Saturday, October 22, 2016

Spellfury

Here is the worst web series I have yet encountered but it is also has the most episodes. How does that happen? The episodes are extremely brief at the start, rarely exceeding two minutes. By the end of the series, episodes are five minutes. So, despite having 15 episodes, it's not very long.

The story follows Druinia the elf maid who, while traveling from A to B, got tangled up with a stupid rogue. She finds herself suddenly in possession of a magic elf sword which she promptly loses to a slightly less stupid rogue. The villain - who may be a lich - has a bunch of goons who might be bugbears. There are demons and some sort of giant polar bear-like monster that is always hungry. There are several pixies, a lizardman, an ogre, and some sort of hairy monster who mill about in a tavern and serve as a distraction from Druinia's epic.

The production values are horrendous. I mean really bad. There is a surprising amount of bad puppetry; one recurrent character is only a shade above a sock puppet. Almost every shot is done in front of a green screen and it is done very badly. The bugbears are wearing furry body suits and have some face makeup. Maybe they are Wookies. When Druinia wields the magic sword, the blade glows blue; sadly, the special effects department had trouble keeping the blue glow on the blade so there is a bit of a wobble to her magic sword.

In the second season (3 episodes only), product placement is not at all subtle. When characters are admiring products and offering websites, the show becomes more a commercial than a fantasy story. In fact, the tavern scenes appear to be for blatant commercials, sock puppetry, and horribly rendered pixies. The acting is often atrocious. The show might appeal to the 12 year-olds. However, the show must have something going for it since I managed to watch all the episodes. Take a look for a laugh.
 
The webpage is still active, the show is not yet dead.  Though the last entry (Season 2, Episode 5) was posted in August 2013, there is a comment by show creator dated only a few months ago that he has one "so close to being done."  The CGI in the last episode was pretty good but the story was still advancing at a snail's pace.  The first episode was released in 2008.  If a new episode really does appear, the cast is going to noticeably age from scene to scene.  Perhaps it was all filmed back in 2008 and he is just releasing parts as he finishes the effects.
 
 

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