Almost Human

OK, first off, some of these reviews (like 1 star) are from people who don't appreciate throw back horror movies to the 80's. It all depends on your taste in film. Now to all the true Horror/Sci-Fi fans, this movie is like a red wet dream with a John Carpenterish soundtrack. It is an extremely simplistic, bare bones slasher with Sci-Fi elements. A sick and fun 80 minute treat. And that's all it is trying to be. I give it a 7 for the gritty feel, some cool killings, and for the filmmakers working on a small budget. If you like 80's low budget horror gems, you'll probably like this.

A really sad, sick movie. If you hate society and yourself this is the movie for you. Gore, that's about all hollywood produces these days, and vulgarity/profanity is all this movie is about. Is it any wonder our young people are growing up believing violence and lack of civility is normal?!? Synopsis: Aliens capture and transmute a guy who comes back and tries to kill, and them transmute everyone on earth to be like him. Think, a really bad sequel of 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'. BIG waste of time for normal, well adjusted people...

Seriously, the last half of the movie is flooded with crickets...despite it obviously being winter, or at least cold outside. Okay. 10 star review? Dump that. Hilarious. If this is a 10 star movie, this is either the only movie you ever saw and it appeals specifically to you OR..you're buddies with the director...take your pick. Despite all of this..."Almost Human" is decent. It ain't horrible, but it's not great or even cult level acceptable. It's a low budget, gory, alien indie flick with mostly substandard acting and a pretty thin plot. Dude gets abducted. Dude returns. Dude is alien hybrid on a murder spree and wants to convert us all to aliens via a phallic mouth tube he spits into folks mouth AND he wants to get back with his old girlfriend. Dude's buddy knows it's going down and dog-gone-it he's gonna FIGHT BACK! Yeah! I'd be proud if I made this flick...but I have no experience in cinematography...so there's that. Watch if your in the mood to see that bearded dude kill some people but forget the plot. Why the aliens chose this country dude to take over the world and not a politician, celebrity, or even a prostitute...one can only wonder. I'm not hating...just sayin.

Watched this movie not expecting much and and I must say my expectations were met. Typical B movie material. The acting is forced and the script is totally unoriginal. The effects are somebody's idea of special effects. Everybody at some point has a bloody nose, face or mouth. Not sure what that is all about. Basically it is a movie with bits and pieces borrowed from other movies rolled into a "new" movie with a new name, new faces, new places, etc. It's basically Fire in the Sky meets, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, meets, The Hidden meets, Halloween meets, etc, you add your own... Please spare us and DON'T make a sequel. Not recommended unless you want a good laugh or too.

I watched 'Almost human' at IFC, presented by the director and most of the cast. The movie is set at the end of the Eighties, and tells the (supposedly true story) of the abduction of two people in Maine by the aliens. When one of them is found two years later in the woods by two hunters, it is immediately clear he is not entirely human anymore. Despite the low budget the movie manages to accomplish a lot with little, and shows a few gems in the technical, makeup and sound mixing departments, as apparently the abducted man is in real life a professional sound mixer. I also very much enjoyed the setting, a small Maine town out of a Stephen King book, that suddenly discovers horror and gruesome deaths.

I guess I gotta echo what Gregburnscds has said here, it's a shame a little more time wasn't put into getting decent actors or at least building a story. That said, I'm a huge gorehound and I can see a lot of passion went into this little flick. I really looked forward to each kill and some were pretty damn good. It's strange, because while watching Almost Human I felt many times too it was a comedy. Many of the scenes are hilarious - but I'm not entirely sure that was the intention of the director. The gore scenes were above average, which included a Necrostorm style head squish with a rock, an evil dead style, up the skirt penetrating tentacle, a shotgun blast to the head, and various other impalements etc. I can't say I didn't enjoy the movie, because I did, and I don't think it deserves the one star rating someone has given it. In conclusion, for a low budget horror that only runs about 80mins I thought it was a reasonable effort, and maybe there's better to come from these guys.

