Leave it to Full Moon to make a Dr. Strange movie years before Marvel got a chance. Well, you know, unless you count the Peter Hooten-starring TV movie version. Charles Band has the option to make a Dr. Strange movie, but the option expired before production started. Yet to ensure that this movie has true Marvel DNA, the production art - back when the title was Doctor Mortalis - was by Jack Kirby, the man who pretty much invented everything the House of Ideas started with. Supposedly, another pitch, Mindmaster, became Mandroid. Kirby was never paid and ended up suing.

Anton Mordrid (Jeffrey Combs) has been sent to Earth by the Monitor to keep tabs on an evil wizard named Kabal (Brian Thompson, the Night Slasher from Cobra),a man who plans on stealing a trove of alchemical weapons and opening the gates of Hell. Mordrid has been waiting 150 years for this battle and the time is finally here.

This is a pretty big movie for Full Moon, featuring a scene where prehistoric skeletons battle in a museum and lots of magic combat. Keep your eyes open, because one of Kabal's monsters at the end is a werewolf from The Howling.

New York City houses one man above all others, the possibly immortal Dr. Anton Mordrid. Mordrid is the sworn protector of humanity, using his magical powers to keep his brother and rival, Kabal, chained up so that he may not enslave the human race. Well, wouldn't you know it? A prophesy comes true and Kabal breaks free, and begins collecting elements (including platinum and uranium) for his alchemy experiments. With the help of a police woman named Sam, can Mordrid defeat his evil brother? "Dr. Mordrid" comes to me courtesy of Charles Band in the Full Moon Archive Collection. I had not heard of it, which is a bit odd given that I'm a big fan of Jeffrey Combs (Mordrid) and the film isn't that old. But now it's mine and I can enjoy it again and again. The film certainly is fun in the classic Full Moon style. Richard Band provides the music (which doesn't differ much from all his other scores) and Brian Thompson plays the evil Kabal. We even have animated dinosaur bones! What more do you want? Of course, the cheese factor is high. I felt much of the film was a rip-off of the Dr. Strange comics. And the blue pantsuit was silly. And plot holes are everywhere (I could list at least five, but why bother). And why does the ancient symbol of Mordrid and Kabal look suspiciously like a hammer and sickle? Combs has never been a strong actor, so he fits right in with the cheese. These aren't complaints. Full Moon fans have come to expect these things and devour them like crack-laced Grape Nuts. I'm guilty... I loved this film.

If you're not a Full Moon fan, or a Jeffrey Combs fan... you may want to look elsewhere. But if you like the early 1990s style of movie-making and haircuts, you'll eat this up. Stallone and Schwarzenegger fans might like seeing Brian Thompson as a villain, looking as goony as ever and not being able to enunciate English beyond a third grade level. I did. I wish there was a "Mordrid II", but the company that makes a sequel to practically everything (is "Gingerdead Man 3" really necessary?) passed on this one.

Watching this early '90s Charles Band production, one might be forgiven for thinking it's a long-forgotten early attempt at bringing Marvel's uncanny comic book hero Doctor Strange to the screen - it's not, but the titular character of Doctor Mordrid is uncannily similar to the MCU's occult superhero. In fact, I'm surprised that lawsuits weren't filed.

Of course, this being a low-budget Full Moon movie, it's wise to keep expectations low: there are no jaw-droppingly extravagant special effects set-pieces to wow the senses, the direction (by Charles and Albert Band) is unremarkable, and the plot is basic (a villainous wizard wants to rule the Earth; Mordrid vows to stop him). It's cheesy straight-to-video nonsense, with B-movie stalwart Jeffrey Combs in the title role, and character actor Brian Thompson as his nemesis Kabal, who aims to release demons into the world using alchemy. Yvette Nipar plays police consultant Samantha Hunt, who helps Mordrid battle the forces of darkness.

Most of the visual effects are cheap and forgettable, and for the most part, the film feels a lot like a pilot for a TV series, establishing its characters for future adventures; however, the final act does deliver some fun stop motion animation as the skeletons of a woolly mammoth and a tyrannosaurus rex do battle in New York's Cosmopolitan Museum, and several demonic entities try to escape from their floating island prison.

5/10. A passable time-waster, but nothing more.