Doctor Mordrid – Master of the Unknown (1992)

doctor-mordrid“Doctor Mordrid” is a change of pace for Full Moon. It’s a well made superhero movie that is about one of a kind, if you consider the Full Moon library. Of course everyone knows the story that this was originally supposed to be a Dr. Strange movie, but when Full Moon lost the character trademark from Marvel Comics, Charles Band and his wizards transformed a potential lawsuit in to an original property, Jeffery Combs is good as the heroic Mordrid, a man awaiting his fate from the almighty Monitor harnessing his powers and awaiting the time to use them.

And like a movie with no budget, Mordrid doesn’t do much of anything until the very end of the movie. The power that lies in Mordrid is the power to emote and Combs is all over this advantage as he can sell any line with the over top facial expressions and the like. “Doctor Mordrid” has a pretty simple premise. A bunch of bank officers are being possessed in to leaving shipments of platinum and offing themselves afterwards, this platinum is used to bring about the evil Kabal. Kabal is a muscle bound Bizarro wizard to Mordrid and his brother and threatens to consume the world with his evil.

For all intents and purposes, “Doctor Mordrid” is a delightful and entertaining fantasy romp with some genuinely creative ideas, and it allows a podium for Combs to provide his best acting chops. I spent the entire time wondering what he would have looked like as Doctor Strange with the white trim and goatee, but as this character he’s fairly fleshed out and well thought out as an individual of fantasy and the spectacular in a mortal world that simply doesn’t understand him. This is of course one of Full Moon’s most notable films, and not surprisingly it’s one of their most watchable. I had fun with it and I suggest superhero buffs take some time out to indulge in Mordrid.