Infestation

I caught this movie late at night on the SyFy channel. I expected it to be a terrible CGI-fest (like most of the movies they show that I haven't heard of before), but I was pleasantly surprised. It's actually very well written; kind of a second-string Shaun of the Dead (so, in other words, better than most movies I've paid to see in theaters lately).

The plot is fairly unpredictable for this genre, meaning that it goes basically where everyone watching it wants it to go in the end, but it gets there in a way you won't entirely see coming (I call BS on reviews that claim otherwise). But the real reasons to watch this movie are the genuinely witty writing and the subtle comic performances of the cast. The worst you could say about this movie is that it's derivative of Shaun of the Dead. Personally, I'm totally okay with that.

The clumsy Cooper (Christopher Marquette) is called by his chief Maureen (Deborah Geffner) to be fired from his job. Out of the blue, they hear a shrill noise and they faint. When Cooper wakes up, the finds wrapped in a cocoon and sees a giant insect. He succeeds to escape and release Maureen. They find that the city has been taken over by giant insects and Maureen runs to the street to save her daughter Sara (Brooke Nevin). However a flying insect captures Maurren and Cooper and Sara runs to his office. They release a group from the cocoons and the strong Hugo (E. Quincy Sloan) that is deaf; the sexy and dumb weather girl Cindy (Kinsey Packard); and the janitor Albert (Wesley Thompson) decide to cross the street to visit Albert's son that is sick; Cindy's family; and finally Cooper's estranged father Ethan (Ray Wise). Cooper hits on Sara and when an insect catches her, he decides to go to their nest to rescue Sara and blow-up the structure. Will he succeed?

"Infestation" is a surprisingly funny and entertaining action film. The characters are stereotypes and the hero Cooper is an asshole; Sara is smart; Cindy is a dumb blonde; Hugo is a heartwarming strong man; Ethan is the stereotype of a military. The special effects are much better than anyone could expect. There is no conclusion; probably for a sequel that has not been made. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Infestação: Insetos Assassinos" ("Infestation: Killer Insects")

This "giant bugs attack" comedy is a blast of fun. In the middle of getting fired from a job he took in a reluctant effort to please his dear ol' dad (a wonderfully gung-ho, Ray Wise), an unmotivated goof-off is knocked unconscious by a painfully loud and high-pitched banshee-like siren. When he awakes, he finds himself and - seemingly everyone else in the world - sealed up inside cocoons. Breaking free, he wakes up several of his office mates and somehow ends up leading them in a dangerous crosstown trek toward safer environs, battling - and outwitting - giant murderous bugs - and worse - all the way. Direction and performances are all excellent, as are the bugs and various other odd creatures.

I'm personally tired of and generally ignore the CG monster horror flicks that premiere on the SyFy Channel. I read that this was one of them. Well this one was done great! The jerk hero was actually likable in his purposely annoying way, very funny, and the story happens quickly, so you are in the bug infestation, what the heck is going on, just after the main guys humorful intro.

The other survivors are decent, the story paces along well, no argument lasts too long and no character however annoying, steals the show. There's that used dad-son expectation loss thing but it works well and lots of good natured character humor. The CG was done rather well, even though I still felt it was composited, it was at least fast paced.

Infestation is a watchable movie. Let me begin with that because I have a lot of criticism for this movie, but most is constructive. This is a movie that with a few different touches really could have been the next Shaun of the Dead. Walking the tight rope between horror and comedy is tough because it's easy to lose both crowds. Some people don't find bugs funny and others aren't scared when the mood lightens too drastically.

The thing that this movie does best is separate the horror from the comedy moments without seeming choppy or displaced. You can be knee deep in a bug attack one second and be laughing the next. And it feels natural. Chris Marquette really brings this movie together. His quirky, lame attitude attributes to most of the comedy but believe-ability that the horror can be serious.

The major flaw of the movie is that many of the supporting roles are played well, but no one else really pops. If someone else could've helped carry the comedy load it would've really helped. Not to mention that the attempt at being sincere at the end is acted poorly. However, having Ray Wise in this movie was a big success.

I truly felt that if another funny character existed and the script was spruced up a bit, this movie could have become the cult classic it was meant to. The fact that it even accomplished what it did, given the difficult genre mix, is proof enough that they were close to greatness.

I would recommend this movie to everyone that likes HorComs or for those who don't like horror movies and need some levity to get through them.