| Present day: in a remote mountain wilderness, two poachers accidentally release a monster from its ancient tomb and pay for the mistake with their lives.
The only other human for miles is Mike (DOLPH LUNDGREN) - a US forest ranger newly assigned to the area as part of an international environmental program. Alone at his lookout post except for his faithful four-legged companion (his dog, Phil) Mike's only contact with the rest of the world is through an archaic radio relay to his colleague, Roger, in the nearest town. The locals seem strangely disinterested in their American visitors - except for one elderly man who seems outraged at their presence in the forest.
Mike sets out to enjoy his splendid isolation, despite Roger's attempts to scare him with tales of ancient demons and other mythical creatures that could be living out there...
But the real beast has already found him. At first Mike believes he is being menaced by a wild animal in search of food but after Phil is killed he realises the truth - and the battle escalates. When his radio is broken in an early attack, Mike has no choice but to face this demon alone..
One stormy night, Mike is preparing for the beast's final onslaught when a surprise visitor arrives to help him, the elderly man. The two men fight side by side but the old man - a descendant of the people who originally imprisoned the beast - is mortally wounded and Mike runs for his life.
Reaching a nearby lake, he dives in and discovers that the beast cannot follow him into the water. A standoff results until Roger arrives in his truck and pulls Mike from the water - the beast seems to have disappeared...Roger sees no evidence that the attacker was anything more than a wild beast, and even Mike starts to believe that he might have imagined it, suffering from a concussion he sustained days earlier...
...but the battle is not over. Enraged at having lost his prey, the beast is merely lying in wait to launch a final attack on the truck as the two men drive away...A frenetic chase ensues and Roger is killed. Drawing on all his remaining strength, Mike manages to draw the monster back to its original prison - and collapse the walls of the cave, trapping it once again. But is it dead or merely waiting for the next chance to escape.
(from Bauer Martinez Studios) |
