Reign of the Gargoyles is a 2007 American Horror war Syfy Channel Original Movie.
A group of Nazis are tasked with finding occult artifacts by Heinrich Himmler to aid in the war effort. They find just the thing in a talisman that brings gargoyles to life. Unfortunately for them, these gargoyles are not keen to serve humans, and begin slaughtering everything they see. Various allied planes are downed by the creatures, and the survivors are forced to stop the gargoyle menace to save themselves and everybody else.
The film was distributed by Universal, and aired on Cinemax in Hungary.
This film provides examples of:
- An Asskicking Christmas: The film's events take place in December 1944, just as the Battle of the Bulge is raging.
- Asshole Victim: Among the gargoyles' victims are a bunch of Nazis. It's later revealed that their master was first summoned to our plane to kill a bunch of Christians who persecuted a group of pagans.
- Big Bad: Vorthorn the Horned King, the god that controls the gargoyles.
- Big Bad Ensemble: There's Vorthorn, leader of the Gargoyles, and Mueller, an SS-Obersturmfuhrer out to try and control the gargoyles. Both end up killing each other and the Allies throughout the film.
- Big Bad Wannabe: SS-Obersturmfuhrer Mueller is a ruthless Nazi out to capture the gargoyles for his side's ends, and is willing to murder children to do so, but it's made very clear that the gargoyles are more dangerous.
- Disney Villain Death: After Volthorn is stabbed with the Spear of Destiny, he and all his gargoyles turn to stone and start plummeting to the Earth.
- Dwindling Party: As the film goes on, more and more of the resistance and Allied servicemen are killed, and by the end, only four of them are left standing.
- Event Title
- Eviler than Thou: Despite the Gargoyles being the greater threat, the Nazis still prove to be the more vile of the two when Mueller orders his men to massacre French villagers for housing resistance fighters and Allied soldiers.
- Generic Doomsday Villain: Volthorn the Horned King, a god summoned by pagans to avenge their persecution who betrayed them and went on a rampage with his gargoyles for no reason.
- Ghostapo: The secondary antagonists are SS agents working for Himmler to find occult secrets for the war effort. The Thule Society is even name-dropped.
- Greater-Scope Paragon: The unit of soldiers we follow are under the command of Dwight D. Eisenhower, but he's only referenced once or twice and has nothing to do with the plot.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Nazis who summon the gargoyles are under Heinrich Himmler's direction, but he doesn't show up.
- Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: Christmas.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: Mueller and the SS prove to be far more evil than the gargoyles when he orders his men to massacre innocent French villagers for hiding members of the French resistance.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Vorthorn is impaled with the spear of destiny at the end.
- Mêlée à Trois: There's the Allied forces, the Germans, and now, by the events of the movie, the Gargoyles, who kill any humans they come across.
- Precursor Hero: The gargoyles were defeated in medieval times by an unnamed knight, who was entombed with the spear that he used to defeat Volthorn.
- Predecessor Villain: Volthorn was initially summoned to destroy religious persecutors, but came to betray the people he was supposed to protect.
- Our Gargoyles Rock: These are stone statues brought to life by a mad god to kill in his name. They have no will but their master's, but can be destroyed by conventional weaponry.
- Skewed Priorities: Despite being ordered to find a way to control the gargoyles his superiors had unleashed, Mueller instead takes the time to order the massacre of French civilians for hiding members of the resistance.
- The Sociopath: SS-Obersturmfuhrer Mueller, a coldhearted Nazi officer who doesn't even blink at the thought of killing children as an interrogation tactic.
- Shown Their Work: Despite being a Syfy production, it becomes pretty apparent that the filmmakers took their time to get the looks of the soldiers of both sides correct. Of special note include the depictions of the Junkers Ju 88 and Heinkel He 111 in full CGI.
- The Spear of Destiny: Our heroes have to find it to stop the gargoyles' master, who is a pagan god.
- Villain Opening Scene: The Nazis summoning the gargoyles, who promptly massacre them and escape to kill more people.
- The X of Y
