Growth

source: Growth

Growth, not as good as it could have been. The only problem is that it contains too much CGI. The storyline itself is okay. Some things aren't explained and some parts are a bit too long but overall it was watchable. But for the geeks it's not bloody or gory enough. There are other parasite flicks out that used the real effects, like squirm, and that worked out well. Some things had to be done CGI but the part were one gets some water on him, you see his flesh burns, but sadly it's CGI. If they had made it old school well, than it surely would have been worth viewing. A bit disappointing on the view of the red stuff, one to start with if you have a horror night.

Come on,you detractors......what do you expect on a tiny budget of $300,000? For a spend of that size the overall production values of this Movie are excellent. The story Is Interesting and the plot has a few surprises which gradually reveal the connection between the Island and Its Inhabitants and the Girl who's arrived to stake her claim to It. I also found It different enough to keep me Interested-a pretty fresh Idea and while some of the science Is a bit silly the story Is solid enough. Those Movie buffs out there who understand all the variables that go to make a decent film will,I'm sure,give this the thumbs-up. It would have still got mine at 10x the budget. This Is a good dose of Science-Horror and I recommend It to all fans of the same.

In the 1980s, an island used for genetic research made some breakthroughs, but also had some terrible setbacks. Today (2009) some of those setbacks might come back to bite the island in the butt as a nasty slug-like virus spreads with unpredictable effects. Quite simply, this film is a disappointment and something of a mess. There is potential there, and you can glean it from time to time, but overall the feeling is one of letdown. There are two main areas this film fails: the computer effects and the plot. As far as computer effects go, it's somewhere in the middle ground of modern effects. It's not really good, but it's not as bad as some of the things you'll find on the SyFy network (like "Raptor Island"). Had the special effects people had a bit more time, they might have been able to pull this task off. Instead, the creatures come out looking like very low budget versions of the slimies from "Slither" (a vastly superior film). The plot fails in a few ways. Primarily, there is not much sense to the whole concept. If this is a research island, why do people live on it? I can understand scientists staying there, but it seems to have a thriving city. That's just pointless. But also, much of the film uses flashbacks that do not really add up until the end, by which time you've probably already forgotten about them, and the story was working just fine without them. In short, we have added confusing footage where none is necessary... edit five minutes from this film and it would be supremely better. Gabriel Cowan, the writer and director, has said this film was inspired by (of all things) the 2008 presidential debates, and the idea that we must sacrifice ourselves sometimes to get where we want to go. He saw McCain and Obama as both switching positions at the last minute, and turned this into a science fiction story... it's a stretch, but if that's what he says is the source, fair enough. And Cowan's not without his merits. His last film, "Breathing Room", I found to be startlingly impressive and plenty of fun. And he knows how to cast, securing the great character actor Richard Riehle (probably best known from "Office Space"). The problem with "Growth" may not have been the people involved so much as the budget they were forced to work with. I recommend seeing "Breathing Room". I'm not as convinced about "Growth". If you want to compare the two to see Cowan's evolution, go for it, but otherwise you'd do just as well to pass. (I cannot say whether or not the graphic novel based on the film is any better, but I suspect it is.)

I came across this gem when it was shown on the UK Horror channel - not a place that I usually find gems - but I noticed a few things (unmentionable here, lest I spoil this for you!) that made me use the tivo to go back to the beginning and watch it in full. I was not disappointed, nor did I know what was going to happen next, the usual experience with so many formulaic movies of the genre. Suffice to say this movie eschews many of the hackneyed "Conventions" that all to often mark out the "Wannabe" horror movies that infect the horror scene. Is it a perfect movie? Probably not, but certainly not because of any of the creative arts employed. Perhaps the biggest problem I had with the movie was the opening titles, which, though telling a story, were flash edited just a little too quickly for my taste and, had I started watching the movie from the beginning, might have put me off it somewhat. Could the SFX have been better? Yes, but only if the money was available. As it is they are of an acceptable standard - think "Better than Sy-fy channel movies." I don't understand the poor IMDb rating (4 stars as I write this) It certainly deserves more than this, with great acting, good actors, a writer who is not just doling out the usual gruel and a director (The same person) who delivers his script thoughtfully and without falling into the many traps that beset many productions. I will definitely be on the look out for Gabriel Cowan's future work. To the prospective viewer I say, stick with it, you'll be glad you did.

As far as I could tell this was one of those straight to DVD horror films, some of those aren't all brilliant, but I saw a trailer for this one which looked relatively interesting. Basically in the 1980's an advanced research was being developed to give humans heightened physical and mental strength, but this turned into a parasite. On Cuttyhunk Island, these parasites, looking like alien worms have got out and spread around, and plan to get inside any human they can to breed. It has been twenty years since Jamie Ackerman (Mircea Monroe) has any involvement with this disastrous incident, but she has to witness her step brother becoming one of the infected, and her boyfriend trying to get away from it with her. The authorities, including Larkin Holberman (Richard Riehle) are aware of the outbreak, and are trying to contain it before the infection can spread further afield. Also starring Christopher Shand as Justin Roberts, Brian Krause as Marco, Nora Kirkpatrick as Kristin Daniels, Mackenzie Brooke Smith as Gwen Anderson, Alexi Wasser as Sarah Holberman, Ian Patrick Williams as Mason Lane, Robert Pike Daniel as Jake, Lou Richards as Dr. Macavire and Yousef Abu-Taleb as Sgt. George Seitz. Seeing little horrible worms going into people and coming out through various places in their body is freaky, but that is all the film is good for, there is no effort to make you feel like it is worthwhile, so while it was creepy and crawly, it was just alright. Okay!

