Movie Review - Infestation (2009)

Most of the insect gone bad movies I have are old school but I came across a recent production called “Infestation” (2009) and thought I would give it a try. I was surprised to find that the movie is both a comedy/sci-fi/horror action -- an interesting combination.

The story follows Cooper; a charming loser nobody who is a practical joker with no game with women. Things change and the opportunity presents itself for him to prove that he has what it takes to survive and get the girl.

Cooper was just in the middle of being fired at his new job, he was late again but his departure was interrupted by a high pitch squeal which immobilized him and the boss. Hours later Cooper awakes in the office but finds himself covered in some sort of woven web pod. Unaware and disorientated he struggles pushing his way out of the web. He then has his first encounter with a giant beetle. He awakes his boss Maureen and she becomes frantic that her daughter Sara has been waiting outside in the car to pick her up. They make their way outside only to find bunches of web pods with people inside of them. Just then a giant flying wasp swoops down and grabs Maureen. A few more people are awaken including Sara and soon a small group is formed. Some are attacked and stung. Cooper has an idea to get to a shelter that his father built but while enroute they encounter the large bugs again and a few survivors are amiss. Sara gets taken away by a giant wasp to a hive. Cooper and the remaining members; Hugo and Albert make their way to Cooper’s home. While there Cooper awakes his father Ethan a retired military person and they all rest. Not soon after, Albert transforms into a walking spider while maintaining his human torso as he was stung by a wasp hours earlier. Cooper has feelings for Sara and wants to rescue her in the hive but his father Ethan says otherwise. Ethan reluctantly agrees after Cooper makes his way to the hive by himself but was held up in a jail cell by paranoid survivors. Cooper finally makes it to the hive to save the day. I won’t give to much more on this but lets just say it ends as well as it can. THEN, in “Soprano’s” tradition --fades to black leaving you wondering what has been seen in the distance. Could there be a sequel?

What is still unclear is how these bugs ended up being so huge any why all of a sudden they have encapsulated everyone in a web pod. There were no signs of a coming apocalypse. In any case, the acting was not bad. The characters were all unique and interacted well with each other.

The story progressed well, lots of action, some acceptable affects and of course some laughs along the way while still trying to be serious -- nicely done. I enjoyed watching this movie and rate it 6.5/10. I would suggest watching it only because the hero is an underdog and in some ways reminded me of the tough times us guys go through.

Movie Review - Bug (1975)

It just goes to show you that you don’t need anyone else but bugs to headline a movie and even more so if the bug in question is a slow almost non moving cockroach. If you want to see what I mean, check out “Bug” (1975).

So we start off with a small town on an average day. An earthquake of low to moderate richter rocks the area and forms a rips a ridge in the ground. Sure, nothing odd about that. Soon residents begin to be involved in mysterious fires and some are even terrorized by some bugs. Later a scene shows steam and cockroaches bellowing out. Enter - Professor James Parmiter, he is a teacher of entomology at the local college. He is contacted by a local resident who recently had an experience with these fire cockroaches and brings one to him. The professor starts investigating their strange ability to start a fire in their back end. A visit to the rip in the earth confirms his findings. His wife is lost in a fire and starts loosing his mind. Held up in a fixer up shack on the outskirts of town he carries on his experiments with the cockroaches. He tries everything from using a pressure tank to breeding with a domestic cockroach making notes along the way. Things get concerning when the new batch of cockroaches ends up being bloodsuckers. I won't ruin the ending and leave it at that.

The story starts off like most would but for the latter half it turns down another road which is almost unexpectedly. The latter end of the film is entirely about the mad professor’s experiments. From a scientific side I did find it interesting but it made the movie boring. The only thing that kept from being worse is you see the professor slowly becoming more crazy and obsessed with the cockroaches. You just wonder where it’s going. I would have preferred more terror of the town but oh well.

Some pretty good effects -- well for 1975. These particular cockroaches move slow but they managed to create fear. When a cockroach drops from the ceiling and lands on you, you’re done for. Good camera shots. The acting was alright, they do have to act scared of something that isn’t and did so but the whole concept is cheesy and so it ends up being fake-ish. The professor was likely the star along with the cockroaches.

The movie was alright for what it was. I think maybe something further couldn’t have been done with the story direction. After it was realized that the cockroaches were dying, the story continued in lab experiments...where is the terror in that? It was what it was and I rate it 4/10 but suggest watching it only to see the affects and feel of fear created by a docile insect.

