Scintilla
Scintilla
| 28 February 2014 (USA)
Scintilla Trailers

From a torturous cell in Africa, Abel Powell is released and given the chance to regroup his team of skilled mercenaries for one last job. A top scientist will guide them half a mile underground through an ex-Soviet bunker to extract the vital specimens and information being paid for by a mysterious backer, but what they seek should never have been found!

Reviews
Rijndri Load of rubbish!!
GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.
FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Michael Ledo A group of 8 mercenaries break into an isolated secret Eastern Block facility on a mission to obtain/destroy a project deep inside a maze. The film is marketed as "Scintilla" and "The Hybrid." It isn't hard to figure out from the titles and DVD cover we are talking about some kind of human hybrid. Yes and PLOT SPOILER EXPLANATION OF FILM the DNA they cross humans with, is from a 2.4 billion year old meteor found in the Soviet permafrost. Forgetting the fact DNA breaks down, they cross it with human DNA and plan on getting an offspring from two hybrids that is more alien than human because....we can.The characters were fine. I wish they had expanded them a bit more. Their entrance into the facility was good scene and started the feature off with promise. The maze wasn't too bad, but they could have made that better and the last third which was hurt by low budget.Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.
kalngublers &&& SPOILER!! &&& This movie is entertaining to a very specific audience type. This is a very revealing spoiler post because some movies just make you go-- really?? I will give you this opportunity to skip this review and go to the next one. I never reviewed a movie before this. This was on Netflix, so hoping it might be along the lines of "Stranger Things". It wasn't rated and I thought my kids age 11 could watch it. Noway! Definitely rated R. If not for the violence, the language is over the top. An "F" word on practically every scene. B movies add that to make up for other absent content. No action in the movie happens till literally the halfway point. That seems to be the attractive point for some people. You are just there with the crew- taking the trip- no fluff or pansies invited. I don't mind that so much. Still the "elite" part was minimal- basic equipment. And mostly they walked around looking through binoculars with guns always ready, until they get in the building, then they walk through hallways- forever! It was indeed "realistic" in the sense that nothing "sci-fi" or really "horror" related occurs unless you call shooting horror and sci-fi. The aliens like people have mentioned are not alien looking. Watch it if you liked "Blair Witch Hunt". In positive retrospect, the movie had something that draws you in, and you feel you are there with the characters- in a war-torn, post apocalyptic scenario. The squad members are likable, and the acting isn't so bad. Just select a different trip for the kids!
subxerogravity This movie appeal was the large amount of layers it has. The movie poster makes you believe it's just about a group of mercenaries hired to take down a Russian Weapon experiment in gene splicing, but I got so much more. This possibly had a lot to do with the Depth of some of the characters who story lines got to be played out though out the movie. You don't see that in horror movies (cause you really don't need it)The movie goes from action to horror to Sci-Fi and a few more genres as the main plot unfolds. This was so much more than what was expected and that made it something great to watch.
Red-Barracuda A group of mercenaries are sent on a mission to get something important from an underground research facility in Eastern Europe.Scintilla is a film that shares some common ground with last year's Frankenstein's Army. After all, it is about a group of soldiers infiltrating a grungy underground bunker and discovering strange experiments therein. But it lacks the sheer imagination of that film unfortunately. It has some interesting ideas though, but most of the best threads are never developed very much, such as the skeleton faced biker or the bubble headed underground defenders of the laboratory or even the man with the mutating arm. All of these ideas show great promise but not much is made of them. Not only that but when we do discover the nature of the Scintilla project it is a little underwhelming. So there are areas where this movie fell a little short and others where it didn't build on its own good ideas. Having said all that, it's not really a bad film either. 'Corridors underground' sci-fi/horror films are notorious for being awfully tedious, on account of the limited sets and action. Scintilla at least tries to make its limited set-up a little interesting and it never really gets boring. It doesn't really add up to anything particularly great but it's entertaining enough and does have some memorable moments, even if it ultimately doesn't make the most of its potential.