Nothing subtle occurs in this movie. It starts in a rush, resets for the opening credits, and then the killing spree begins (with a little pro forma explanation from Seth along the way). Seth and Jen don't remember what happened the night Mark disappeared, but they know it feels really weird, and now two years later they're feeling weird again. While they're feeling weird, Mark is back and killing everyone he runs across. The story is quite linear, without an ounce of nuance: Mark disappears, he's back, and Seth and Jen are on a collision course with Mark. There's lots of bloody gunshots, stabbings, and other gruesome action. The action is good, more brutal than scary, though the director certainly wanted a bigger special effects budget to show the violence more explicitly. When Mark attacks Jen, there's a jump-the-shark development where the attack gets especially weird. There's not much character development, the acting is pretty wooden, no grander themes or allegory, no subplots or side characters--just a straightforward story with lots of brutal action. (And one rather comical scene: How long does it take to load a rifle?!) The movie is as entertaining as a car crash, just don't expect any deeper meaning.

This film was clearly made by people who overreached their abilities. It boasts some pretty effective special effects, but that's about it. Being indie shouldn't equate to horrible writing and horrendous actors that feel like they're just friends with the director. A word of advice: details. Focus on the details. It's the subtle details that can elevate a horrible executed film like this above some of the basic indie horror fare. There's more to horror than a killer on the loose and gory deaths. Take the time to hone the dialogue, even if you don't really care about the characters, don't just have people say things like "Something isn't right, I just feel it" for no reason other than you think it adds suspense. Don't have characters ramble on in scenes when they can't act to save their lives. You may be trying to pay homage, but the execution is off--watch those films again, and even though they can be pretty bad there's a charm that your film doesn't possess. If you want to make an 80s film, then go all out and make an 80s film, camera angles, bad acting, and all. But kudos on the effects.

I have to question the integrity of a sole review by a user who claimed this movie is "The absolute literary equivalent of a failed suicide bomber turning to a life of writing & directing." Obviously has a personal feud with the director. I saw this film at the Toronto Film Fest and I have to say there is a certain gritty charm about it. Almost Human has a stylish 80's characteristic to it, and a level of fun that's tough to find in mainstream cinema. If your horizons don't reach where the fringes of mainstream and underground meet... then its safe to say you might be better off renting the newest Will Smith movie or something of that nature. If you do venture out to these fringes, AH certainly shouldn't disappoint.

I hate to rag on indies that are clearly made by genre fans with far more passion and good intentions than the soulless fare that the mainstream studios churn out, but Joe Begos needs to take a long hard look in a mirror and realize that he is not a good writer and whatever his next venture may be, he should stick to directing only. The direction here was adequate but the script was horrible. I'm not being highbrow when I say that either, in a movie about a returned alien abductee going on a killing spree, I'm not looking for subtext or nuance or theme. If I want that stuff I'll hit the dramas. But, and this is important, I am looking for a script that doesn't feel like a cobbled together bunch of scenes from far better movies. You want to rip off ideas from The Hidden, Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, Fire in The Sky etc.? That's cool, but for heaven's sake at least attempt to put your own fingerprints on it otherwise all you succeed in doing is making me wish I was watching any one of the other movies instead. On top of the derivative nature of the whole thing, the writing fails in many other aspects too. The dialogue is often cringe worthy and I honestly believe that the reviews that say this movie had bad acting are actually mistaking bad acting for reasonable actors doing the best they can with atrocious lines. The director may have been going for an 80s throwback vibe but he fails in that aspect too. Aside from the excellent retro poster, nothing about this felt old school. It lacks all the charm and cheese (and character development) of 80s horror and the direction style certainly isn't throwback either. If you want to see a contemporary movie that truly looks and feels like it came from a previous era, watch Ti West's 'House of the Devil' instead. Still, I made it through to the end without turning it off, which is something since I have adhd pretty bad. The story was entertaining enough to just hold my attention through the mercifully short 80 minutes or so and I'd recommend it to non-demanding indie horror fans looking for something to fill up an evening but not expecting a gem. Joe Begos, if you happen to read this review, focus on directing my friend - you've got some chops in that and they could blossom - but part of the job of any good director is to realize when he needs to put the pen aside and work with a talented writer instead.