Develiker
terrible... so disappointed.
Maidexpl
Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast
Sammy-Jo Cervantes
There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
Quiet Muffin
This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
wes-connors
Nine years ago, in Black Stone, a handsome exterminator was killed in a wasp nest removal accident. Presently, his identical twin brother Sebastien Roberts (as Devin Hall) works as the small New York town's pest controller. He's thinking of moving just as his brother's red-haired widow Sarah Allen (as Jane Kozik) moves back to Black Stone with her exceptionally mature nine-year-old daughter Rebecca Windheim (as Kelsey). Immediately installed as the town's sheriff, Ms. Allen begins to investigate some strange deaths. Meanwhile, little Miss Windheim has befriended weird-acting bee-keeper Robert Englund (as Eli Giles). He has been experimenting on wasps. Hit in his windshield by a super-wasp, Mr. Roberts decides to stay and face the menace...The basic idea behind this monster bee thriller, by Todd Samovitz, is engaging. Considering the TV Movie budget, the make-up is also an asset. Sadly, there is little effort to make the bees a terrifying threat. It might have been better to suggest, rather than show, the initial swarming attack on homeless guitar player Andrew Shaver. When we see his body, we can imagine the horror. Later attacks are comic, with performers veering into theatrics. Also, it appears like most people in the town are slow to notice many residents have developed welts and make a buzzing noise. Zombies should be a constant peril. Roberts and Allen are attractive, play very well together and try to keep it serious for director David Winning. Unfortunately for all, it's a lackluster effort.**** Black Swarm (12/7/07) David Winning ~ Sebastien Roberts, Sarah Allen, Robert Englund, Rebecca Windheim
TheLittleSongbird
Usually I try to be generous with my ratings and encouraging with my comments, but I have come across movies that are so bad and make you so angry that they aren't deserving of either. Black Swarm is one such movie. To start with, it is choppily edited with dull lighting and scenery and poor if not quite atrocious effects. I have come across worse acting, but these actors still seem largely uninvolved with their characters and don't deliver their lines with anywhere near enough passion and care about what's happening to them. The music is generic and you don't remember any of it afterwards, while the wasps are lacking in menace and the attacks are done with a great deal of predictability and no real sense of horror or suspense. The script, story and characters are the worst assets. The dialogue is just terrible, full of cheesy lines, stilted delivery, no sense of logic and everything just feels aimless. The story is thin and very predictable, with an unatmospheric and abrupt climax and no explanation as to the wasps' control. In regard to the characters, I don't mind if they are clichéd, but they have to be likable and well-written to make me not care about that and just empathise with the character. The characters aren't just clichéd, they are undeveloped and annoying and I found myself not only not caring for any one of them but actually shouting at the screen at the countless times a character did something dumb, and these ladies and gentlemen are simple common sense things that you should've already learnt at five years old that they get so wrong here. Pacing is also an issue, because the story is so thin in structure already Black Swarm does become tedious to watch. Overall, it is difficult to begin criticising Black Swarm as everything imaginable was wrong with it. 1/10 Bethany Cox
Paul Andrews
Black Swarm is set in the small New York state town of Black Stone where Deputy Sheriff Jane Kozik (Sarah Allen) & her ten year old daughter Kelsey (Rebecca Windheim) have just moved to, the first day on the job & Deputy Sheriff Kozik has the dead body of a vagrant to deal with having been found stung to death. The autopsy suggests no type of known Wasp could have been responsible, then strangely the body disappears & people around town start acting like mindless zombies (insert your own joke). Sheriff Kozok teams up with pest control expert & twin brother of her late husband Devin Hall (Sebastien Roberts) to save the town & figure out just what these killer Wasp's actually are & where they came from...This Candian produced 'Creature Feature' was directed by David Winning & not wishing to put too finer a point on it Black Swarm is awful. Right, all the usual 'Creature Feature' clichés are here from the Deputy Sheriff character (or someone in authority) to the local hero who both end up falling in love & have a romance to the mutant creature of some description that has been altered by genetics for use by the military as a weapon (two older than dirt 'Creature Feature' clichés there). The script sucks, didn't the army ever give any thought to what they were going to do with these Wasp's or how they were going to control them? Isn't that a slight oversight? Why are they conducting experiments in a small town? How did the Wasp's turn people into zombies & control them? What happened to those people when the hive was blown up at the end? Why did someone 'explode' into a swarm of Wasp's? Did the makers just make this up as they went along? Were large chunks of exposition cut? Did Black swarm even make sense as a written script? Why is it so boring & predictable? Why is it almost totally devoid of any action, incident or horror? Why does it take itself so seriously? Why is the ending so lame? Why did the Wasp's just let Devin take Kelsey? Why didn't the helicopters fire while they were in the building & only just after they escaped? Where did the helicopters disappear to anyway? Why at only 90 odd minutes does Black swarm feel like it goes on for hours? Black swarm is nothing more than the usual boring 'Creature Feature' clichés recycled again & adds nothing new of it's own & even worse is boring & predictable & totally forgettable.This looks alright with a reasonable made-for-telly look about it, there's nothing stylish here or scary or funny or atmospheric & the Wasp action is kept to an absolute minimum throughout. Some of the CGI computer effects aren't as bad as expected but still not worth writing home about. There's zero blood or gore or violence or action which doesn't help maintain flagging interest levels.The IMDb reckons Black Swarm had a budget of about $2,000,000 which I can't believe since virtually nothing happens, I would struggle to say this had half that sort of money spent on it. Although set in New York this was filmed in Montréal in Québec in Canada. The acting doesn't stand out while king of the horror film cameo Robert Englund adds another to his long list here.Black Swarm is another terrible 'Creature Feature' that isn't gory or self aware enough to be fun, even the creature here is dull & have been used in these types of films all to often. Die hard 'Creature Feature' fans might like to check it out but anyone else should steer well clear.
lastliberal
There are really only two reasons to watch this film: Robert Englund and Rebecca Windheim.Director David Winning did a good job of keeping the action going, but the question remains: Do we need another film about a swarm of insects taking over? We have already had killer bees, what do we get different with killer wasps? The fact that the government is developing strange weapons that get out of control has also been done. Do we really need another? That aside, it is was good to see Robert Englund in another role; this time as the scientist that developed the killer wasps, and who is trying to fix his mistake. It may be the best work he has done.Also enjoyable was young actress Rebecca Windheim in her first movie. Looking for good things from her.It was interesting to see a different twist on zombies. This time as host for the killer wasps. Kind of scary.