/10 · 3 May 2020]

Chris Alexander takes the concept of the original 'Necropolis' and transports it to his own cinematic world. Anyone familiar with his 'Blood' films will know his style and his settings - he crafts trance-like, lingering studies of women in isolation, on the edges of cities or in remote rural scenes. Here, the hauntingly beautiful farm house in which the central character encounters the ancient evil is perhaps Alexander's most striking setting yet; the film is like an Andrew Wyeth painting animated by Jess Franco or Jean Rollin!

Much of the success of the film comes from the way in which Augie Duke's Lisa seems to merge organically with the farm house interiors. There is a hypnotic and indeed subtly erotic interplay of body and space, achieved through Alexander's almost fetishistic focus on her hair, the colour and tone of which is reflected and extended in walls and fabrics. This compelling aesthetic scheme highlights the main dramatic theme - the house, as an extension of Eva, is a sensually vampiric environment, drawing on Lisa's essence, consuming and possessing her.

Until now Alexander's films have been largely free of dialogue and it is a joy to hear richly melodramatic speech being such a key element in this film. The wonderfully emphatic notes hit by the actors are echoed in the music, much of which is, as usual, by Alexander himself, but with the glorious complement here of a lush main theme by the great Richard Band.

A significant concluding thought at the time of writing is that the film works as a powerful fever dream of isolation...and infection - an infection that spreads across distance and time. Eerily topical...

The Phenom that is Augie Duke & The Icon Lynn Lowry Exhibit two of the Finest Performances of All Time in " NECROPOLIS : Legion " !

[timodo · 10/10 · 2 October 2020]

Simply Adorable Augie Duke is 'Lisa' a book writer who's embarked on writing about the local legend of the Evil Eva . Ms. Duke's performance is mesmerizing ! She goes from Happy & in Love , to Fear , to Writhing in Contractions of Agonizing Pain , to the Purest Expressions of Evil ! Ever-Lovely Lynn Lowry Shines as 'Zia' , the local Keeper-of-the-Truth & Protector-of-Good ! Lisa's & Zia's Scenes together are Marvels to watch & should be Studied by Potential Actors .... AMAZING ! The Fabulous Acting doesn't end with them . There's Beautiful Ali Chappell as the Incubus-Succubus-Demonic-Witch 'Eva' & the two Stunning 'GateKeepers' of Hell & Eva's Assistants Zoe Georgaras & Stephanie Delorme ; & Joseph Lopez is Eva's Husband Maynard Gandy ! Kudos to Chris Alexander & Co-Writer Brockton McKinney for such a Remarkable work of Art that's Riveting , Interesting , & Scary as HELL ! I am now going to watch the Original " NECROPOLIS " 1986 ; & if it's Half as good as this one , ..... It's a Masterpiece !

Pretty Good Actually

[ladymidath · 8/10 · 8 January 2023]

Charles Band and his Full Moon company can produce great films like Subspecies and Puppet Master series and the later movies of Killjoy, (not the first one, that was awful.) Or terrible ones. This is one of the better ones. I am interested in the Deadly Tens so I thought I would give this one a go. It's pretty good, not great, but not bloody terrible either. Augie Duke is quite good here as is Ali Chappell and Lynn Lowry. The only problem I had was with the sound, it was really echo-ey. I don't know if anyone else watching this movie had the same problem. The story itself was interesting, it is a new take on the movie Necropolis. The characters were interesting and the actor did a good enough job. It had a creepy setting plus a Lynch/Cronenberg vibe. All up, it's not great but you could do a lot worse. It had a bit of a twist ending which i liked as well.