Woodyanders
A convicted killer gets exposed to an experimental serum that causes him to mutate into a lethal and predatory humanoid mosquito mutant that goes on a bloodthirsty rampage. Director Tibor Takacs keeps the entertainingly inane story moving along at a brisk place, stages the attack scenes with flair, delivers a few nice bits of gore, and, best of all, treats the gloriously ludicrous premise with jaw-dropping seriousness. Corin Nemec plays the rugged detective hero with admirable sincerity. The foxy Musetta Vander likewise does well as the infected Dr. Jennifer Allen. While the cheap and chintzy (not so) special CGI effects leave something to be desired, the funky guy-in-a-rubber-suit monster possess a certain gnarly old school practical appeal. Kudos are also in order for Emil Topuzov's slick cinematography and the rousing score by Joseph Conlan and Sophie Morizet. A fun little Grade B beast bash.
GL84
Attempting to cure a deadly disease, a scientists' efforts to release it are stagnated when an escaped convicts' accidental exposure to the cure results in being mutated into a vicious mosquito/human monster and forces her policeman boyfriend to stop his rampage.This one here wasn't all that bad of a cheesy creature feature. Among the better parts here is the fact that this is another film that's inspired by the headlines of the times, as the West Nile virus was a very real threat at that time. The opening stages of the film use the threat nicely and integrate it with the rest of the film since the search to find a cure is a common theme found in similar movies, and the current issue being dealt with is a great way of staying in touch with what's going on. It makes it more than just a simple monster-on-the-loose movie and gives this something that holds it up enough while those particular elements are where this one gets going rather nicely. Though held to a minimum, the film does manage to contain some solid creature interactions here with the different attacks on the lonely victims around the city, the big massacre at the underground sewers and a fine encounter at a closed dance club all being rather enjoyable scenes which is all aided along rather nicely by the incredibly high body-count being disposed of in pretty gory ways. There isn't as much blood-splatter as others, but it's certainly graphic enough in its kills. Though these are fun, the film doesn't get really action-packed until the ending attack in the hospital which has so many fun moments with the creature appearing and taking out the guards outside, the multitude of gunfights with the security forces storming in several different groups and then finally going back into the subway brawl last piece here that is quite action-filled, with lots of deaths, blood and even some stalking scene thrown in for a great finish. Along with the fact that the creature is actually nicely designed as well and scores major points for not being a CGI creation, these here are the film's best parts. There are a few flaws here which mainly consists of the implausibility of the story. There's almost nothing here about the change-over into his becoming a mosquito specifically as there's little here to specify whether the insect was needed here. It seems rather odd why that creature became created, and even more troubling here is how the conception of the creature came about as the fact that the mosquito is the creature becomes rather dubious. As well, there's also the fact that there's a distinct cheapness to it all that really stands out here, from the low-rent transformation effects to the CGI for the creatures' final flying stage and the absolutely lame and mediocre gore effects which are simply bland stabbings or impalings for the part all of which bring up the film's rather cheap look. Otherwise, these are all that's wrong with it.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language and a clothed sex scene.
John Crane
This was a very interesting movie because it was played out like a b-movie, it had the cover of a b-movie, heck, it even had the plot of a b-movie but as far as technicalities go, this seemed like an A-movie that had the bad luck of being labeled as a B-movie. This movie is essentially about a convict who has been unwillingly volunteered to be the test subject of a new serum to cure a deadly virus spread by mosquitoes, the problem is, as a result of his attempted escape, he becomes a bloodthirsty bug in the process. This movie had everything a good B/A-movie should have. It had great camera work, great lighting, it even had great special effects. The only downside to this movie was the acting, a major contribution, and some cheesy scares, but there were some very gory parts that were pretty intense.Lets do the bad parts first. The acting was not all that good; in fact, there were points where I would mock the person who was on screen and his or her performance. Musette Vander, who play Dr. Allen, does not do a good job emotionally charging her character, and when she throw a temper tantrum, it seems as though she was overreacting and at the same time a bit tired of her character or role. Corin Nemec, who plays Lt. Randall, does some justice to this film as far as acting is concerned. However, there are points where he can be a bit clueless even though he is supposed to know what is going on. There was a great performance by Patrick Dreikauss, who plays Det. Morrison. One person, who was only in the movie for a few minutes and managed to decline his acting abilities, was Matt Jordon, who played the convict and Mosquito Man. His performance was a bit laughable and he seemed way too eager to be in the role, he didn't concentrate on his character.The scary parts in this movie were neither abundance nor a deficit. As far as "jump out scares," there was one real scene where I jumped out of my couch, but other than that some of those scares you can see coming. They were too predictable just by the way the scene was set up. However, as far as gore is concerned, this movie strikes at a 8 or 9. Some scenes, after Mosquito Man attacks, seem like a slaughter with missing limbs, dismembered bodies, blood splatter and overall carnage. When Mosquito Man attacks somebody and shoves that proboscis of his down somebody's throat or into somebody's stomach, it can get a bit gritty and gory. The design of Mosquito Man was also pretty frightening, and obviously heavily influenced on Cronenberg's The Fly, but nonetheless, it was till pretty creep. It resembled a man, by means of walking and holding, but it also had the anatomy of an upright mosquito.As far as the technical aspects of this film are concerned, they were truly amazing. If I did not know what a B-movie looked like, I probably would have thought this was an A-movie. The lighting was surprisingly excellent, it didn't seem over saturated or too dimly lit. It had great portrait lighting as well as great night and stale lighting. The camera angles where so amazing, steady and incorporated some great pans and zooms. There where great establishing shots that reminded me of some 80s b-movie flicks. There were some great sweeping shots and quality of the picture was really great, and did not seem anywhere near B-movie quality. The special effects for the Mosquito Man were very obviously CG, but for a movie of this caliber, it was really good CG and motion effects.Overall, this was an average "B"- movie, with A-movie technicalities. The acting was average and at points it was really bad, but that's what you get when you enter this territory. The scares where not abundant, however, the gore and splatter effects were and it really shows. This is one of those B-movies that is a hidden gem or it could be a guilty pleasure. You'll probably end up passing it up on the DVD rack, but I recommend this movie to those who enjoy cult classics or B-movies. If you are one of those people who enjoy a high quality of horror movie, you'll be surprised how much reputation this movie might hold up. Either way, I enjoyed it and hopefully you'll see what I'm talking about when it comes to movie quality and not acting.
