| The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Based on | Characters byDavid Titcher |
| Written by | Marco Schnabel |
| Directed by | Jonathan Frakes |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Joseph LoDuca |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Noah Wyle John Rogers |
| Cinematography | David Connell |
| Editor | David Siegel |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | TNT |
| Release | December 7, 2008 (2008-12-07) |
| Related | |
The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice is a 2008 Americantelevisionfantasy-adventure film and the third inThe Librarian series starringNoah Wyle as a librarian who protects a secret collection of artifacts from Vlad Dracula and his vampire hordes. The television film was released on American cable channelTNT on December 7, 2008. It is a sequel to 2004'sThe Librarian: Quest for the Spear and 2006'sThe Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines.
Librarian Flynn Carsen is in England bidding on a pricelessMing vase for the Library. He is simultaneously on the phone with Charlene, and his girlfriend, Katie, who is at the end of her rope. Frantic and distracted, he bids £1 million and loses Katie. He signs for the vase and promptly breaks it, revealing thephilosopher's stone, which changes anything it touches into gold. Flynn deftly defends the stone and races to meet Katie, who has flown home.
Meanwhile, inCarpathia, a group of formerKGB agents led by Sergei Kubichek plot to bring back the defunctSoviet Union by resurrecting thevampireVlad Dracula using the Judas Chalice. InBucharest, they kidnap Professor Lazlo, a historian with a penchant for vampire lore who has sought the chalice for years. Lazlo joins them unwillingly and directs them toNew Orleans.
Charlene drops by Flynn's apartment to give him travel brochures and advice: "Follow your dreams."Flynn's dreams point him to New Orleans. There, he meets Andrew, a guide. In a church-turned-nightclub, he encounters singer Simone Renoir, the woman in his dreams. She guards the first marker for locating the Chalice.
In the morning, Flynn has a magical encounter with Judson, who explains that the Chalice is the vampire version of theHoly Grail, formed from thethirty pieces of silver given toJudas Iscariot after he betrayedJesus Christ. Judson tells Flynn to intercept the chalice and gives him crucial information about staking vampires: the stake must be ofaspen wood because Judas, the first vampire, hanged himself on an aspen.
Flynn deciphers the clues on the first marker. Andrew takes him to the tomb ofMarie Laveau, the "voodoo queen" of New Orleans, where he discovers the second marker, only to be grabbed by Kubichek's men. Flynn is poisoned with ahallucinogen, but escapes before the poison can take effect and deciphers a lens with a map inscribed on it. He is cornered by Kubichek's men, but is rescued by Simone, who demonstrates superhuman strength and the ability to transform into mist. Simone is shot in the chest, but recovers.
Simone is revealed to be a vampire who was born inParis,France in 1603, and turned at age 25. She had been a promising opera singer, deeply in love with a university teacher, until a chance encounter with a vampire changed her. She wants to destroy her maker so she can die in peace. When she learned of the Chalice, she vowed to protect it and aid the monks who hid it in New Orleans. She has done so for two hundred years.
Andrew takes them into the bayou to the wrecked pirate ship and last resting place ofJean Lafitte and the chalice. They are again overtaken by Kubichek and his men, who leave Flynn and Simone trapped on board. Flynn uses a ship's cannon to blast down a door. Once free, Simone steals Andre's boat, abandoning Flynn. Hurt but determined, he makes his way back to the mainland and finds Kubichek's hideout.
Simone arrives at the same time, and they are captured. Kubichek performs the ceremony on a corpse, with no result. Laughing, Lazlo drinks from the chalice and transforms into his true form as Dracula, the vampire who turned Simone. He then turns Kubichek into a vampire. Kubichek's chief henchman Ivan sends Simone after them and destroys Kubichek, himself, and the hideout with a grenade. Flynn tricks Dracula into impaling himself on an aspen tree, which kills him. At peace, Simone asks Flynn to help her watch one last sunrise. They kiss goodbye, and she gently dissolves in a drift of sparkles. Flynn remembers Simone's words about living with purpose and passion and returns to the Library to resume his duties.
The film averaged 5.44 million viewers over its two-hour run.[1]
Andrew L. Urban ofUrban Cinefile gave it a positive review and wrote: "As soon as the opening credits begin, spurred on by Joseph LoDuca's 'adventure' score, we know we're inIndiana Jones territory but Indy has left the building, and the filmmakers have their tongues firmly in their cheeks."[2][3]
The film was nominated for three2009 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie (Bob Newhart).[4][5]
Writer Marco Schnabel said that he does not think that bringing vampires into the story gave the film a different tone from the first two, noting that the horror elements were not too dark and that supernatural elements had always been a part of the franchise.[6]
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