Mimic - Angriff der Killerinsekten

Guillermo del Toro, responsible for interesting yet flawed vampire flick CRONOS, is definitely a name to watch out for. He makes the faultless transition to America here and gives us a typical monster movie which remains hugely enjoyable despite the rather hackneyed plot. At least the idea of the monsters - genetically modified insects - is rather more original than some other recent creations. Del Toro paints an artistic picture of life in New York - shot through soft brown filters - and has his usual collection of oddball characters, including a boy who plays the spoons. In terms of style, del Toro is one of the best in his field at the present time and is light years ahead of any American competition, although it does take a while for the full impact of the cinematography to hit you.

This film best be avoided by those of us who hate insects, because it doesn't portray them in a good light. From the creepy opening titles - showing a montage of pinned butterflies - to the icky and slimy creatures running around in the subways, they're everywhere, and MIMIC takes every opportunity to zoom in on their ugly features. The film has a good range of actors and actresses in it. Mira Sorvino, in the title role, is a typically tough and yet realistic heroine, and thankfully much less annoying than her counterpart in THE RELIC, Penelope Ann Miller. Jeremy Northam is somewhat bland in his macho leading role but the show stealer is Charles S. Dutton, better known to audiences for his role as the tough Dillon in ALIEN 3, and he here plays a tough, wise-cracking comic relief policeman who finds himself caught up in the activities. Dutton is probably the most sympathetic character of the lot.

As for the action sequences, they are long and varied. Good use is made of the creepy shadows and rubble in the subways, and the best scene of the film comes when the band of survivors group up in a train carriage while the insects attack from outside. The gore isn't excessive but is used sparingly, and therefore more effective. The main fault of the film lies in the high number of clichés and scenes stolen from other countless horror films, a fault which seems to plague cinema these days. Take for example the bit where an insect bursts into the carriage and then disappears under a cabinet, a cross-breed of similar scenes from NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, Friday the 13th and ALIENS. These scenes are numerous and come across as disappointing, as does the tacked-on happy ending where Northam survives the huge gas explosion and they all live happily ever after. Speaking of the explosion, there's a great pyrotechnic display at the end, which really closes up all the loose ends and harks back to horror films from the 1930s such as THE BLACK CAT and FRANKENSTEIN where all creatures and villains met a fiery demise.

However, one great thing MIMIC has going for it are the special effects, which pretty much surpass a lot of what's gone before. The scenes with the insects in their human disguise are chilling, but there's an excellent centre piece where one of them spreads its wings, takes off and carries Sorvino away! CGI obviously plays a big part here and fortunately doesn't look too fake, computer graphics seem to be improving all of the time. The CGI effects are used sparingly and therefore are more effective and realistic than other CGI-fests such as GODZILLA. These flying insects are really something to see and definitely worth looking out for. MIMIC may be simply a new take on an old cliché, but it's a heck of a lot of fun and is simply one of the best-made monster films of the '90s.

Eerie film with astonishing images , suspenseful and original direction by Guilermo Del Toro . Three years ago entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) genetically created an insect to kill cockroaches carrying a virulent disease . For thousands of years, man has been evolution's greatest creation , now the insects are out to destroy their only predator, mankind . Susan and Peter (Jeremy Northam) are called in to investigate.

This heart-pounding picture is full of suspense ,thrills , mystery, lots of gore and a storm criticism to genetic engineering . This slick monster-feast is a triumph of style , well paced and full of frightening scenes . It's packed with overwhelming body count , loathing scenes , grotesque killing, and rivers of red blood . Interesting as well as thought-provoking screenplay by Matthew Robbins and the same director ,screenwriters Matt Greenberg and John Sayles are uncredited in the movie, but were credited in some of the trailers . The movie delivers the goods with hair-rising chills and noisy scares when the giant cockroaches appear savagely stalking and attacking its preys , including children . This is an OK amusing juvenile with interesting characters and scientific plot but quite entertaining . It's remarkable for FX recreation the ferocious and carnivorous beast developing a bloodthirsty hunger for human eating . The actors give vigorous physical performances dodging the giant bugs recreated by means of make-up realized by Rob Bottin , adding the prolific computer generator, as usual . The mutant cockroaches , themselves, of course, are the real stars, and they're marvellous terrifying astounding, and quite convincing .The picture is smartly designed and stylishly photographed by Dan Laustsen . Thrilling and intriguing musical score by Marco Beltrani . The motion picture was well directed by Guillermo Del Toro , though the scene where Mira Sorvino and Jeremy Northam walk in the hall with all the sick kids lying in their beds was actually directed by Ole Bornedal, one of the producers on the film . Del Toro delivers the terror movie goods with sense of style , though was originally planned as a single 30-min. short as part of a feature of sci-fi/horror/comedy shorts by Miramax. Director Guillermo del Toro disowned the film after constant clashes with Bob Weinstein, who would frequently visit the set and make unreasonable demands about what should be shot, deviating away from the script , since then del Toro has never worked with the Weinsteins. Guillermo is an expert on murky atmosphere such as proved in ¨Cronos¨ , ¨Pan's labyrinth¨, ¨Hellboy I¨ and ¨Hellboy 2¨. The picture will appeal to horror buffs and Guillermo Del Toro fans . It's followed by two sequels : Mimic 2 with Alix Koromzay , John Polito and Bruno Campos ; and Mimic 3 with Lance Henriksen and Karl Geary .

