Scourge

Let me start off by saying I didn't love, like, dislike, or hate Scourge. It left me with a very indifferent feeling.

Let's start with the pros. The concept behind Scourge is really cool and almost a fun idea. The effects and camera-work were well done. Some scenes were especially better than others (For example a scene in a mall involving an "infected").

Here are the cons. The acting is wooden and it's hard to get into the story when your characters take dramatic pauses after they say something that's supposed to keep you in suspense. The acting was especially horrid from the ladies in this movie. The story never get's as exciting as it should be because the script is so boring it leaves you wanting to watch an action packed movie as opposed to a slow-burn psychological horror. It tried to be a gory and action packed horror movie that was also psychological and slow burn which in my opinion failed because the two styles clashed.

I'd say skip it if you see it at stores and pick something up you'll know you'll enjoy. Even though it's technically sound it can't save awful actors and a lifeless script. Wait for it's syfy run.

Bad boy Scott (Nic Rhind) is longing to get out of his small hometown and is about to rekindle his relationship with Jesse despite going out with a young blond floozy. Said slut is also cheating on Scott with a firefighter whom also has been infected by some supernatural creature that has been lying dormant in the basement of the local church. Much like "The Hidden" (a far and away superior film to this one in every way, shape, and form), the creature has to hop from body to body in order to survive.

This movie pretty much epitomizes the word 'cliche'. Boy from the wrong side of the tracks? Check Unrequiteled love between said bad boy and the daughter of a sheriff? Double Check. The plot is hugely uninspired and the acting doesn't fare any better. And while it may be technically true that this movie is better then the previous one by Writer/Director Jonas Quastel. That's only because that one was "Ripper 2: Letters From Within" which was complete and utter crap. This one is merely derivative and worthless.

My Grade: D

Lionsgate DVD Extras: Trailer for this movie; and trailers for The Gene Generation, Fist of the Warrior, Rise of the Footsoldiers

(2008) Scourge HORROR

Co-produced, written and directed by Jonas Quastel directing straight to rental with modest production values about a supposed trapped little demon unleashed to wipe out the town by jumping from person to person during the 1700's, jumping to the present time unlocking it again in the present future, started by an aftermath of a burned down church with of course a teenage female as the lead! We've seen this a dozen times before from Cronenberg's 1975 film "Shivers" to the Alien movies, to the "Species" films where the demon or thing generates itself from passing it to person to person, suggesting that those films should be watched first before watching something that's already been made!

As bodies start piling up, a couple realize their small town is under attack by a strange parasitic organism that feeds on it's host and then savagely kills them, forcing them to find a way of stopping the menace.

This was a pretty decent overall effort that doesn't really have all that many flaws about it. Among the better aspects here is the rather nice nature of the body-swapping parasite that attacks here which manages to keep this one with an air of mystery about it as to who is the next host of the dangerous creature, and the mythology surrounding that is rather nicely accomplished here. That also leaves the attacks to be developed quite well with the film resorting to simply miscommunication and obscure behavior at the beginning to really letting loose and showing off the deformed bodies as the parasite's activities get more pronounced and aggressive resulting in stellar action scenes as well. There's the fine jail-house ambush that results in the police chase through the streets upon the escape, a wonderful stalking scene in the bowels of a hockey arena following a great confrontation in the locker room and the finale in the motel room is really enjoyable with the change from the supposed seduction offering plenty of creature fun with the escaped creature switching around bodies trying to escape while the few known containment tactics are put to great use. Still, there's a few small flaws here starting with the silly need for the film to go so far into their back-story history that it tends to really grind the film to a halt since the initial outbreak and possession by the creature is done in the film's opening scene which is setting this up for a thrilling pace only for the love-struck romance to get featured and pull that down. As well, the decision for each of them to be in romances that are thrown away simply to bring them back together doesn't make much sense beyond adding to the body count and there's so much missed opportunities to be had from the fact that they stumble upon the creatures solely because their possessed activities are mistaken for cheating on them and then get swept away from there. As well, there's the film's incredibly lame and really unbelievable CGI present which doesn't make much sense at all and really does tend to expose the cheapness and limitations of the story by not really featuring all that many impressive attributes to the story whenever they're featured for its' not just for the creature and the gory aftermath of it's attacks but also for some really explosive action scenes which really highlights those issues. Otherwise, this one wasn't all that bad.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and male Nudity.

IMDb's synopsis for SCOURGE reads far better than the movie itself. An ancient evil is accidentally released in our time and jumps from body to body as it goes about doing something or other. I was never sure what. A young man is suspected of a string of murders, which actually is the thing jumping from body to body (through the belly button, I might add) and leaving each former victim dead dead dead. The creature is a close copy of the alien creature from THE HIDDEN, which also leaps from body to body as it goes about its business, which involves eating a lot, driving a very fast car, trying out sex for the first time, and running for president. At least that creature had a purpose. This one doesn't seem to know what it wants. The creature effects are not bad, but the acting is from hunger and there's little plot. I watched this on DVD one day and SPLINTER, about a parasite that attacks and absorbs people's bodies, on TV the next day. Watch SPLINTER instead. Or THE HIDDEN, which I first saw in the movies and consider a semi-classic, even if it is a knockoff of ALIEN and THE TERMINATOR.