Movie Review - Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)

The next best thing to a zombie apocalypse is a creepy crawly bug apocalypse. That is what this month’s theme is that I’m exploring. I recently watched the movie “Kingdom of the Spiders” (1977). I was surprised with this one. It's classified as a horror... what else would it be? I’m a big fan of the bug world and took an extra special enjoyment with this one.

The story involves a small town somewhere in Arizona. Life is pretty normal and the town is getting ready for a county fair. A farmer’s livestock has been mysteriously killed by an unknown source. With the help of the local veterinarian; Dr. Robert Hansen he determines that the cause is by spiders; specifically tarantulas. It doesn’t take long for the spiders to show themselves a lot more frequently. A scientist; Diane Ashley soon joins the cause and finds out the spider venom is 3x more toxic than usual. While investigating the mysterious appearance of the spiders they encounter massive hills (like ants) with tarantula spiders spewing out. At first the hill is burned but the mayor orders some heavy duty pesticide be used. This is dispersed by a biplane but the pilot suffers an attack and crashes. The spiders realize that they are marked for extermination and start creating havoc with the town’s people. This causes the veterinarian, his niece, the scientist and some vacationers take refuge in a cabin campground office boarding up the windows and trying to keep the spiders from coming in. All seems to be calm in the morning and the survivors are happy to see that they have survived the night but one look out of the window they realize that they have awaken to a silken laden landscape home to the kingdom of the spiders.

The movie stars William Shatner as the veterinarian Dr. Hansen. He played okay. Will is not really a good actor to begin with. The other actors are unknown to me but they did an okay job. The effects and use of spiders were decent. Some scenes did scare a bit. In all fairness the tarantulas moved to slow to be any real threat. The implied aggression of the spiders was misleading, in some scenes they are just shown being brushed or picked away. The camera work was decent, pans pull ups and even POV spider shots through the blades of grass. Very nice.

This movie was decent for it’s time. The fright and hysteria caused over tarantulas is entertaining and some actually did it believably. For 1977, this movie would have scared you but it is in no means like “Arachnophobia” (1990). I rate in 5.5/10 but note it was a strong effort. I would recommend seeing this film only because you should see what Hollywood was capable of doing with these 8 legged furry creatures.

Movie Review - Dreamscape (1984)

I recently watched the movie “Dreamscape” (1984). I was pleasantly surprised with this one. I do have to say that the cover poster looks more like an ‘Indiana Jones’ type adventure but I can assure you it was not. The film is categorized as an adventure, scifi thriller mix and well, it is.

It follows Alex Gardiner (Quaid) who is a psychic but uses his power to win horse races. He has been ‘voluntold’ –forced to participate in a government funded project exploring the use of psychics to enter a person’s dream. The purpose is to assist the sleeper with hidden personal issues. Heading the project is his old friend and mentor Dr. Paul Novotny (von Sydow) and his assistant Jane DeVries (Capshaw). Alex soon realizes that the program is being steered in a sinister direction by Bob Blair (Plummer) a sort of hyper government military official. It’s now up to Alex and Jane to uncover the plot of dream manipulation and stop the nightmarish assassination of the President.

I think I’ll leave it at that. You will have to watch to find out how everything pans out. I suppose you could say the film is like “Inception” (2010) meets ‘Freddy Kruger’ from “Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984). How is that for a hook?

The acting was acceptable from Dennis Quaid –not a fan of his stuff though. Max von Sydow is fantastic as always and the world renowned Christopher Plummer is simply enchanting. Also starring is Kate Capshaw whose performance was okay but I should say at least she didn’t ruin the picture this time. (Like the time she did with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom). The effects were not bad, it was a low budget but they were able to achieve the feeling with the very little available. Some impressive stop motion effects in a dream sequence and good use of lighting to let the viewer know it was a dream sequence.

The story definitely deserves an “A” for effort but I felt that the story itself could have been expanded. This movie was made in the early 80’s and it shows; everything from clothing, cars to the fear of nuclear war which was the hidden agenda. It was decent for what it was. I do recommend seeing and rate it 7/10.

Movie Review - The Man That Fell to Earth (1976)

Just when you think you’ve seen everything, there is the odd movie (or should I say weird) that is still out there. I’ve been meaning to watch “The Man That Fell to Earth” (1976) for a while now and finally got the chance. Watch out on this one!

The story follows a humanoid man; Thomas Jerome Newton who is new to Earth. He has come in hopes of bringing water back to his home planet to save it from a drought. He first meets up with patent lawyer Oliver Farnsworth and shows him multiple inventions which enables him to build an electronics empire worth millions. In his travels he meets up with Mary-Lou a young aspiring no body from a motel and they have a bit of a relationship. Thomas experiences things like sex and booze. Things turn bad when the empire’s competition starts to fight back and Thomas is later attempted to be exposed as an alien visitor. This stops his plans of launching a space ship and is taken hostage to a mountain side retreat for testing. The government finally allows him to leave after months but his business is lost and so is the millions he was going to use to fund his departure. The film ends showing Thomas has come to terms that he is not going to get home and has integrated himself into society.