The idea of a film featuring genetically modified humanoid insects stalking the streets of New York makes me believe it would have a long shelf life - It`d spend a long time on a shelf waiting for a distributor , but MIMIC was far better than I expected . Director Guillermo Del Toro rightly concentrates on mood and atmosphere and also deserves a mention for making sure the cast didn`t camp the film up because it`s the sort of film that`s difficult for actors to believe in but everyone on screen takes it absolutely seriously . The screenwriters also deserve some praise for taking a ludicurous premise ( Remember we`re talking humanoid insects here ) and writing a story that makes you forget you`re watching something laughably far fetched . We also get to learn that soldier insects have to be killed stone dead in order to stop fighting and that insects take their pray to an underground lair to be eaten so the audience learns something about both insects and how to telegraph a script . My only criticism about the screenplay is that it does feel rather like an ALIENS type movie towards the end but that`s a very minor criticism .

So I fairly enjoyed MIMIC . It`s not as good as QUATERMASS AND THE PIT which is the greatest film to have the underground transport system as its setting but it`s a whole lot better than other subway or bug movies

The first time I saw this movie was in 2001 on VHS and the younger me saw a really good monster movie that made me fear Cockroaches and other such insects after seeing them evolve in this movie to a bigger and more disgusting insectoid.

I recently rewatched this movie in 2019 after someone told me it's actually a Guillermo Del Toro movie and as a big fan of his movies I wanted to see what I had missed all those years ago and honestly I have a bigger appreciation for this movie as an adult and movie buff what I thought was a simple monster movie was actually a lot more interesting and thought out than I realised with great cinematography suspence and a dark and gritty look to the movie that after watching the characters move around in disgusting wet and moldy subway tunnels makes you wanna take a shower afterwards.

The movie follows Dr Susan Taylor (Mira Sorvino) a scientist and insect specialist and her husband Dr Peter Mann (Jeremy Northam) who is a specialist on diseases for the CDC who after an outbreak of a deadly disease that is carried by Cockroaches that is deadly to children they work together to create a new breed of Cockroache that when released into the insect population kills all other Cockroaches then dies unable to breed or survive longer than designed to three years pass and all signs of the disease have vanished but now people have been dissappearing in the subways of the city and Susan comes across a new breed of Cockroache with the same genetic markers as the ones she created only these are much bigger smarter and have evolved to mimic there predators humans now she and her husband take to the subway tunnels to find out how the Cockroaches survived and undo the mess they created.

I highly recommend this movie to any horror movie fan and fans of monster movies Del Toro brings his unique style of writing and directing to this movie and even though this is considered a B movie and Del Toros early work its still worth your time and gives the effort of an A movie.

I recommend getting the 2017 Directors Cut release of the movie either on Blu Ray or DVD it is much better than the theatrical release and has added scenes and is remastered for better quality also the special features and interviews with Del Toro are interesting and in them he is quoted as saying "This version of the movie is what I wanted to create from the start"

Just like the giant cockroaches in the movie mimic their predators (humans), director Guillermo Del Toro mimics David Fincher's style in "Seven": gimmicky opening credits, excessively dark photography, constant rain, claustrophobic atmosphere. Nonetheless, it is his superior craftsmanship and visual sense that elevates this otherwise standard, conventional monster movie into an above-average standard, conventional monster movie. He is helped, of course, by a capable cast (Mira Sorvino holds her own as the lead), and by the impressively designed creatures, which look much better than the monsters in some more recent horror films. (**1/2)