Mimic (1997) Review

Mimic (1997) Review

 

Very few modern filmmakers understand movie monsters the way Guillermo Del Toro does. From Hellboy and Pacific Rim to Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, he has made a career of spinning gold from tales of inhuman characters—many of them sympathetic and fascinating. His first studio film, however, is his only film to tread into the territory of the “animal amok” subgenre, and paints some insectoid monsters as a truly malicious force spawned from man (or, more accurately, woman) meddling with nature.

A deadly disease affecting children is being spread through New York City by cockroaches, so a genetically-engineered breed of roaches called the “Judas breed” is introduced in order to eradicate the existing population. It seems to work, but three years later, the Judas creator, Susan, and her husband who works for the CDC, Peter, begin to unravel the mystery of a strange new species of roach living in the subways beneath the city. Two boys bring Susan a strange dead bug they found in the subway tunnels, and along with her mentor, she discovers the Judases have rapidly evolved into a deadly new creature. Early in the film, a young boy on the spectrum named Chuy spies a mysterious dark figure out his window at night, which he nicknames “Mr. Funny Shoes” and is seemingly able to communicate with using clacking spoons. At first it appears there might be an insectoid-humanoid-hybrid stalking and killing people in addition to the evolved Judases, but by about the midpoint of the film the truth is revealed, and the title’s relevance is made clear.

The aspect of Mimic that I can praise the most is the atmosphere. This thing is practically dripping with gloom and dread and creepiness. Many shots are clearly Del Toro paying homage to his love of Ridley Scott’s Alien, but unlike that film, he doesn’t keep his monster hidden for too long. This is one of those late 90’s movies with a mix of CGI and practical effects that nails one and botches the other. The creature animatronics were created by Rob Bottin who has done some incredible effects work, including The Howling and The Thing, and the Judases are slimy, gross, and freaky, but the CGI is dated, though not too overused. Mimic is considered one of Del Toro’s worst films, which is actually a compliment because I’d still consider it a good film at the very least. It makes some concepts that could have come off as goofy easy to buy into. During the shoot producer Harvey Weinstein clashed with Del Toro and thought he wasn’t making it scary enough, and in the end the director disowned the film, but later on he was able to create a director’s cut that reinstated a few deleted scenes, though overall it isn’t a radically different version from the theatrical cut.

The screenplay was based on a short story by Donald A. Wollheim, but it feels like a tale from the mind of Michael Crichton, largely due to the themes and the types of characters at the forefront of the story. It avoids many of the clichés typical to this kind of movie, but not all of them. The main characters are pretty relatable despite being scientists, but having them interact with people of other professions, like Charles S. Dutton as a cop, helps in the second half of the film when it becomes more about their survival than unraveling the mystery. Peter looks like a combination of Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park and Egon Spengler from Ghostbusters, and is less interesting than his partner Susan. A young Josh Brolin also plays a cop and is underused, and F. Murray Abraham lends some credibility to the cast as Susan’s mentor. For the most part you don’t want to see these characters die, and thanks to a very surprising couple of deaths fairly early on, the suspense as to who will live and who will die is sustained pretty much right up to the finale.

Mimic is a bit more than just a forgotten 90’s sci-fi horror/thriller, but if you’re new to the movies of Guillermo Del Toro, this isn’t one you need to start with. I would say it’s worth checking out after you’ve seen some of his better work first. 

The VelociPastor (2017) Review

 

The VelociPastor (2017) Review

 

There are good movies, there are bad movies, and then there's The VelociPastor.

The origin of how I found out about this movie is almost as random as the way the guy who made it came up with the idea. My cousin sent me this meme: 

We laughed, and I looked it up to see if it was real, because some of these crazy ideas for movies are just fan made (example: LASERPOPE) but there are so many unbelievable ones that do exist it can be hard to know for sure. I discovered that yes, The VelociPastor was an actual movie, and obviously we had to watch it, thinking it would probably be so bad it would be entertaining. But, we were wrong, because the filmmakers clearly wanted us to think that going into it, only for us to be hoodwinked. Writer/director Brendan Steere came up with the idea when his phone autocorrected the word “velociraptor” to “Veloci Pastor”, and after years of trying to get the idea crowdfunded, they completed the movie on a budget of 36,000 bucks.

This is not the case of a so-bad-it’s-good movie that starts out as a serious effort and becomes entertaining because of how poorly made it is, like Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. It begins with a title card that says: “Rated X by an all-Christian jury” and you know immediately this is meant to be a comedy, not trying and failing to be a horror/action/thriller and being funny as a result. The premise is a bit of a play on the idea of a werewolf, except a priest named Doug becomes cursed to turn into a Velociraptor after going to China and getting cut by a large tooth. He saves the life of a prostitute named Carol and they become romantically involved, but as you can probably imagine, dating a guy who turns into a dinosaur isn’t easy, especially when ninjas are also pursuing him.