The movie stars David Bowie (the singer) as Thomas. He played his part well and was very creepy about it. The movie also featured a younger Rip Torn who played his usual shifty character. The acting overall was alright. There were some special effects but nothing major. For a movie set in the 1970’s, it was what it was.

This issue with this film is the plot, now although the storyline is interesting; it was also confusing and contained a lot of holes. You don’t really know why he is there until closer to the end. The storyline mixes multiple vignettes from Thomas’s home world life but to make matters worse there were extra scenes of gratuitous nudity that did not fit in. All of this compounded to interrupting the story flow. For the most part, I sat there confused wondering what the point of it all is. What I did find out is that the story is based on a 1963 novel and spawned a TV movie as well, so it looks like the story is popular.

Did I like this movie? It was okay. I’m thinking you should view it from another angle though, just maybe I should watch it again. I’m not sure what the director was trying to achieve, perhaps art? I was hoping for a decent science fiction movie though. I will say it definitely had potential to be better but and has merit for what it is. I rate it 6/10. I would recommend viewing it only because it’s supposed to be a cult classic.

Series Review - The Walking Dead (2009) S1

My love for the zombie genre has been renewed. The AMC movie network has produced a zombie post apocalyptic horror survivor series which premiered October 31. They have only produced 6 episodes for this season and are supposed to return in 2011 for a second season.

I should point out however that the story is all about the characters. What I mean is that they are as real as you and I. The series explores what happens to us when thrown into a survival setting, are we quick to compromise our moral values and beliefs? This series shows the darker side of surviving but it also focuses on friendships and real human emotion for loss of family members and friends. As a viewer you can identify with a character and the situation they are faced.

The series focuses on a sheriff’s deputy; Rick Grimes. He was shot while chasing down a speeding car and has spent the last few months in a coma at the hospital. He wakes up only to see no one around but dead bodies scattered. He walks out exploring his new world; parked cars, blood in the street and general chaotic scenery -- unaware of what has happened. Rick later meets up with various people who aid and befriend him. Together Rick forms a following and is later reunited with his wife and child who have taken refuge in a remote quarry just outside Atlanta. Rick leads the group towards hope as they try to get away from the constant dead walking but soon realize that hope is just a dream and it is the nightmarish reality they must face.

The dialogue and story are both smart and believable. The affects are decent --zombie make-up and scenes are just amazing. There is just the right amount of gore, nothing over the top but enough you get the gist of their situation. In fact if you really didn’t care for zombies there is still much of the story that may appeal to other viewers.

If this were a movie, it would have been over long ago and you would feel empty inside. With only 6 episodes out there, I do feel empty. I totally recommend watching this series. You will not be disappointed. So with pleasure, I rate this series as it is in the first season as a 10/10. I can’t think of anything that can be improved upon but I certainly hope that season two will not disappoint but rather surpass my expectations. Any thoughts on this series?

Movie Review - Battle Beyond The Stars (1980)

I’m sure this film is classified as ‘B’ rated but nonetheless it’s fun. The movie “Battle Beyond The Stars” (1980) does just that. It is what it is, so lower your expectation.

The story is about defending a peaceful farming planet named Akir. Some galactic scourge overlord called Sador and his mutant cronies are threatening to invade. The people of Akir need help. An old man warrior suggests hiring mercenaries to defend the planet. Sadly, the only payment that the people can make is food and shelter. A teenage boy Shad volunteers to pilot a space craft to find help. Shad is unsure about how to go about his mission but he soon figures things out with the help of a teenage girl Nanelia whom he met on a space station of androids. Together, they meet up with all kinds of people, a space cowboy, aliens, warrior woman and a wealthy assassin. They all have their own personal reasons to assist the helpless planet and are happy to do so. While assembled on the planet and in orbit, the strike force defends against Sador and his attacks.

A true battle beyond the stars complete with cheesy star trekking tracks. The effects were acceptable. The acting was okay for what it was. There were a few veterans but I can’t say their performance stood out. A few laughs but nothing ‘belly busting’.

It had that space opera Star Wars feel to it along with Star Trek but lacked a story that meshed or flowed properly. It had potential to be better than it was. At times I had a hard time watching. This movie did very little for me and I place it in the middle at 5/10.