Christopher Marquette is an office slacker about to get fired when all of a sudden he blacks out. When he awakens, he finds himself wrapped in some kind of cocoon/web, and when he breaks free he realises everyone around him is similarly trapped. It seems that giant bugs have invaded his office, as he and a few survivors he manages to free try to ward off the bugs (who are blind but attracted to sounds) still hanging around. Unfortunately, it’s not just an in-house problem, the bugs have taken over outside too and are also creating man-spider hybrid creatures. Brooke Nevin plays the daughter of Marquette’s boss, Linda Park is another survivor who knows a thing or two about bugs, and Kinsey Packard is a selfish and slutty chick who thankfully drops her top at one point. Ray Wise turns up as Marquette’s survivalist nut father whose safe refuge Marquette and his followers seek as they think of a plan to kill of the bugs and save the world.
Well, colour me surprised. A somewhat tongue-in-cheek giant bug movie that actually entertains for the whole length instead of just in fits and starts. This flick from writer-director Kyle Rankin (a “Project Greenlight” winner) is lots of cheesy B-grade fun, and a whole lot better than these films tend to be. It’s schlock, but it’s damn good schlock. If you don’t understand the difference, this film isn’t for you.. It’s right up my alley, though.
Chris Marquette (the modern day Patrick Dempsey) and a totally demented Ray Wise make for a terrific father-son pairing (I’ve always felt Marquette was destined for bigger things ever since he stole the show in “The Girl Next Door”), and for once the large cast of characters is pretty interesting across the board. The FX are low-budget, but surprisingly effective. The mixture of CGI and practical FX isn’t seamless, but if it were, it’d be a lot less fun. It’s schlock, after all. A tricky balance, but Rankin and the FX team pull it off. The human spiders, in particular, are surprisingly effective creations. There’s an absolutely brilliant bit involving poor Lucy the Poodle, and the entire idea of Ray Wise even having a poodle named Lucy is just hilarious.
Awful ending, suggesting that Rankin simply ran out of money or film stock. Or was it a tribute to the end of “The Sopranos”? It really disappointed me because the rest of the film is so enjoyable. I was also a bit miffed that Linda Park’s character just gets written off after the opening, never to return. Was she only hired for a day’s shooting or something? That was weird.
OVERALL SUMMARY
The film isn’t great but it’s fun for what it is. If you’re a fan of this sort of thing, this is one of the better ones out there. I had a schlocky good time with this.
