Watch Chupacabra vs. the Alamo For Free

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Some grisly murder victims are found in San Antonio, Texas. Turns out they are being killed by chupacabra. If you haven't seen this Syfy TV movie yet, you may be wondering what chupacabra is/are and how the inanimate Alamo is able to fight anything. For one thing, chupacabra are vicious dog-like creatures. Animated and hungry, they are called an "urban legend" by veteran motorcycle cop and present DEA agent Erik Estrada (as Carlos Seguin), but he changes his mind. The former "CHiPS" TV series star has added several pounds and years, but kept his gritty teeth and grimace. Presently, he is the widower father of two ungrateful children – gangbanger son Jorge Vargas (as Tommy aka "Spider") and bratty daughter Nicole Munoz (as Sienna). In what may or may not be political subtext, the blood-thirsty hounds are from Mexico. Finally, the Alamo does not do battle with the chupacabra as promised in the title; instead, Estrada's team and the chupacabra have a showdown at the landmark.** Chupacabra vs. the Alamo (3/23/13) Erik Estrada, Julia Benson, Jorge Vargas, Vanesa Tomasino

When a series of savage deaths strike their small town, a Texas sheriff finds the vicious chupacabra is responsible for the attacks and tries to get everyone to safety, eventually leading them to the Alamo as a last-ditch effort to stop the rabid creatures.This here turned out to be quite an enjoyable if slightly flawed Sci-Fi Channel creature feature, as there's some good stuff to be had here. The film's decision to keep the creatures a constant threat means there's a big action scene continually on the way, and this one doesn't disappoint with big scenes as the attack at the high school party, the house sequence or the ambush in the abandoned refinery, which is quite impressive itself and has a lot of good stuff about it with their coordinated attacks, gunfire blazing and overwhelming numbers making for a fun scene. That all leads to the finale in the titular building, which is a little short on time but still incredibly enjoyable with a lot of big action, some nice surprises and a few admittedly clever tactics of dealing with the creatures to offer itself as some full-scale fun. There's still some flaws here, besides the atrocious CGI but also the fact that this calls them chupacabras when it's just the same as a rabid dog, and in fact a pack of rabid dogs wouldn't have changed the film at all which makes the creature's designation all the stranger. As well, there's some questionable motives from all involved as to what's going on from scene-to-scene, but overall this one was a lot of fun.Rated R: Graphic Violence and Language.

Chupacabra vs. the Alamo (2013) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Gory fun from SyFy has a cop (Erik Estrada) trying to deal with the two-year anniversary of his wife's death while at the same time having troubles with his teenage daughter. To make matters worse a gang of chupacabras are eating up the locals and the cop must gather up a group of gangsters (led by his own son) to try and take on the creatures at the site mentioned in the title. CHUPACABRA VS. THE ALAMO is a pretty silly movie but I'm sure that's what most people expect when they tune into SyFy on Saturday nights. I must admit that this film really kept me entertained throughout most of the running time, although there are certainly some flaws remaining. One big flaw is the constant melodrama dealing with the father's relationship with his children. The widowed father and troubled kids is a cliché taking over these SyFy movies and it really needs to stop as it takes away from what people are turning into see. The CGI monsters here aren't nearly as bad as we've come to expect from the station but there's still no question that they're far from being scary. The actual look of the monsters are pretty good and thankfully they didn't turn them into Godzilla sized creatures, which is what usually happens. Another plus is that if you're looking for gore then you're going to find a lot of it here. There's all sorts of guts and blood flowing throughout and this includes some TV-pushing stuff including one poor guy who decides to go pee at the wrong time. Estrada is the former star thrown into the spotlight this time out. I actually thought he was quite fun here and of course we get some nods to his CHIPS role including him riding a motorcycle throughout the picture. I also enjoyed both Nicole Munoz and Julia Benson in their supporting roles. CHUPACABRA VS. THE ALAMO isn't meant to be taken serious and thankfully the filmmakers didn't take it too serious. The film is light entertainment that's going to appeal to fans of "B" movies and those who like gore.

Those of us that know the SyFy channel movie formula could all see this little treat coming down the road. It has all the elements of traditional SyFy movies; 2nd/3rd rate CGI and actors, thoroughly unappealing characters, inane dialog, and perhaps, a has-been actor thrown in for nostalgia.And, of course, the title. At this point, I'm convinced that they just brain-storm the most ridiculous movie titles they can think of and make a movie around that title. Chupacabra vs. the Alamo is certainly a winner in that regard. The story is silly, naturally, but I thought the CGI was pretty good, in SyFy movie terms.Erik Estrada is the curiosity doing the "has-been" duty here, and he's seen better days. The former CHiPs star is in his mid 60's now, and has packed on some tonnage, but he gives this nonsense his best shot and plays his part with gusto. All these movies are made for fun, of course, in the best "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" tradition. Everybody is in on the joke here, except for a few viewers who actually take these things seriously.It's not giving anything away to say the characters fight the mythical beasts at the Alamo. Guess who wins. About average for a SyFy movie. If you watch it, you'll get exactly what you would expect from the title.