Jim Wynorski has made a lot of movies. As a writer and director he has well over 75 films to his credit. Wynorski uses the talents he’s built from his experience to good effect in his newest film Cry of the Winged Serpent.

The film follows the journey of Miguel (Carlos Moreno Jr.), a young villager from South America whose family is killed by drug lord Jesus Franco (Adrian Alvarado). Normally there would be little a poor villager could do, but Miguel has been given a pendant by a dying priest. The pendant calls forth an unstoppable flying monster (the winged serpent of the title) that has helped protect the Miguel’s small village for centuries. Miguel goes to Los Angeles to learn how to use this gift from Father Juan (Robert Beltran), a Catholic priest and one of the keepers of the pendant’s ancient secrets. Although Father Juan tries to teach Miguel to only use this power to protect his village, Miguel is determined to seek revenge against Franco for the murder of his family.

Miguel is not the only one after Franco. Police detective Griffin (Maxwell Caulfield), has his own reasons to want to see Franco behind bars or dead. Griffin’s wife was killed during a Franco drug deal gone wrong and he also wants revenge. As Griffin closes in on Franco, he suddenly finds he has another problem; Franco’s men are being torn apart and no one can figure out how. Now Griffin finds himself trying to unravel the mystery of what has been killing Franco’s men before it works its way up the ladder to the drug lord himself. As Griffin learns what is behind the deaths and accepts the truth about the power of the winged serpent, he must make his own choice about Franco. Should he try to stop Miguel and settle for the courts to provide justice, or stand back and let Miguel kill Franco and any number of innocents who might, like his late wife, be caught in the crossfire.

Jim Wynorski’s Cry of the Winged Serpent is an entertaining film. Although there aren’t many twists in the plot, it is well paced and keeps the audience engaged. Also worth mentioning is the film’s dialogue. The interactions between Griffin and his partner are both humorous and realistic, which adds to the film and allows Griffin’s character to become more fully developed than your typical “cop out for revenge”. So if you are looking for a deep motion picture experience, rent Million Dollar Baby. If you’re looking for a fun, entertaining movie, check out Jim Wynorski’s Cry of the Winged Serpent. This is a film that does what it sets out to do, keep the audience entertained, I wish more films today managed that trick.