Another wretchedly unwatchable effort from the straight to DVD horror bonanza of the noughties. Little silverfish like parasites which variously kill people or control them while squirming around under their skin ran rampant on Kuttyhunk (!) Island 20 years ago, thanks to some Resident Evilly maniac scientists who wanted to create super citizens – and now, it's happening again, albeit very slowly and stupidly. The presence of cool CGI parasites is all for naught because the film fails on all the most basic levels: You don't give a crap about any of the characters, the editing is incompetent, and the script is gaping with holes of illogic sure to keep any viewers in Total Cynic mode. The result is extreme boredom. An opening montage shows parasites swarming like ants in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This never happens during the present day invasion of the island. Instead these parasites, which have demonstrated the ability to leap from one infected person to another over 20 feet away with extraordinary ease and finesse, choose to propagate in the following manner: They infect one young man, imbue him with superpowers and confidence, and make him stroll into the Kuttyhunk Tavern, where he goes all out to pick up one local young woman. After she admits that ' he really gets her', her boyfriend's gander is raised. The boyfriend and Superman go out into the parking lot for a scuffle, which is the cue for Matrix-like articulate slow motion kung fu. After Superman's inevitable victory over three locals, he emphasises his win by smashing the car park asphalt up with his foot. His newly won girlfriend fails to notice the strangeness of this and trundles off into the woods with him for some smoochies. Finally, FINALLY, a parasite begins to squirm out of his ear in readiness to attack a new victim, but her scream panics Superman and he tears the girl's throat in annoyance. DAMN! The invasion's never going to get anywhere at this rate. There's an unintentional laugh when heroine B, the one with the really short shorts, begins to play the accordion one night in her cabin, after saying earlier to her would-be boyfriend that she was going to do this. I admired the film's follow-up in this area when it had failed to follow up in most others. That we see her playing the accordion from the POV of a heavy breathing, hooded parasite dude just makes the moment even funnier. However, such pleasing moments are thin on the ground. As the cliché goes, this is 80 something minutes (which felt like two hours) which I can never get back. CGI tricks and RED camera cinematography are wasted time and time again in the service of completely sloppy material like this from indie filmmakers who haven't got their skills up enough before throwing out a feature with a shiny veneer but zero watchability.

Growth is a 2010 or 2009 (the sources varied) 'horror' film that plays out like a leisurely stroll through your awkward teen years. Only instead of mediocrity, acne and regrettable sexual experiences you're hit with angst and a less than lack lustre plot. The main issue with the film is the lack of any innovation; it borrows arm so heavily from pop culture and does no justice to any of it. For example; Growth takes considerable influence from Twilight franchise. Most of the camera and lighting techniques are lifted and imposed over a cardboard character. Likewise, fight scenes take a lot of their influence from the aforementioned franchise however; Growth fails to emulate them even slightly. The main character too is a pale, self motivated angst strain of urine(sic), spending half the film trying to avoid and or pitch woo to his sister? Onto yet another blinding flaw; the film never explains in any detail the relationships between characters. All of a sudden new characters are introduced with some tangible connection to previously seen characters. But it's not something to dwell upon, because why have development when you can squeeze more shots of characters wandering in the dark or looking into the middle distance? Between the confusing character relationships, poorly edited fight sequences (all two of those) and the writer's lack of creativity Growth fails to be a horror and simply stands as horrific. Regarding the plot; Growth is loosely about a parasite (twiparasite) that gifts the infected super human abilities, such as; wear women's sunglasses, handle a whole whiskey and take a plagiarise Prototype. Ultimately Twiparasite doesn't do itself any favours, the budget aside; the story could have been focused on to avoid clichéd end scenes and unsympathetic characters with about as much personality as MDF. The acting is probably the most positive aspect (the only positive) of the film, it's too bad the efforts of the cast is let down dismally by the script. To surmise, this film doesn't deserve the title of horror; despite what it may attempt Growth comes close to the genre for all of a minute.

I suffered for around an hour watching this film, until I decided to turn it off. Having not watched it all, I cannot vouch for the ending, but the first half was appalling. A laughable section was where the "superhuman-ised" teenager stamped his foot on some asphalt and broke it apart. Theoretically impossible, unless somehow his weight had increased ten-fold...which it hadn't. Had the film been a bit more tongue-in-cheek I'd have let this go, but it takes itself sooo seriously. One word for this film....and it sounds like bank!

I expected a film similar to Arachnophobia, maybe, given it was about small creatures, well, parasites of a sort. Then after much time passes, it's almost like some kinda Firestarter-type story, with government agents out to capture some superhuman. There were some surprising parts that obviously I won't explain, but "Growth" took too long for stuff to happen and once stuff started happening it seemed pretty odd. We're told the parasites were developed to transform people into superhumans, which naturally would make them more symbiotic than parasitic but apparently nobody's familiar with Spiderman in the laboratory and stuff goes wrong. Oddly, we're told the parasites would devour their host from inside but nothing along those lines occurs. A car appears to be stalking people before one of the main characters becomes infested and I don't really understand why. Basically I was left feeling as if somewhere I'd missed something!