The Runestone

• Written and Directed by Willard Carroll
• October 1991
• Based upon the novel of the same name by Mark E. Rogers

The discovery of a carved stone in Pennsylvania leads to the releasing of the beast Fenrir.

The Runestone is a trashy direct-to-video release from the early 90s that is actually quite good. They accomplish a great deal with what they have which is not much. The budget is small to the point they could not apparently afford extras for most scenes.

Don’t feel too bad if you haven’t heard of this. I guarantee you most people have not. It’s got a few recognizable names, but this is no large production with a big marketing push. This was supposed to make as much money back with as little money possible behind it.

There are no big special effects moments and no intricate sets when they briefly journey to Fenrir’s realm(?). They do though an extremely good job of making you feel as if indeed the fate of the world is hanging in the balance with the events portrayed.

One of the things they wisely do is keep good shots of the monster to a minimum. The Runestone was done on a budget and clearly did not have the money for a good costume. Lingering shots on a bad suit can ruin an otherwise good story. We get short moments and impressions through dialogue which allows your mind to make it seem better than it is.

To go off on a tangent, certain elements of this film remind me of an episode of The Real Ghostbusters animated series where a man distraught over the end of a relationship decides to bring about Ragnarök. Good episode and a touch dark for a show that was generally of a lighter nature.

Here a man named Martin (Mitchell Laurance) who deals in art is still mourning the end of his relationship with Marla (Joan Severance) who is now married to Sam (Tim Ryan). At some point Fenrir promises Marla to him if he helps.

The thing is when this happens it is never shown. It comes off as an assumption or logical deduction from Lars Hagstrom (William Hickey). Was Hickey ever young? He was a great actor and just delivered the goods each and every time. Lars is part of a dying order dedicated to preventing Ragnarök and provides much needed info whose discovery would have stretched out the story. Though this is exposition, it is done in such a way that it does to feel like a cost cutting measure.

My major gripe in this is the character of Jacob (Chris Young). He is implied to be important in the final conflict with Fenrir but all he really does is toss the character of Sigvaldson/The Clockmaker (Alexander Godunov) the battle axe to kill Fenrir. Jacob borders on a minor character. Capt. Fanducci (Peter Riegert) plays a greater role in the narrative than Jacob does. And courtesy of Riegert’s talent he is much more entertaining.

For what The Runestone is it is surprisingly well written. Events build to the climax rather than meander around and there are no real gaps in the narrative. It is also only passably directed. It is done with a TV movie of the week quality. The shots are a bit static.

This movie has an interesting enough mythology which helps you get past its shortcomings. It manages to become something special that will entertain and hold your attention. As a direct-to-video film it rises up above others.

The Runestone isn’t bad. It has enough excitement and meat to the story that you will not be disappointed if you can find it to watch.