''Reign of the Gargoyles'' is a

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

released in the United States on March 24, 2007. It is set in Europe during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Plot

Sometime in

, German SS officers discover ancient ruins which contain stone gargoyles. They bring the gargoyles to life with blood so they can combat U.S. forces. Instead of complying, the gargoyles kill the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

and then attack local French villages. After an American

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

attack is devastated by the gargoyles, the US launches another bomber force in an attempt to destroy them. The crew of a bomber, the "Grey Ghost" flown by Major John Gustafson (

Joe Penny Joseph Edward Penny Jr. (born 24 June 1956) is an English-born American actor best known for his roles as Nick Ryder on the detective series ''Riptide'' from 1984 to 1986, and as Jake Styles in the CBS television series ''Jake and the Fatman'' ...

) is attacked by the gargoyles and crashes. The crew parachute to safety before the bomber crashes, but are again attacked by gargoyles. Some are rescued by British soldiers, others by local villagers. The remaining crew meet in a church the locals are sheltering in. A woman named Sophie fills them in on the legend behind the gargoyles. She relates the story of a group of pagans that built a statue of their "horned king" deity, Vorthorn out of a mysterious ' bloodstone'. It was then brought to life to take vengeance on their persecutors. It destroyed their enemies, but Vorthorn learned that he could bring other stone gargoyles to life itself. He built a gargoyle army and then turned on its creators and killed them all. The gargoyles can be defeated by piercing the heart of Vorthorn with the

Spear of Destiny A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastene ...

. It is discovered that the knight who defeated the gargoyles was buried with the spear. To overcome the gargoyles the flight crew must retrieve the spear. Vorthorn attacks, tearing a soldier in half. The church and village are then bombed by

Junkers 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called '' Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...

German JU-88 bombers, which the gargoyles attacks. The American aircrew, the village woman and British soldiers leave to find the spear. The German army arrives looking for the aircrew and kill a villager to force the others to talk. Two of the aircrew, Porter and Nash, are captured by the German army and left tied up in the open to distract the gargoyles. The

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

is reached and the spear recovered. However, the Germans arrive just then and attack. Most of them are killed, but Gus (Joe Penny) is shot and killed by the last German Officer. The Officer is then shot, and the gargoyles arrive, but hold back in fear of the Spear. Down to four, two British, Sophie and one airman discover their friends remains, then continue on to the ruins to kill Vorthorn. They enter the ruins and are again attacked by the gargoyles. They kill many and also retrieve many maps and other documents left by the Nazis. One of the fliers and a British soldier fly a German

Heinkel 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a " wolf in sheep's clothing". Due to restrictions placed on Germany after t ...

(He111) bomber up to confront the Gargoyles, while the remaining airman and the village woman on the ground are also attacked. Vorthorn is rammed by the bomber and those aboard stab him with the Spear, returning him to stone. All the other gargoyles also turn back into stone, just in the nick of time to save the woman and airman below in the ruins.

Cast

as Major John "Gus" Gustafson *

Wes Ramsey Wesley Albert Ramsey (born October 6, 1977) is an American actor. He is known for his performance in the romantic drama film '' Latter Days'', and for playing Sam Spencer on the CBS daytime soap opera ''Guiding Light'' and for his recurring r ...

as Will "Ace" McCallister * Billy Lush as Charles "Chick" Gweitz * Julia Rose as Sophie *

Brad Beyer Brad Beyer (born September 20, 1973) is an American actor. He may be best-known for his role in the CBS series '' Jericho'', playing Stanley Richmond. Early and personal life Beyer was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where he graduated from Catho ...

as Captain Porter *

Sean Mahon Seán Mahon is an Irish stage and screen actor. He is known for playing Nicky Giblin in the Broadway production of '' The Seafarer'', Richard Hannay in the Broadway production of ''The 39 Steps'' and Michael Hess (the lost son) in the award-winni ...

as Major James Deacon * John Ashton as Colonel Latham * Miroslav Emilov as Nash * Boris Pankin as Lieutenant Eyepatch * Stoyan Mladenov as Mike "Finn" Finnigan * Jonathan Sparacino as Sobczek * Rushi Vidinliev as Van Horn * Yulian Vergov as Colonel Schrieber * Evgeni Gospodinov as Lt. Mueller * Bryan O' Duffy as Col. Sears * Lina Zlateva as Anna * Dejan Angelov as B-51 Pilot * Vlado Mihailov as Karel * Ryan Spike Dauner as Adjutant * Raicho Vasilev as British Soldier (uncredited)

Filming Location

The Castle scenes were filmed at the Belogradchik Fortress.

External links

*
"Review: Reign of The Gargoyles"
Foywonder.com {{Phillip J. Roth, state=collapsed 2007 television films 2007 films Gargoyles in popular culture American aviation films Syfy original films Films shot in Bulgaria 2007 horror films American monster movies American action horror films 2000s action films American war films 2000s war films American World War II films Horror war films American horror television films Action television films War television films American exploitation films 2000s American films