Swarmed

Swarmed

Swarmed

Swarmed

Well, you know what you are getting when you sit down to watch the 2005 TV movie "Swarmed". And I must say that writer Miguel Tejada-Flores and director Paul Ziller delivers exactly what you would expect. And what would you expect from a movie such as "Swarmed"? A generic creature feature? A predictable and somewhat implausible storyline? Check and check. But still, "Swarmed" actually turned out to be entertaining and enjoyable for what it was. Sure, it was cheesy and campy, but at least you get what you can expect from a movie such as this. The storyline in "Swarmed" is pretty straight forward; a laboratory is running genetic mutation tests on German yellow jacket insects, and of course some specimens manage to escape captivity and start wrecking havoc on the small community just in time for a local faire. Visually then "Swarmed" was adequate. I mean, the special effects and CGI worked to their end. Mind you, this was by no means fantastic special effects, so you shouldn't expect to be bedazzled. However, for a creature feature such as this, "Swarmed" fared well enough in the effects department, as there are other movies out there with far worse special effects. The acting in the movie was adequate, and the only familiar face on the cast list for me was Tim Thomerson. So I was enjoying watching the casted actors and actresses in the movie, because I like seeing new and unfamiliar faces on the screen. If you enjoy a good old campy creature feature, then "Swarmed" might actually prove entertaining enough for a single viewing. I did enjoy it for what it was. My rating of "Swarmed" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Enjoyable easy going watching, saving the community from killer wasps hooray. Nothing very complex or deep, basic plot well executed Good rainy afternoon viewing.

Michael Shanks (Jackson from Stargate SG-1) is a bee guy, studying new insecticides which somehow genetically mutate wasps. His latest experiment turns out to be a flop, only killing 75% of the wasps and making the remaining 25% into super killer yellow jackets. But wouldn't you know it, there just happens to be a clumsy janitor that manages to let the wasps loose that night, and the fun begins. There also happens to be a big burger cookout scheduled in the town, with national TV coverage and everything. Everyone is counting on all the money this will bring in. So, yeah...guess what happens next? This movie wasn't all that terrible. The characters were okay, certainly not great and not really approaching good, but still watchable. Shanks plays a low-key version of his Daniel Jackson character from Stargate, I don't think he ever gets excited throughout the whole film. The plot proceeded in completely predictable fashion along the same lines as every other creature feature I've ever seen. Take Jaws, Sabertooth, and Deadly Swarm, remove all the interesting parts, and you've basically got this. Special effects were actually surprisingly good. What this movie really needed what a plot with a lot more originality and characters with a lot more personality. But there wasn't anything particularly awful about it, so I'll give it 4 stars.

SPOILERS Okay, I must admit, I do enjoy those campy Sci-Fi movies when they are on. They try to be scary, but they just end up being a hilarious comedy with terrible acting and moments when you want to yell at the person in the movie for doing something incredibly stupid. Well, Swarmed is no exception. Even though I must say that it is better than most of the Sci-Fi made-for-TV-movies, hence the reason I am giving it a two instead of one, this was just a pathetic film that started off as a comedy and never stopped. I mean, the people in this movie clearly have no idea what they are doing. For example, when a woman is being attacked by one single bee, she uses a shotgun, and never hits her target. Now, she could use one if she was fighting a whole swarm, but using the shotgun against one little bee is just plain dumb. Here is the plot of this movie. When a chemical leak occurs, bug busters Q and Rafe have to fight the rapidly increasing population of bees in the town. When they do that, they get help from Kent Horvath, who gives them poison to fight against the bees. However the poison only makes them even more powerful and aggressive. Kent eventually starts to hunt with them, and so does bug expert Christina Brown. They quickly realize that the population is increasing more and more, and the town festival is approaching. They need to get rid of the bees before it is too late. At the festival the bees attack the entire city, killing hundreds. Q, Rafe, Kent, and Christina manage to destroy most of them. They then lure the rest of the bees into a garage and blow it up. They bees are gone, except for one, and the film ends. Overall, this is a cheesy, over-the-top, and corny time. In the category so-bad-it's-good, this movie fits perfectly. You will laugh more than you will jump. In fact, you will not jump at all. I must admit, though, even with all my negative comments, there are some creative death scenes, like when a man hides from the bees in a dunk tank, and breathes using a hose, and the bees fly into the hose, and sting him inside the mouth. That was kind of neat. Anyway, with all the cheesy CGI, the terrible acting, and the pure corny elements of this film, it is impossible to call this movie a good one. It is a great comedy, but for horror, it falls flat. 2/10 Recommended Films: Frankenfish, Mega-Snake.

Oh where do I begin.I'll start with the fact that this movie was lousy in every way. Nothing at all was cool.Wasps are now genetically altered and are killing people for the most part this movie was dragged out. Parts that got me were the part where the police officer goes to investigate the scene where the doc was killed by a wasp is still in the room and doesn't sting him but flys away. We see the swarm of wasps going and flying around and see people walking around and attack no one. If we saw people getting attacked everywhere they went on the streets in the police station everywhere that would have been better. This film is a complete waste of time. Never watch it again for those who hated it. The part where the people were at the festival was very lame to attract the wasps. The swarm 1978 version looked better than this garbage, with more action and people dying. This was sad. The special effects were totally lame. The actors weren't the best.the only time in this film the wasps only attack when people cook meat another lame idea.The venom in the wasps altered and should have killed those peole right when they got stung. Boy they should make better movies than this. I'll never watch this again. The wasps going for meat is just laughable. Along with the wasps. I'll never get my time back. Just do me a favor and don't show crap like this anymore. Stay home people if you don't want crap like this. Awful in every way.

Swarmy. The Sci-Fi Channel gives yet another flying menace flick. A chemist (Michael Shanks)is working on a better insecticide. A few of his experimental yellow jacket wasps accidentally get loose and seem to be growing more aggressive and stronger after being sprayed with a super-pesticide. A nationally televised burger cook-off is scheduled sponsored by Phineas Washburn's(Tim Thomerson)barbecue sauce. The grilled burgers and the crowd become a huge buffet for the chemically enhanced killer wasps. The F/X are not all that bad; but the acting is. Also in the cast: Carol Alt, Balazs Koos, Booth Savage and Maria Brooks. The funniest scene is a secretary trying to shoot a wasp with a shotgun. As bad as this is...you still end up watching it.

Wow, I caught this on TV, and was dumbfounded the entire time. This movie is unbelievably bad. Poor acting, bad writing, predictable format, just so generally unconvincing, not amusing, unbelievably bad! There are not nearly enough poor comments posted here! I mean we're watching killer bees here, attacking people.. we don't even see them stinging? .. the girl couldn't unlock the door and get out of the car in that time?! Please! If we must go to lengths of entertaining the idea that this many people can be killed by swarming bees, before using their brains and defeating them, then the actors should at least convince us that they're feeling genuinely threatened, and not completely stupid!