Review of King of Thorn (2010) by Gerard E — 09 Sep 2010

This sci-fi/horror/action amalgam moves at the clip of the videogames from which it borrows its grind-and-advance narrative mechanics. The plot ? killer plague sees a clutch of the usual genre suspects (cute kid, mysterious bad boy, shifty intellectual etc.

) entering cryo-freeze only to awaken and find themselves besieged by alien nasties ? is pure, recycled pulp. It?s a fact done no favours by a reliance on an overstated Sleeping Beauty motif and tedious it?s-all-a-dream-no-it?s-not!-or-is-it? perceptual rug-pulling.

But if you?ve ever pined for a film in which autonomous brambles take the form of a botanical dragon and ensnare Edinburgh Castle, King of Thorn will scratch that itch but good.