There’s a term coined by RedLetterMedia for the kinds of movies VelociPastor seems to be a part of called “watch bait” which uses a familiar free-use word like “shark” or “exorcist” or “Amityville” coupled with a poster using dramatic art that does not accurately represent the quality of the actual film. Usually with movies like these there are some distinct qualities to them, one of which is attempting to achieve visual effects that the ultra-low-budget cannot accomplish in a way that’s even close to what the original vision was (if the filmmakers ever had a true vision in the first place). What VelociPastor does so cleverly is circumvent this challenge by turning the very concept into a joke. Instead of showing a poorly rendered CGI car on fire, there’s a shot of Doug’s parents standing beside a car, then in the next shot they are gone and there’s a title card that reads “VFX: Car on fire” while an explosion and burning sound effects are heard. If you find that funny, this movie will entertain you, and if you think that’s dumb, then you probably take life too seriously and need to chill, but also probably won’t find this movie very entertaining.

The handling of the no-budget-jokes is done effectively throughout and culminates in a final battle between a bunch of ninjas and Doug’s raptor form, and while it’s tempting to spoil it and talk about it in detail, I won’t, because you just have to see it to believe it and fully appreciate it. We get glimpses of the rubber dinosaur suit earlier, but they give viewers exactly what they want to see before the end. Speaking of ninja fights, it doesn’t disappoint in that regard, either, with some moments of action throughout the movie. Besides just being visually funny largely due to the low budget effects (or lack thereof) the dialogue is also absurdly hilarious, supporting characters who you wouldn’t expect would get so much character development are explored much deeper than necessary (which only makes it funnier), and there are even some clever editing moments that generate laughs.

While VelociPastor obviously looks nothing like what the poster seems to be advertising, it is not an example of watch bait. I think it cleverly plays on those watch bait title clichés and the viewers who get it will get it. This movie is not trying to trick you, it knows exactly what it is, what it is trying to be, and what audience it is intended for, and for that, I commend them. I would compare this movie in some ways to Thankskilling (link to my review for that low-budget horror/comedy here: https://cccmovies.blogspot.com/2019/10/thankskilling-2009-review.html) but I think VelociPastor is actually even better in a few aspects. It’s reasonably well shot at times, the acting is amateur but not horrendous, and it’s paced pretty well, too. The music is also unexpectedly great, with a perfect use of the song “I Didn’t Have Time to Think” by Math the Band which I had never heard before but it was immediately added to my playlist after the movie ended. In terms of having a ludicrous premise and winking to the audience about it the entire time, I think VelociPastor figured out a way to do it pretty damn effectively.

Do not just watch The VelociPastor thinking it’s an easily-accessible comedy film. I only recommend it to those viewers who are predisposed to cheap, silly entertainment and find particular enjoyment in unconventional genre filmmaking that accomplishes something different from your typical low-budget trash film. It is, dare I say, almost legitimately good for what it is, and delivers on its premise in a satisfyingly cheesy yet earnest way.   

OCTOBER PROMO: CREEPY CINEMA 10

 

Hello once again my wonderful readers! Join me this October for the tenth annual Clayton's Creepy Cinema marathon! 

In case you missed it, I recently announced that this will be the final marathon of 31 horror movie reviews in the month of October. I also did a whole retrospective on the previous nine years, so check that out if you haven't yet, but it wouldn't be right not to have the traditional October promo to get everyone jazzed up about what's coming in a couple weeks!

Clayton's Creepy Cinema X (roman numeral ten) will have all the best parts of every past marathon, with a little bit of everything and a daily framework of themes. There will be classic horror movies from the past, new ones from the present (as recent as a few months ago), killer animal movies, a Stephen King movie, horror movie sequels, schlock movies, giant monster movies, dinosaur movies, food-related horror movies, movies YOU the readers have asked for, and lots more!

 

Schlock Sundays – cheesy genre fare that is guaranteed to make you lactose intolerant

 

Ani-maul Mondays – killer animal and natural horror films

 

Timid Tuesdays – more family-friendly films that still have horror elements

 

Requested Wednesdays – reviews for films that readers have asked for over the years

 

Throwback Thursdays – classic horror films from the 1960’s and older

 

Frightful Fridays – a grab bag of scare-your-pants-off fright fests

 

Sequel Saturdays – horror movie sequels that don’t suck

 

Join me this October as we count down to Halloween with 31 reviews and wrap up this tradition for the last time! It’s Clayton’s Creepy Cinema 10: The Final Marathon!