The Minion

This article is about the 1998 film. For other uses, see Minion (disambiguation).
The Minion

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jean-Marc Piché
Produced by Claudio Castravelli
Written by Matt Roe
Starring Dolph Lundgren
Françoise Robertson
Music by Jean Corriveau
Eric Wurst
David Wurst
Cinematography Barry Parrell
Edited by Yvan Thibaudeau
Production
company
Distributed by The Kushner-Locke Company
Release dates
  • September 26, 1998 (1998-09-26)
Running time
 95 minutes
Country Canada
United States
Language English
Budget $6 million

The Minion (also known as Fallen Knight in Canada), is a 1998 American and Canadian action supernatural horror film directed by Jean-Marc Piché and starring Dolph Lundgren and Françoise Robertson.

Synopsis

The film's plot revolves around the coming of the Apocalypse, heralded by the imminent liberation of the Antichrist from the depths of Hell through a certain gateway at the close of one full millennium. This gate can only be opened by a special key, which has been kept guarded by the order of the Templars (who in this version existed since the last days of Jesus). The key in turn is sought out by the servant of the Antichrist, simply known as the Minion, a demonic spirit that transfers itself into the next available host body when his previous one is killed off. His first attempt to gain the key at the close of the year 999 is foiled; the sole surviving Templar of the company charged with hiding the key eventually takes off with a ship to the west, to what was at that time known as the "end of the world", to keep it from the Minion's grasp.

A thousand years later, near Christmas of 1999, two city engineer workers accidentally find a hidden Templar burial chamber beneath New York City. A Mohawk archeologist, Karen Goodleaf, is tasked with the examination of the chamber and its contents, but then the Minion attacks. Before he can claim the key, however, he is hindered by a man in priest garb, who kills the Minion's host body with a blow from a spiked gauntlet to a certain part of the neck and then takes the key for himself. Startled and confused, Karen chases after the man, who gradually introduces himself as "Lukas". Lukas Sadorov is a Templar and a former Speznas who deserted the Soviet army following a massacre on civilians in Afghanistan, sent by the head of his order to recover the key. After a lot of insistence, Karen tags along with Lukas and eventually gains his trust, and after having seen the Minion in action, she decides to aid him in his quest by proposing to hide the key in a nuclear waste depository built on the grounds of her childhood reservation home, whose resident radioactivity would theoretically prevent the Minion's host bodies from claiming the key. She enlists the help of her grandfather, Michael Bear, a Mohawk shaman who works as a foreman at the depository plant, in order to gain access to the facility.

However, the Minion repeatedly takes over people who unwittingly come into contact with his previous, if disabled host bodies, enabling him to continue his relentless pursuit. He finally takes possession of Karen's former archeology tutor, Professor Schulman, who is providing assistance to the NYPD during the investigation of the apparent serial murder case, and tricks the police into opening a manhunt on Lukas. After killing Karen's grandfather and donning his radiation suit as a disguise, he tricks Lukas into giving him the key and escapes with it to Jerusalem, the location of the Templar's sanctuary and the gate to Hell hidden within its crypts.

The Minion arrives at the Templars' headquarters just before Lukas and Karen do, taking the Templars by surprise and killing most of them. Bernhard, one of the Templar Knights, manages to kill the Minion, but in his eagerness to prove himself better than Lukas, he accidentally allows the Minion to take possession of him and thus insert the key into the gate. Lukas and Karen arrive shortly after, and while Karen tries to remove the key from the lock, Lukas battles the possessed Bernhard and kills him. Together, he and Karen, although tempted by the Antichrist himself, manage to prevent the gate's unlocking just before the final seal on the door is burst. With the Templars decimated, Lukas decides to rebuild the order, and Karen spontaneously declares to join him in his efforts, marking the dawn of a new generation of Templars to guard the gate and the key.

Cast

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